Tag Archives: mass moca

Solid Sound Festival – in June in the Berkshires

MASS MoCA 1.jpg
Established 1999

Below is the post I was blogging yesterday when the bombs started going off in Boston, completely diverting my attention – and everyone else’s, as the bomber(s) no doubt intended. I am hugely relieved that my friends and family in Boston (including my niece, mentioned below, whose wedding we’re going to in Boston next fall) are now accounted for and are okay. But of course that’s not the case for many other people. And I can’t say that life feels like it has returned to normal. The blast in Boston has reverberated far beyond and we all feel shaken (and sad and angry and puzzled). But we have to carry on, right? So  with that in mind, I blog on…

Unfortunately we won’t be anywhere near the Berkshires until next fall when we go to Boston for a family wedding. But if I could I surely would get there in June for a music festival “curated”  by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy at one of the cooler contemporary art museums I’ve visited in recent years, MASS MoCA (Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art) in the faded factory town of North Adams, Mass. Wilco, Neko Case and Yo La Tengo will be performing, among others, during the three-day Solid Sound Festival from June 21 to 23. And you can even camp downtown. If you don’t want to camp, there are some interesting lodging options including Porches, a series of renovated rowhouses across from the museum, which is located in a huge sprawling 19th century factory. Or in nearby Williamstown, try the remarkable River Bend Farm B&B, a  meticulously restored 18th century house.

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The Boston Marathon logo
Date the third Monday of April

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Filed under Boston, Massachusetts, music

Mass MOCA – for huge art!

Last week, we thoroughly enjoyed a visit to the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (aka Mass MOCA) in the old factory town of North Adams, near Williamstown. It was raining, which made it easier to spend a September day inside – and we were impressed not only by the exhibits but the building itself – a huge sprawling weathered old factory. The show on oppressed workers (see description below) was engrossing – as was the semi-permanent (“on view through 2033” according to the website) retrospective of bold colorful Sol LeWitt wall paintings (especially engrossing was a video of young people creating  these paintings, following LeWitt’s instructions.)

I thought the Tate Modern in London was huge – but Mass MOCA is even huger and the enormity of some of the art installations (by Nari WArd and Katarina Grosse) is astonishing. The museum also has a good cafe (Lickety Split) with large well-done salads and sandwiches. And if it had not been raining, would have been fun to poke around town a bit, especially some of the galleries that have sprung up in the wake of Mass MOCA.

THE WORKERS exhibit: “What does work look like today in a global economy marked by outsourcing, rapid migration, disruptive economies, and a state of labor that seems fractured, precarious, and almost invisible? With video, sculpture, photography, and performance art from 25 artists, this exhibition examines the way labor is represented today (and how some contemporary workers choose to represent themselves). “

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Filed under Massachusetts, THE ARTS, Uncategorized