SF's New "Contemporary Jewish Museum"

[thoreau]

Well we met Michael [Unknown site tag], Michael sfleatherbear, Jeffrey retired101 - and took in the new Contemporary Jewish Museum. There were three and a half exhibits. First off - from the outside the building is daring and brilliant - and makes you think "I can't wait to see how cool the inside is..." but - the inside? is poorly layed out and the use of space is simply awful. The room inside the big beautiful blue incandescent block? completely empty for but for speakers playing 30 minute long musical tributes to the hebrew alphabet. Cool concept - cheap, poor execution. The music was piped in VERY loud - and it ranged from new agey sominex stuff to screaming guitars with no onoff switch. Despite the poor layout of the building (none of the exhibits were walk through - you had to come back out the same door you went in) - and the fact that there were more security with foul looks on their faces in this museum per capita with visitors than I've ever seen... almost like they were there to keep you from having fun. But with this crew? (the michaals, jeffrey, the adorable david and me?) that rarely happens.

The William Steig illustration and personal history exhibit was wonderful. It showed everything from early high school drawings - through his time with the New Yorker and how he transformed their cartoons to his work on children's books including the short story SHREK! (where the movies came from). My favorite though was "The Magic Pebbble" about a young donkey who accidentally (with the help of a magic pebble) becomes a rock - then can't touch the pebble to transform himself back. and spend a full rotation of the seasons as a rock - until his parents come back to the spot where they lost him in the woods and have a picnic on the very rock he's become - and then find the magic pebble and wish their son was back with them. (awwwww) I sat for a while in a big bean bag chair and watched excerpts from a PBS documentary done about Steig. He was an amazing writer and storyteller - who just "happened" to draw and illustrate as well.

The other was "Artists respond to Geneisis" - a very cool set of multimedia "responses" to the book of Genesis (both the first book of the Torah AND the first book of the Hebrew bible) - one particularly whimsical "game" called "PLAY GOD" - was a set of green and red buttons. the green button set "genesis" in motion - and the red button stopped it - and if your random words lighted up "let there be light" the room exploded in thunder and light. (scaring some of the kids that played it to delightful affect). Another was a neat artistic replica of the antenna that first heard the "magnetic noise" that is considered the first recordings of the big bang reaching earth - and a piece talking about that discovery's impact on science AND religion.

The 1/2 of an exhibit? was called "Jews in the Bay Area" - and according to this photo wall - there are only 20 - because the pictures were replicated over and over on the wall - like they only asked 20 folks for their snapshots. It felt like an afterthought and was poorly executed across the board.

Overall - I'd give the art in the museum right now a B+ , but the use of the big block room with it's unique glass skylights? D- and the overall layout of and use of space inside the museum - a D- as well. So if you overlook some freshman layout fauxpas? the Genesis exhibit and the Steig really are worth seeing. :)

ttfn.

Comments

[london1967.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the review!
Something new to see next time we are in SF.

[bearzendurham.livejournal.com]

Interesting . . . I was going to comment that I loved the blue block! It's a shame that it's not better utilized on the inside.

[low-fat-muffin.livejournal.com]

the idea of a sound exhibition around the hebrew alphabet is Cool - but you'd have to stay there all day to hear it all. and they didn't do anything even remotely innovative in the playing. they literally put speakers in hanging from the ceiling and nothing else. almost like "we're not done getting this ready for other things - so lets hang speakers. It could be a REALLY cool meditative art space. instead it feels unfinished and unwelcming.

[eireangus.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting about the museum. I am excited to visit, but not sure when I will be able to go. Do you know if the cafe is kosher?