The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art is located in the small far northwestern Massachusetts town of North Adams. With a name like that it has been abbreviated to Mass MOCA.
Located in an old factory complex it is now home to 19 galleries and 100,000 square feet of space. As we arrived we stopped by the cafe for lunch and had the opportunity to listen to some musicians.
The galleries are scattered throughout the buildings – mixing new construction with the existing buildings.
As with many contemporary art pieces, they are sometimes subjective to interpretation.
A fencing mask with feathers.
Pallet art with a record player (that was stuck on the same part of the same song).
You have to hand it to them – they are creative.
At first this seemed like a re-used satellite dish.
But upon closer inspection it had hundreds of small reflective panels at different angles. All the little red spots are actually reflections of a nearby exit sign.
The building itself is interesting with it’s high ceilings.
My favorite gallery was by an artist named Gunnar Schonbeck – who specializes in making giant music instruments.
A guitar from a large wooden box.
Xylophones – they encouraged you to ‘play’
Which many did – to the amusement of their friends.
Another gallery had commentary on the American involvement in foreign affairs – complete with walls of (somewhat redacted) U.S. intelligence memos displayed in giant form.
Many of the pieces are huge.
As well as the statements.
Mass MOCA is not an easy place to get to – a 3 hour drive from Boston – but it is a very popular artist town and museum.
RDZ Photography 