I began my evening at MOCA Grand Avenue where I took an art making class and a docent tour of The Art of Richard Tuttle. I had a chance to create my own sculpture inspired by Tuttle’s fascination with everyday materials such as light bulbs, string, paper, cardboard and plywood. There was a seven-year-old boy across from me who was enthusiastically handling a hammer and nails. I had to borrow it from him a couple of times and weave my neighbor’s scraps into my piece. Little did I realize that there was a table with buckets of stuff to incorporate and there I was nipping leftovers. Wha La – only 45 minutes and I was an artist!
REDCAT was next on my stop where they were offering tours of the auditorium. There was also a fascinating installation by Renata Lucas’ Falha made of plywood, hinges and handles. Within moments, I could see that there was an opportunity to manipulate the space by lifting one section and lowering another. Falha is made from raw plywood which gives it a feeling of being unfinished exposing the possibility of deconstructing boundaries through something as simple as moving a wall or divide. So of course, with the help of my docent, I moved a number of planks and made my own version of Falha (Failure).
Walt Disney Concert Hall was my last stop of the evening. While waiting to put a group together we were offered an outdoor silent film, shown on the polished metal walls. It was a Buster Keaton film about construction and destruction, pianos dropping and ladders tipping; an apt subject with all that I had observed so far. Keaton needed to borrow that hammer! The outdoor public space at the Hall was a request by Mrs. Disney when she provided $25 million in seed money to begin the construction. All of the trees and plants are drought resistant and able to sustain themselves in planters. From the fragrant gardens we proceeded to the magnificent concert hall with its boat-shaped walls and ceiling of douglas fir, perfecting the orchestra resonation from balcony to mezzanine. There isn’t a bad seat in the house!I wandered back to the MOCA to hear the DJ and people-watch and called it a night, all the while planning to come back for a Grand Performance.
