28 Jul
Before the Bar: Beacon
I’m in Albany, prepping for what is apparently a pretty big couple of days. My mind is cluttered with statutes of limitations, rules against perpetuities, affirmative defenses, provisional remedies, incohate crimes, and so on. In order to try to tame the clutter and break up the monotony of a 3-hour drive, I decided to stop at the Dia:Beacon on the way up from NJ. So i strapped on my headphones, and headed in with the new Nightmares On Wax cd as the soundtrack.
Housed in an old printing factory right on the edge of the hudson river, the place is nothing short of cavernous. It’s filled with phenomenal natural light and huge open spaces which 
allow the foundation to show off ginormous art installations, some the size of football fields. I don’t claim to know a ton about modern art, but I know what I saw today was both stimulating and challenging. I’ll leave it there.
Richard Serra’s pieces have made their way here, and they’re even more interesting to walk around in an enclosed space versus out in the open. Andy Warhol’s got a room, Fred Sandback’s strings are all over the place, the list goes on and on. What was most interesting to me, though, was the basement of the galleries. Right now, the museum is exhibiting Tacita Dean’s STILLNESS piece. You step downstairs out of the light filled galleries and into a single room the size of half the building. The room is pitch black and completely silent except for the sounds of 6 projectors, each showing a different life-sized shot of choreographer Merce Cunningham performing his interpretation of John Cage’s 4’33. 4’33 is a silent composition. As such, Merce Cunningham doesn’t move. The video itself is nothing special but the presentation is a mindfuck and a half. Highly recommended.
Anyway, I’ve dilly dallied enough. Gotta go back to studying now. Send good vibes my way over the next couple of days, cuz lord knows I’m gonna need them.
