We visited the Mumok, the basalt-rock building behind Nadia and Ale. Note that Ale is my sister-in-law and she maintains an amazing art blog for kids. The tagline for the site is “Inspiration for Parents, Teachers, and Anyone Who Loves Teaching Art.” The museum is part of the Museums Quartier, district rich in museums and cafes. We dropped the kids off at the Zoom Children’s Museum while we visited the Modern Art Museum.
Although I found the art pieces interesting, I don’t agree that these works should be valued and thought about by our society. For example, there were canvases with just a single color or geometric figures that anyone can do. I understand there may be a story behind them, but they should not be considered art. I thought it was a waste of such a great space. There were classes there however and as i wrote, I did try to attach meaning to the works and it did make me think a bit about what is aesthetically pleasing in my life. I liked the intellectual part of each work, the history behind the piece and what the artist was trying to say.
The highlights for me were a painting by Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol. This is the first time I saw actual live works by those two icons. The piece below by Warhol, is a print screen of a car accident.The repeating of the image is supposed to make it less tragic and more mundane, simulating the effect of modern media. It also has the deeper meaning of a luxury item for someone, (it is a convertible) instead of bringing them pleasure, brought them death.
Today is our final day in Vienna. It was good to see family and the sights of Vienna. I understand a bit better the Hapsburg Empire and Austrian culture. The city is much larger than Belgrade and the Austrians much colder and almost bitter when compared to the warness of the Serbs and the Balkans. Every empire brings its culture to the forefront and exposed to the world, and the Austrians gave an order and attention to detail to the their sphere of influence.
Today is also the shortest day of the year. It gets dark around 4:00 PM and doesn’t get light until after 7:00 AM. We are driving back to Belgrade and will meet up again with our family. They are staying with friends for an extra night in Vienna.
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