MOCA mi vida

Upside Down Mushrooms, by frogafish.

I spent Friday in San Diego and returned inspired to write. I met with my producers and with the person whose work I am writing about. Over a lunch meeting I was able to become present to this person's powerful "why". For me, that is the most important thing to learn about anyone.. what is this person a possibility of in the world?

Today, I had my own piano lesson with my coach and within the context of the lesson I look for how I handle life. I look for parallels in life as a pursue working on a piece.

I'm finding "Big My Secret" technically more challenging because of its structure and form. There are flurries of notes that I have yet to put more expression and meaning to after getting my technique in order. The accents are intricate and the dynamic direction is sparse. I guess it is challenging and interesting because I have so much freedom with it. It is quite a contrast to the "Passepied" that I am working on as well.... there are so many details!

After my piano lesson, D and I took the subway to downtown los angeles to check out the latest exhibit at MOCA, The Museum of Contemporary Art. There is an intriguing exhibit at the Geffen called ECSTASY: In and About Altered States, an international survey of artists "exploring altered states and alternative modes of perception."

Check out the website. Yes, I did sit in the room where the giant mushrooms sprouted from the ceiling. There was a lot to see and what I learned through my experience of the works is that altering the states of one's perception takes people through many expressions of perspective.

A fascination with a flower for a visual expression of an altered state gave me the strange perspective of what life would look like for a bug. The media presentation landed his subject on a flower. Another artist wanted to express that altered states did not only heighten one's visual sensitivity but also their aural experience.... by having the museum visitor sit in a space (that looked like an egg from the outside) that was a visual parade of glitter and light with sound settling down at a strange acoustic vortex due to the shape of the space. Sit in the jewel encrusted space pod for an interesting take on reality.

I particularly enjoyed the 3 screen presentation of 3 perspectives at a time.. that gave some perpective on the intellectual and philosophical doors opened at altered states...it satisfied my inner scientist and artist at the same time. There is a lot to see and experience and you don't need to be on a trip to understand the art. The experience itself is dynamic, it moves away from the linear paradigm of everyday thought, makes everyone experience the rabbit hole that Alice found where you can make your own conclusions.

The curator, Paul Schimmel, comes out with interesting exhibits that are edgey. And from what I've read is a very fasincating fire in LA's art scene.

D and I left the Geffen Gallery and ventured to find some eats in nearby Japantown before catching the subway home. We grabbed some "moon cakes" at a bakery; nice and hot on a breezy, crisp night. We had a full day on the go... and my day was not yet near over...

A and I had plans to have people over at midnight to listen to her radio broadcast. We had a cosy crowd and conversation did not die down until after 4am. Where did the day go?

Anyway, I guess I had an ecstactic day...

JNET