Review: Picasso Exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

I'm not joking when I state that I'm not the world's biggest Picasso fan.  Cubist art is not on my list of top 10 favorite art movements.  But Picasso, he's a big name, he's done some fantastic things and I may not get a change to see a collection like this again anytime soon.  So, why not.

I was very surprised by the variety of work they had on display.  It's not often I get a chance to see a decent collection of sketches and a general brain dump of a famous artist.  Those especially made me happy that I made it out.  It was like seeing into the mind of a crazy person... who happened to be an artist.  Alright, so my favorite piece was a depiction of World War II (and war in general) that looked like a cyberpunk / steampunk assault squad subjugating a defenseless village.  Really the depiction fits in so closely it's amazing.

The exhibit was alright for me, you would have loved it if you are into Picasso and / or Cubism. The rest of the museum had some fantastic pieces that I was really into.

The geek factor really comes in a lot harder with the other exhibits on display.  I know there are a lot of art geeks out there, so Picasso really gives you good nerd vibrations.  Other than that,  a lot of the other pieces had either sci fi / fantasy feel to them or what they were doing to create it is so... well flat out bizarre that the whole piece becomes fantastic.

I couldn't take pictures of any of the Picasso pieces, but here are some from the other pieces from the same museum.

Robert Morris's  The Astronomer

Look at the depth on this one!  that's ridiculous!  This piece made me Full Stop when I walked in the room.  So amazing.

David Schnell's Tor.  Reminds me of a video game world or Virtual World (matrix?) in mid load.

Fred Tomaselli's Woodpecker

The most amazing part of this is that the individual pieces of this woodpecker are composed of a bunch of smaller versions of that item.  SOOO the beak is made of a bunch of small beaks, the eyes, a bunch of eyes... so on.  Really the detail here is crazy.

Yukinori Yanagi's Dollar Pyramid

Wow.  So this piece is a giant dollar bill, made of sand, then split up to make a pyramid.  AND THEN he let a shit ton of ants run buckwild through the piece, that is connected by a series of tubes (yes, just like the internet).  The whole thing is bound in place afterwards to be displayed.  The concept is one of my favorites that I've seen in years.

The museum was pretty fantastic.  Although really far for most of you.  If you end up an hour or two south of here in Richmond.  Check it out.

This Week in Geek 2011/04/11

• Art - Show: Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind - All Week (through Sunday, reviewed by us as well!)
• Gaming - Valor LARP - Friday Through Saturday
• Festivals - 8th Annual Georgetown French Market - Friday through Saturday
• General - Rock & Roll Spelling Buzz... - Friday at 6:00 PM
• Art - Show: Capsule 33 - Tuesday Through Sunday (various times)
• General - DC Roller Girls: DC All-Stars VS Rhode Island Riveters - Saturday at 4:00 PM

An exciting week! Get to it!  For more information, check out the calendars at DC Geeks.

Review: Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind

Chloe, Eliza, and Mary - Frame

Holy shit. I was truly floored by this 'play'.

First off, the format.  30 plays in 60 minutes.  They have a timer.  There's a lot of audience participation, so if somehow the whole experience goes over an hour, too bad, you just don't get to see whatever plays were left over.  The numbers 1 - 30 strewn across draw string, held up with clothing pins.  Each number has the name of a different play on the back.  At the end of each mini play the audience shouts out numbers, the first number they hear, one of the actors will jump up and pull that one down, then suddenly the whole group is performing that play.  Each night they retire a number of plays equal to the roll of a d6.

The individual plays were hilarious, absurd, sometimes offensive, and sometimes amazingly thoughtful.  Each actor brought a different energy to the stage and in combination they played off each other amazingly well.

Jay and Mary - Dadaism

The real geek factor may not be immediately obvious.  The number of inside jokes, intelligent humor, and sometimes references to internet cultural phenomenons really strikes home with the geek sentiment.  Trust me, this play was just as geeky as any series of inside jokes you've shared with your friends over a game of D&D.

All in all the cast (The NEO-FUTURISTS) did a fantastic job. I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys plays, bizarre things, and laughing so hard you get a head ache and wonder why you were dumb enough to stuff yourself with bbq and soda immediately before (don't look at me like that).

Check out the Woolly Mammoth Theatre as well.  They have a lot of bizarre and fantastic things in their line up.  Not all geek related, but enough that are just plane strange that you'll probably find something you like.  I'm considering seeing this play again by the way.  If they have to ditch 1d6 shows a night, I figure if I wait a few weeks it will be an entirely different set of plays.