After months of wanting to see the exhibit, I finally caught the last guided tour of Dare to Know: Prints and Drawings in the Age of Enlightenment at the Harvard Art Museums on January 15.

I was interested in it specifically for Jacques-Fabien Gautier d'Agoty’s 1746 anatomical print “Muscles of the Back” that was featured in many of the exhibit’s marketing materials. I was already familiar with the illustration due to a morbid anatomy phase* in my early twenties. It stuck with me because of my personal history with spinal issues and surgery. 

I had to register for the (free) tour ahead of time because it was limited to fifteen people. Yet ten minutes into the tour, there were somehow already about thirty people tagging along. All these folks choosing to spend their Sunday afternoon listening to the curator talk about Enlightenment era graphic arts! Wow!

I’m usually not one for tours, preferring to wander and engage with what interests me, but I’m actually glad I chose the tour route for this exhibit. I’m not sure I would’ve fully understood or appreciated the connections between the scientific illustrations and the more fantastical artworks depicting imaginary architecture, vehicles, religious figures, and mythological animals. A few pieces didn’t include museum labels, intentionally so. 

Rooms painted deep blue displayed prints organized by high-level Enlightenment-era themes like “Empathy” and “Imagine.” While the Age of Enlightenment is generally associated with the Scientific Revolution—a  period that emphasized rationality—the exhibit paid special attention to topics of morality and what it means to be human. Some of the most interesting prints were ones that directly challenged religious authority and the ethics of corporal punishment and slavery. 

Human anatomy featured less than I’d expected, “Muscles of the Back” being one of only a handful of prints on the subject. Probably the most interesting fact I learned about that particular print is that, despite its weirdly seductive and unreal quality, the illustration and its labels are actually anatomically correct.

*If you’re wondering what exactly a morbid anatomy phase involves, I can say it involved reading a lot about medical art aesthetics and anatomical venuses, attending lectures about the macabre, watching Oddities on the Science Channel, and seeking out (sometimes collecting) medical antiques at Brimfield. The phase ended when I started getting faint from some of the Victorian-era anatomical photography. Oh those darn daguerreotypes! 

Since June, Aisha and I have been talking about going to this Gender Bending Fashion exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA). Well, we finally made it, and it was worth the wait. I loved, loved, loved this exhibit! The neon lights, the genderless mannequins, the Gaga music, the fashion—ah, all of it!

The exhibit did a really great job exploring the history of gender-bending fashion through both well-known icons—like Marlene Dietrich and David Bowie—and more contemporary designers and people. A wall projected photographs and quotes from local Bostonians who regularly rock gender-bending attire.

It also explored how specific events and trends have contributed to shifting ideas about what makes male vs. female clothing. As someone who regularly feels frustrated and lost in both women’s and men’s sections of clothing stores, I left the exhibit feeling empowered and inspired to dress in whatever I please, gender be damned.

Other MFA exhibits we checked out included:

• Hyman Bloom, who apparently enjoyed painting corpses, slaughtered animals, surgeries, and other grotesque and uncomfortable subjects. And squashes.

• “Conservation in Action” – a behind-the-scenes look at restoring Buddhist sculptures. Where Aisha claimed that the temple smelled like Fig Newtons.

• Toulouse-Lautrec and the Stars of Paris – we had no idea that this was the final day of this months-long exhibit. And it was super busy. I admit I’d never heard of Toulouse-Lautrec but as we started going through, I was like, “I think this might be the Chat Noir guy” and I was very proud that I was right. This is not my style of art at all. But I did like learning about Loie Fuller and her luminescent dress dances.

From the Gender Bending Fashion exhibit program:

Separate the signal from the noise…

Hear your own ears. Cut the strings.

Be yourself. Only you. Walk.

Follow your own path…

Listen to your limbs.

Walk…Are there others watching you?

Who knows? Who cares…

There is only one of you. Only one.

— Tilda Swinton, from One Woman Show 2003

This year Katie and I celebrated Sister Day by visiting the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, New Hampshire. Melting rugs, sad clowns, blue trees… the Currier has it all!

The special exhibit on display was about the art and history of the guitar. I learned that a lot of the instrument’s history is unknown or difficult to trace. For example: how did the guitar get its curvy shape? We’re not sure! Even the word “guitar” has multiple origins. The exhibit featured many types of guitars and guitar-like instruments, including lutes, an air guitar (the case was empty—hah!), and electric guitars.  

Also on exhibit was Edward Hopper’s final painting, as well as The Raft, a short slow-motion film of people getting suddenly soaked in water.

After the museum we got lunch at the Bookery in downtown Manchester. I’m obsessed with this indie bookstore! It’s so organized, well-curated, really fun to browse. The café in the back is a delicious bonus. I already want to go back!

Hurray Sister Day!

As a belated Valentine’s Day excursion, Aisha and I visited the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), catching the last weekend of its William Forsythe: Choreographic Objects exhibit. Pitched as an interactive show blending art and movement, it was something we’d been meaning to see for months.

We got there early in the day, knowing we’d need to snag a timed ticket to enter the Forsythe exhibit, which only allowed a limited number of people in at a time due to its hands-on nature. While we waited for our 12:30 PM time slot, we explored the other exhibitions on the fourth floor, which included a few interesting (sometimes head-scratching) contemporary pieces, including a crocheted room (YES a crocheted room!) and a deconstructed camera. One unique work, called The Visitors, played videos of different folks playing instruments all on individual screens, but together they made lovely, somewhat haunting song.

Even with our timed ticket, the Forsythe exhibit was high-traffic. It was a Saturday, after all. Spread out and taking up at least half of the fourth floor, it included only a few pieces, as each one took up a whole room, for the most part. Works included (described best to my ability, hah!):

• A room with a tall, wide screen that reflected the participants, delaying and wiggling their movements in the playback

• A room with dangling hoops that participants climb and swing across, attempting to make it from one side to the other — a contemporary art obstacle-course of sorts. This was the busiest room, and because there was a long line, Aisha and I were fine to watch others climb (and sometimes fall)

• A room with two videos of gravity-defying choreography

• A crawl-space. Cement floor = 1, My knees = 0!

• A room with chalkboard instructions for movement on the walls (walk nine steps forward, nine steps back.. that sort of thing) — also a bit tough with the amount of people

• A room (my favorite) that you are invited walk through, from one side to the other, trying not to touch or be touched by the many dangling, swinging silver pendulums at your feet

Even though we passed through the rooms at least a couple times — crawled, walked, wiggled, spun in circles, dodged pendulums — it still felt that we went through it all pretty quickly. Especially when compared to our last visit to the ICA to see the Mark Dion exhibition. I suppose that’s the nature of a gallery with such large pieces — there’s just fewer of them. We concluded our visit in the seaport overlook, where a woman was having an intense fashion photo shoot by the windows.

I grew up in Dover, New Hampshire, within walking distance of a quirky little museum called the Woodman Institute. I'd only been once, on a middle school field trip, and I could only remember that it included 1) a garrison with a whale jaw bone near the front door  2) a big taxidermy polar bear 2) a room full of dolls 3) a two-headed snake in a jar and 4) a four-legged chicken. Nearly two decades later, the museum -- now called the Woodman Museum --- still boasts most these glorious treasures and much more!  

Katie and I revisited the museum for Sister Day 2018. After getting the spiel about the museum's history (it was founded in 1916 by Annie Woodman), we explored a fun exhibit featuring antique technology organized by its contemporary iPhone app replacement. I thought it was clever, and I especially liked all the old telephones (they even had an Ericofon yay)! 

Next we joined a small tour that began with the guide asking, "You guys want to see some glowing rocks?" Um, yes? Of course! We were introduced to a cabinet of fluorescent minerals that shined all sorts of awesome color in three kinds of UV lighting. Did you know that out of all the states, New Jersey has the most fluorescent rocks?

Next, we went to the Damm Garrison -- Dover's oldest house and one of the only surviving garrisons in the U.S. Built in 1675, it was used to protect colonists from Native American raids, but -- as the tour guide recounted in the history of the 1689 Cochecho Massacre -- they weren't always successful. 

The tour then continued to the Hale House, which wasn't open when was a kid. Once the home of 1800s abolitionist and Abe Licoln buddy Senator John Parker Hale, it now houses many historical artifacts from Dover. Our guide, Mike, was very knowledgeable and gave us a full history of Dover from the underpinnings of the Civil War through the Cocheco Mill strikes and reform. 

We finished exploring the main Woodman Museum self-guided. The second floor is home to so much strange and wonderful taxidermy and natural artifacts, including the aforementioned four-legged chicken (it still has all legs!) and the two-headed snake (needs some fresh formaldehyde).

Other oddities included a Man Eating Clam, a bear wearing a top hat, a passenger pigeon (now extinct), a stegosaurus (also extinct, but who are they fooling), and an "Unidentified Snake the Came to Dover in a Bunch of Bananas from Jamaica" (actual label). 

The third floor of the museum is dedicated to children's toys and war paraphernalia. Dolls and guns aren't really our jam so we didn't spend too long in those rooms. 

As a Dover native, I especially loved the Woodman Museum's history and charm, though I highly recommend the museum to anyone interested in natural curiosities and New England history in general. I mean, where else can you see glowing rocks and explore colonial garrison all in one trip? 

Oh, and then, afterward, Katie and I made a UNICORN CAKE! Didn't it come out great?! 

Day 3 of my and Aisha's NY Pride weekend vacation was largely dedicated to books -- hurray! After playing some Jenga in Bryant Park, we went to the New York Public Library. While I had intended to mostly geek out over the library itself, my favorite part turned out to be an exhibition called "You Say You Want a Revolution: Remembering the 60s." It featured a multitude of curated artifacts focused on 1960s counterculture topics such as communal living, gay rights, Black Power, drug experimentation, Vietnam War protest, and more. The exhibit was set up in a rounded room that invited exploration in getting lost, and I was living for all of it.  

My favorite pieces in the exhibition were the original writings of authors influential to the movements, such as Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and even Thoreau. I also really enjoyed the music area, which invited patrons to browse and listen to playlists of songs curated around different 1960s topics. 

Outside the 60s exhibition, I was excited to also see the original stuffed animals that inspired A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh stories. I had to check that the real Eeyore has a removable tail (he does! it's stuck on with a pin). OG Winnie is a lot slimmer than his current animated portrayal. 

After the NYPL, Aisha and I went to the famed Strand Bookstore which was like my Instagram feed IRL. 

Aisha and I started off our NY Pride weekend by visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art! I'd never been, and the current exhibit of note was Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination -- made famous by the recent MET gala where Rihanna was a hot pope. Because what better way to kick off pride than with some good ol' Catholicism, right? 

The MET certainly had a lot of bodies, some of them heavenly. I've never seen so many people in a museum, but I've also never been to a museum so enormous. Truly. Welcome to the Big City, I guess! Phew! New York doesn't mess around.

Because the museum is just so huge, Aisha and I mostly stuck to the "red-dot" route outlined on the map -- the route that promised to show us the museum highlights on all floors. But we took our time in the Heavenly Bodies exhibit, the adjacent European Sculpture and Decorative Arts section, as well as the Modern and Contemporary Art wing. The Heavenly Bodies exhibit was wonderfully odd and projected ominous organ-like music that could be heard throughout most of the first floor. One of the strangest pieces was a thick, lacy wedding gown that appeared to completely cover all parts of the bride, including the face (photo above). It was also the first time I've ever considered nuns as fashionable. But where were the altar servers, I wonder? 

I also really enjoyed the Musical Instruments wing, where I got to see the OLDEST piano. So old. From 1720, in fact, and made by Bartolomeo Cristofori, Italian inventor of the piano. 

Aisha and I concluded our visit by taking the elevator to the rooftop, which had some awesome albeit foggy views of Manhattan.