British Museum

The British Museum was tremendous. There were so many artifacts and different sections pertaining to places/areas. I appreciated the Parthenon sculptures and Elgin marbles. It is disappointing to see such monumental works crumbling and disappearing. I think the debate about where these artifacts belong is also very interesting. If they were put back together in Greece I feel as though the history would be more complete, or at least visually more complete. The Rosetta Stone was cool to see but I thought it would have a bigger presence. People were crowding around it and taking photos. I don't think I realized the degree of importance of it until I read the brief history. I found the gallery of clocks and watches to be extremely interesting. There was one piece that was called a rolling ball clock, in which a ball rolled down a grooved pattern to change the minute hand. It was captivating. I didn't know what to expect from the Picasso to Julie Mehretu exhibition but I ended up enjoying it. The pieces were united by the urban energy of the times. My favorites were R.B Kitaj's Sides 1976 where the subject was a Vietnam veteran who modeled for the artist. There were three images of the side of the model drawn in different color chalk on yellow paper. There was something about this piece that struck me. The way the two outer drawings were pulled back and the middle one was a more up close perspective caught my attention. Mehretu's Untitled 2002 ink on vellum and mylar piece was awesome. Her work deals with elaborate abstract layering of multiple lines with the ideas of globalism and personal narrative. I enjoyed the Korean contemporary ceramics room, the different colors were captivating. Lastly, as I was leaving I stopped at the Cradle to Grave By Pharmacopoeia, which was profound. I loved the pairing of personal photographs with the pills and the linear quality of the piece.