LACMA is in a very interesting space. The museum is held over several different buildings and outdoor spaces, showing a real separation between themes. As a natural progression, I decided to go to the building right next to the Tim Burton exhibit. This was the home to the Contemporary wing. If you had asked me earlier that day, I would have told you that I hate modern and contemporary art. This exhibit changed my mind.The Contemporary wing opened up to a huge, very noticeable piece - a giant balloon dog. Of course, it wasn't actually a balloon but I just thought the piece was so fun, I had to get a snapshot of it. At first glance, the room didn't seem to have anything else that was too spectacular. The same artist had a few other pieces, but these looked so much less impressive. One looked like an inflatable raft stuck between the rungs of a ladder. Another was a floatie that that had been pushed through a chain link fence. At first I thought this was really dumb too... until I started thinking that there was no way it should still be inflated. So I read the descriptions of the pieces and saw that they weren't floaties or inflatable rafts... they were actually created from metal and paint. They looked so realistic, and at that moment I had such a realization of how amazing this artist really was.
On the back wall of the room, there were also some giant works that looked like some photo/art collage mixes. Just like the "inflatable" pieces, I didn't think much of them... until I realized that there was no a single photograph - they were all painted. I'd never seen such a realistic looking painting before. I spent the rest of the time in the exhibit trying to figure out what was a photo and what was a painting. They were all paintings.
That room had a few other gems, some you may recognize from some little old artist that goes by Andy Warhol...I hate to say this, but I was much less impressed by his pieces after seeing the hyper-realistic ones. They just made his seem simple in comparison.
The rest of the contemporary wing was fun, even if it was a little less memorable. It made me realize that contemporary art is all about showing you something ordinary in an extraordinary way. Maybe it portrays a feeling or sensation - just like the twisted bed reminded me of sleepless nights and my fits of insomnia. Maybe it was just showing a sense of humor - like the giant litter box. 
Since the contemporary wing was so fun, I decided to go check out the modern art exhibits. There were some pieces that seemed very similar to the contemporary wing. This giant comb was still fitting of style of ordinary-in-an-extraordinary way.But then I turned a corner and remembered why I dislike modern art so much...
I will never ever understand the artistic quality of a blank canvas. Ever. My theory with art is that if I feel like I can go home and make it rather quickly - it probably shouldn't be a in a museum.
I thought the blank canvas was bad... until I saw the piece that looked like a painting that was just wrapped up for shipping. For some reason, this one was even worse in my opinion. For all I know, it was wrapped up to be shipped out for another museum. I'm sure that a curator would have some explanation about the artistic merits of modern art, but I just find it all pretty unbelievable.
The rest of the museum had a lot of beautiful exhibits as well. I went through them a little quicker so I don't have specific comments or pictures for you. Honestly, the museum is huge so it was hard to take everything in. I definitely would love to make a few more trips back there and maybe even bring my sketchbook. It was one of the things I really wished I had on this trip, and sketching while in a museum is something I haven't done yet. I know it's really common for artists and students so I definitely would love to give it a try and see what I'll be inspired to come up with.
So what do you do when you're done looking at art? Well, you go check out some smelly tar pits of course! But - that's for next time.
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