The trip to MASS MoCA was something I have been looking forward to since before I was even accepted into the Global Studies program, and it did not disappoint. I am not the most patient person, and I can rarely spend more than an hour or two in an art museum, but after five hours there I was frustrated it was already time to go. From the vast mazes of Sol Lewitt’s colors and patterns, to the swinging blue head entrance of Hybridibad, to the unbelievable creativity and detail of the Plastic Bag Store, and the emotions evoked from the Laurie Anderson room, MASS MoCA was truly a roller coaster experience and I enjoyed every minute of it. After the whole Plastic Bag Store experience I was simply in shock, it was unbelievable. All I can think of is that I was blown away. Each piece of the experience amplified the message trying to be conveyed, and every scene out did the last. Each section was unique, but cohesive, with themes from each video section transitioning into the next. One specific scene that stood out to me from the all brown cardboard clip was when the bird picked up the message in the bottle and transported it to a new location. This connects to the UN article which gave lots of statistics about the significance of rivers, and how trash ends up in the ocean, where the bird picked it up from. One of these statistics was 0.8 and 2.7 million tonnes of plastic per year is transported by river into the ocean. I think the realness of how bad our current situations are is hard to understand from an article or reading, but through the art it is much more accessible. Overall, I found the Plastic Bag store immensely successful and conveying the magnitude of the global environmental crisis, and specifically I think it did an outstanding job emphasizing how our actions now affect the future. This message is one to carry with us throughout our daily lives, so that we can prevent our future generations from needing to survive off of jellyfish and cockroaches.

 

Of the countless art pieces I saw, one other that stood out to me was from the Like Magic exhibit which connected to the technology and communication global studies theme. The whole exhibit was commentary on humans, and how when we don't understand things, we like to call it magic. Technology serves as a tool to give people strength and support in the overwhelming lives we live, and often crosses over into feeling like magic. The specific art piece I found interesting was the completely dark walk in room. Seeing this, I of course had to try it, but was very confused by what it meant. I went back twice and ended up spending quite a bit of time inside the structure, and after around 10 minutes, I realized the room wasn't completely black. The ceiling let the faintest bit of light through, and I could see my white shoes, and the forms of people around me. By taking away arguably our most relied upon sense, I think the experience is supposed to make you uncomfortable, which at first it completely did. That said, after embracing the darkness, and accepting the uncomfort, you realize it's not as scary as our brains make it seem. This real experience showed the connection between the unknown, and how we deal with being put in uncomfortable situations. Additionally, it showed how we communicate without seeing people's expressions, and how we rely on tone and inflection.

 

One final piece that intrigued me was the black light Laurie Anderson room, covered on all sides with words and phrases. At first I was very confused and found it very chaotic, overwhelming and stressful. I interpreted it as all the thoughts going on in someone's head at once, and it reminded me of movie scenes where prisoners scratch things on walls in solitary confinement. This then brought up ideas of unfair incarceration, and human rights issues involving imprisonment. Additionally, certain messages in the room connected to global studies themes like globalization, with the quote “they say our empire is passing, as all empires do”, or non violence and war with the quote “the day when the camera became a gun and the gun became a camera”.