I experienced some of this back in ’71 as a newly minted educator at the Cleveland Museum of Art. I had just emerged from the phenomenological and statement-driven atmosphere of grad school and found the marble halls, in their stony silence, a little disquieting. The spaces were big and imposing and the sense of money and priviledge was pervasive. The front entrance was raised and reached by marble stairs. The alternative, however, was to enter through what was now the main entrance, grade level with vehicle drop-off. The feeling of the place was totally different. The foyer was grand enough that one could enter comfortably on his or her psychic knees, but the sense of welcome made this optional.

But back to the marbled halls. Most if not all public spaces were designed with a certain grandeur When the first wing was conceived. Furthermore, there was a requirement for a lot of clearspace to accomodate large objects.

As odd as it might sound, there was a sense of public service among the founders of the museum. Many of Cleveland’s elite were really people from ordinary backgrounds who had done extraordinary things. They were aware of their roots and saw the museum as a means of improving society. One way to begin the educational process among folks largely ignorant and recently arrived was to impress upon them the importance of what they saw. The next step was for them to be inspired to go forth and, to seek their own achievements for themselves and for the sake of the city.

The best mountains are the ones with interesting valleys. All the view. None of the pain.

That link worked. And the broken link on Cubistro is the Denver Art Museum at the top. Scrolling down reveals all the pictures. Doh.

This looks like classic monolithic architecture, carefully designed to make people feel small and lost. I can see that hanging pictures there would be a nightmare for the curators. What were they thinking? This place is a cozy as an iceberg. Real top down post industrial architecture.

The Rockies are a pretty scary place when one’s on the side of one of those pretty rock faces when the wind starts to howl and the lightning comes. Personal experience there from an aborted ambition to bag every ten thousand plus foot peak in Continental US. I got to fourteen of them when I discovered that the best mountains are not necessarily the highest.

Hmmm…

I don’t think I’d call the inside of that museum warm. The spaces are broken into human sized chunks although with really funky angles. They had to build extra walls to hang the art on because you can’t really hang it at a 60 degree angle – although they project some of the videos on those weird angles and some of the installation pieces use the funky walls.

They have a Damien Hirst piece underneath a stairway – I suppose that tells us what they think of the piece – but it seems like an after thought. Course hanging Warhol’s Campbell soup cans on 2 sides of a pillar is bizarre also.

The light inside feels cold to me. And the “canyon”, the stairway up the middle, that I swear takes up half the space in that huge building is very impressive but it also feels cold.

The whole experience is a bit too futuristic for my tastes. I keep thinking I’ll run into the jetsons around the next corner.

Although I disagree with you that the Rocky Mountains are cold dangerous and imposing! I think of them as quite warm and inviting. I look at them every day – maybe the coldness has just worn off.

I KNEW I should have just kept on going with the image tutorials and not get sidetracked by looking at the links on your blog about the museum! Cubistro’s site is broken, the link to the museum shots are 404. And the Flash installation required to run the DAM site is broken in Firefox too. Argh!

So all I’ve seen are exterior shots, and these from funky. artistic rather than informative angles. And I read your review. Titanium, huh? Expensive stuff.

I like Libeskind’s WTC design. I was glad his group won the contest. Definitely the most humanistic selection, so I’m predisposed in his favor. But from what I’ve been able to see, the Hamilton does not look the least friendly or inviting; it looks like the Rocky Mountains, cold, dangerous, and imposing.

Inside though, are there oasis of warmth? Are the spaces broken down to human sized chunks?

After seeing L.A. Story years ago, I realized that art is probably best experienced on roller skates. Though I haven’t tried it yet…