Education intern Kate fills us in on lobby question number 2.

Our second installment on the question board in the lobby queried what movie patrons felt should be set in the Sol LeWitt Retrospective. The 105 wall drawings on view in Building 7 generated many ideas for actual films, but fictitious ones as well.

One thing that makes the Sol LeWitt Retrospective fantastic, is the fact that viewers are continually able to revisit it, and, quite frequently notice something (or many things) new each time they enter the galleries. The eclectic variety of movie titles demonstrated individual reactions to the different phases of LeWitt’s career represented in the Retrospective. Responses included family favorites, musicals, and contemporary films.

Here are some of our favorites:

Our Education department installed a cork board in the lobby featuring changing questions about the galleries, exhibitions, etc. Our Education intern Kate wrote the following blog about the first question on the board and the answers we got.

Petah Coyne’s exhibition Everything that Rises Must Converge has attracted viewers across all audiences. How can we tell? A question board in MASS MoCA’s lobby recently displayed patron’s selections for a hypothetical soundtrack accompaniment.

In many ways, all of us have personal soundtracks to our lives. With the innovation of MP3 players, particularly the iPod, it’s quite common to see someone out for a stroll casually bopping to their favorite tunes – whatever they may be. Curiously, the vast display of Petah Coyne’s artwork has evoked an equally vast musical response.

What’s interesting about these song selections is that in many ways they delineate the unique ways artwork has potential to move disparate audiences. Responses on the board eclipsed age differences and genres, spanning from Bach’s eighteenth century piano concertos, English rock hits such as Blackbird from the Beatles’ two-disc White Album, to contemporary singles by bands like The Postal Service, Smashing Pumpkins, and the artist Lady Gaga.

Though it may be hard to imagine a soundtrack juxtaposing songs such as Big River by Johnny Cash with Maurice Ravel’s solo piano rendition of Gaspard de la Nuit, below are my personal favorite responses for the Petah Coyne soundtrack:

The Everything that Rises Must Converge soundtrack is only the first question on the feedback board for the summer. Stay tuned for future questions in the MASS MoCA lobby.

As Tripod Versus the Dragon show time approaches, fantastic Performing Arts interns Maggie and Jesse have been increasingly excited about seeing our resident artists in action. They decided that they wanted to get to know Scod, Yon, Gatesy, and The Dragon a little better, and are sharing the wealth. Take the quiz below or on facebook and see who you are most like!

1. What is your spirit animal?

a. A dog. But a lazy one that sleeps in front of the fire all day

b. Panther

c. The mighty shitzu…

d. Manticore

Read the rest of this entry »

Super great new Marketing Intern Jess has been brushing up on her D&D knowledge to help even the RPG novice feel prepared for the greatness that will be Tripod Versus the Dragon!

I have a confession to make.  It’s been a long time coming, but I knew I would have to cop to it eventually.

I have been faking my geek.

I know, I know.  It’s hard to believe.  I can recite all the Batman movies by heart.  I could tell Aayla Secura from Zuckuss if I found myself in a galaxy far, far away.  In college, I took a class called The Physics of Marine Mammals because it sounded awesome (and it totally was).  But when it comes down to where it counts, I was faking it.  And where it counts is D&D.

Dungeons and Dragons, the role-playing game that started role-playing games, was a language I did not speak until 2 weeks ago.  I laughed at jokes I did not understand about orcs and mages and dice with more sides than anyone could possibly need.  I nodded and smiled when told I’d make a great DM.  However, when I learned I had been out-geeked by Vin Diesel, I knew it had to stop.

This weekend, MASS MoCA will debut an opera titled Tripod Versus the Dragon, and I am going to laugh at every joke.  For the first time, it will be the laugh of “Yes, I got that, because I am geeky and fabulous.�  If you are nervous about not speaking Ye Olde D&D, I encourage you to share in my cheat-sheet.

D&D Data&Dialect

(all instructions based on the 4^th edition of the game, unless otherwise noted)

D&D, DnD – Dungeons and Dragons; very popular, complicated, mythical game involving a usually set but possibly rotating group of individuals who act out scenarios as characters they create

RPG – Role-Playing Game; players act and speak as characters they create during game play

DM – Dungeon Master; guide, storyteller, referee

PC – Player Characters; everyone who is not a DM

NPC – Non-Player Characters, such as monsters, etc.; played by the DM

Monsters – animals, mythical creatures, general antagonists

Dragon – most dangerous creature, fantastic singing voice

Girl – strange mythological creature; most sightings unconfirmed

Books – Player’s Handbook, Monster Manual, and Dungeon Master’s Guide are the 3 core ones; others may be used but are not required

Designing Characters

Ability Scores – traits that dictate a character’s skills such as Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma; determined by dice roll

Race – species; Dragonborn, Dwarf, Eladrin, Elf/High Elf, Gnome/Rock Gnome, Half-Elf, Half-Orc, Halfling, Human, Tiefling

Character Class – call of duty, roll

Cleric, Clr – healer

Fighter, Ftr – defending warrior

Paladin, Pal – holy knight, divine spellcaster

Ranger, Rgr – skilled woodsman, agile striker

Rogue, Rog – sneaky, nimble trickster

Warlock, Wlk – dark leader, invokes magic through darkened soul

Warlord, Wld – master tactician, commander

Wizard, Wiz – arcane magic user

Alignment – ethical and moral perspective; typically illustrated in 3×3 grid but 4^th edition offers a streamlined view with only Lawful Good, Good, Unaligned, Evil, and Chaotic Evil

Lawful Good – crusader; Dick Tracy, Seeley Booth

Neutral Good – benefactor; Aslan, Albus Dumbledore

Chaotic Good – rebel with a conscience; Robin Hood, Captain Mal

Lawful Neutral – judge; James Bond, Inspector Javert

Neutral – balancer; Rick Blaine, Han Solo

Chaotic Neutral – anarchist, free spirit; Tyler Durden, The Plague

Lawful Evil – tyrant; Megatron, Voldemort

Neutral Evil – selfish malefactor; Bob Ewell, Fenrir Greyback

Chaotic Evil – destroyer; Sweeney Todd, Reavers

Game Play – requires 7 2 Liter bottles of carbonated beverage, several bags of snacks; players discuss plans with DM in character

Campaign – series of related adventures

Dice – 5 dice of different sides (a typical 6-sided die is written as a d6) used to determine penalties, processes, etc.; d4, d6, d8, d20, 2 d10 (used together as a d100)

Figures, Grid – assumed but not required; can be bought or made

Dressing Up – also not required, but potentially awesome

Experience Points, XP – increase with level, awarded to characters for doing tricky things

Hit Points, HP – measure of life; lost by characters when attacked successfully

Attack Bonus – quantitative measure of fighting prowess

Saving Throw – a high number rolled will reduce or avoid damage from an attack

Happy spell casting, and enjoy the show!

Marketing Intern Jess has nightmares about Grell.

A long time ago in a gallery far, far away…

We come to find our heroes on the last planet in the MASS MoCA galaxy, Planet Keifer. Being yet another uninhabited planet within the galaxy Han and Chewy take the Falcon for a little joy ride, cruising at high speeds across the planet’s barren field covered landscapes. Their joy ride ends, however, once Chewy spots a structure up ahead, and Han slowly decelerates and takes the Falcon in to get a closer look.

The structure turned out to be a very eerie ridge of rubble dividing the landscape in two. Curious to discover what caused this huge site of destruction, our heroes landed the Falcon to get out and let the droids run some tests. Read the rest of this entry »

Marketing Intern Will encountered an interesting friend during his time spent in the Sol LeWitt galleries…

The other day as I was wandering through the Sol LeWitt Wall Drawing Exhibition, as I occasionally do to relax and take a little break from my normal intern duties, I noticed something alarming and peculiar. SOMETHING WAS ON ONE OF THE WALL DRAWINGS! Oh no, had someone kicked the wall leaving a little blob of mud? Had someone started to fill in Sol’s grid? Then suddenly the blob moved! What could this be?

As I got closer I noticed that it wasn’t mud or any kind of disfigurement but a tiny, itsy, bitsy, little spider. It was really kind of cute. He was just sitting there at the base of this MASSIVE (compared to his size) wall, slowly making his way upwards. It made me wonder if this Wall Drawing (#47), with its grid-like network of intersecting lines, looked like a gigantic spider web and my little friend was clinging on exploring what it had to offer him. It even looked like he was climbing up one single line or thread in his web!

I snapped of a few pictures to document his existence and amazingly silly paralleled efforts to his children’s story counterpart and let him be. Good luck little guy, just please don’t squirt any fly or bug guts on our walls!