Today we started with big art and ended with little art. Of course we had to revisit the classics at MoMA, such as A Starry Night, The Persistence of Memory, and Water Lilies and we enjoyed exploring some of the new exhibits (or at least new to us). I especially liked The Migration Series by Jacob Lawrence; this was a perfect complement to The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson that I read earlier this year about The Great Migration and the six million black citizens that fled Jim Crow South for northern and western cities between 1915 and 1970. I liked the nostalgia factor of Mike Builds a Shelter (Michael Smith’s Government Approved Home Fallout Shelter Snack Bar) and was surprised to come across an IBM DRAM chip - what?! This was not a chip I worked on as it was before my time at IBM, but I still got a kick out of coming across a DRAM chip at the MoMA.

Unsupervised by Refik Anadol was a mesmerizing piece of digital artwork with an interesting concept. What would a machine dream about after seeing the collection of The Museum of Modern Art? From MoMA’s website:

For Unsupervised, artist Refik Anadol (b. 1985) uses artificial intelligence to interpret and transform more than 200 years of art at MoMA. Known for his groundbreaking media works and public installations, Anadol has created digital artworks that unfold in real time, continuously generating new and otherworldly forms that envelop viewers in a large-scale installation.

Unsupervised is a meditation on technology, creativity, and modern art. Anadol trained a sophisticated machine-learning model to interpret the publicly available data of MoMA’s collection. As the model “walks” through its conception of this vast range of works, it reimagines the history of modern art and dreams about what might have been—and what might be to come. In turn, Anadol incorporates site-specific input from the environment of the Museum’s Gund Lobby—changes in light, movement, acoustics, and the weather outside—to affect the continuously shifting imagery and sound.

These two artworks stood out to me because when I saw them, I had a jolt of recognition: Mme Kupka among Verticals by František Kupka and Equal by Richard Serra. While I enjoy art and visiting art museums, I really don’t know anything about art beyond my own reactions to pieces when we walk through a gallery. Earlier this year Norah and I had visited Centre Pompidou in Paris and when comparing pictures and impressions after we wandered through the space, we found we both really liked a painting by Kupka. When we saw his painting in the MoMA we both immediately made the connection and it was a small thrill (I know, it doesn’t take much to amuse me). Similarly, Equal reminded me of pieces we had seen at Dia Beacon and indeed it was the same artist.

Museum gift shops are the best and MoMA is no exception. We made sure to budget time to visit the gift shop and the design shop across the street - it was probably a blessing that we didn’t have much room in our carry-ons so we didn’t spend all our money. So many cool things! By this time we were ready for lunch and headed to Miznon. We stumbled across Miznon in the morning when we exited the subway at Lexington/53rd. I didn’t know there was a new food hall there called “The Hugh” and when we spotted Miznon we knew we would be returning later. Always a terrific meal!

In the late afternoon we met Julia at The Miniature Art Museum: Small is Beautiful in NoHo. The museum showcases the work of 32 international miniature artists and it was a delight. We were constantly amazed at the creativity, talent, and patience on display. The art included a variety of mediums, such as miniature models, paper art, carvings in pencils, mini crochet, and some insane origami. I’m so glad we were able to fit in a visit here - it was wonderful! After admiring the miniature art, we headed to Veselka for dinner. Of course we had to get some perogies - they were tasty, as was the rest of dinner. We left some room for dessert and got some delicious treats at The Little Cupcake Bakeshop and watched a movie back at Anshu’s. It was another great day!