Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Waterfall Hike

On our second day in North Adams we decided to go on a hike and were directed to a very pretty and fairly easy hike to a waterfall.  We had fun time taking pictures and I am always happy when I can find a use for my old Army boots!






So pretty.


In charge of all bridge crossings.  Billy Goat Gruff?

I was a bit more welcoming than the troll.


Skeptical of the "waterfall's" existence.

Ta-da!

The waterfall loses its 'muchness' in photographs.




 He thought I looked like a Merchant Marine.  I totally don't see the semblance. 

A Video

Mr. McMahan put together a video of our time at MASS MoCA - all from still photos.  You may notice that he has a thing for John Hughes movies ;).

Monday, May 16, 2011

The Porches

We stayed at The Porches Inn while visiting MASS MoCA.  I believe I found them through the MASS MoCA site.  Located directly across from the museum, The Porches has 47 rooms of what their website calls "retro-edgy, industrial granny chic".  I wasn't quite sure what that description would entail, but I loved what I saw on their website and we were definitely not disappointed!  We stayed in one of the Deluxe Superior rooms with a porch overlooking the year-round heated swimming pool.  The room reminded me of the farmhouse I grew up in, with beadboard throughout and a painted wooden floor.  Very homey and comfortable and everyone working there was extremely helpful and nice giving us insight on the museum as well as some good hiking trails (pictures to be posted later!).

View from the side parking lot - each building was a different color.

















The very comfortable king size bed, which was covered by a beautiful quilt.















I'm not usually a fan of plate displays, but these were very pretty!



























Desk area.















The set of Apple products - only item missing is the iPad ;p



















Our sitting area.  I love the frosted glass windows that lead to the bathroom.

















The bathroom was amazing - clawfoot tub, beadboard, slate floor, the hooks!


The windows gave the bathroom a nice glow.
These hooks would be great for an entryway.









































Last, but not least, our cute little porch.
























It was a very fun and relaxing trip; if you are ever in the MA area I definitely recommend stopping by to see MASS MoCA and staying at The Porches!

Saturday, May 14, 2011

MASS MoCA - The Exhibits Pt.2

Mango Tourists by Nari Ward.  We had a fun time doing a "Where's Waldo" bit with this exhibit.




One Floor Up More Highly by Katharina Grosse.  Or what we called The Fortress of Solitude.  As I've stated before, we are dorks.  :)




You can see our hotel from this exhibit.

The "80s Senior Photos" shots were a must!
 

nom.
A Wall Drawing Retrospective by Sol LeWitt.  Three separate stories. Some of the brightly colored ones almost gave me a headache - my eyes preferred the black and white drawings.

To be continued...

This is made up entirely of separate squiggly lines.



OCD?  See next picture.


Up next The Porches.

Friday, May 13, 2011

MASS MoCA - The Exhibits Pt.1

The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) is located in North Adams, MA.  Most of the exhibits are large scale (some very large!) and fairly contemporary/modern.  One of the aspects that I most enjoyed was the fact that there are no boundaries set up to keep the viewer away from the art (just polite signs asking you not to touch :)). Which really made the experience much more interactive.  As shown by the photos below!


Tree Logic by Natalie Jeremijenko is the first exhibit we saw upon entering the site.  Six live trees are inverted and suspended from a truss, showing how the trees will grow over time.



This next exhibit is my favorite.  Geometric Death Frequency - 141 by Federico Diaz.  This sculpture was completely put together by robotic machines.  It reminded me of an autostereogram, one of those pictures you have to stare at in order to make a 3D image appear.  I loved those growing up.





Our idea of "interactive" art :)

Hi.

Inside the museum a video was playing on a loop to show how this piece was created.

The robots, I think they are kinda cute.


This next exhibit was probably my second favorite.  Nu Colossus by Nari Ward.  The colors on this piece were gorgeous.


  
This reminds me of Nero's ship in the Star Trek movie.  Yes, yes I am a dork.



More photos and exhibits to come! (All photos by me.)