MASS MoCA Trip

On October 21, CAP and Global Studies students took a beautiful drive up to Mass Moca in Massachusetts. I have been a few times with family, and it is definitely my favorite museum ever. However, I was especially excited to go because I had never seen anything like the Plastic Bag Store, and I knew even from the previews we saw that it was going to be breathtaking; it was exactly that. Walking through the grocery store the artists created out of plastic was incredible. Seeing the artistry and effort put into making that space was impressive and I loved how closely it resembled so many things I see at stopnshop or Aldis. Not only was surreal seeing every detail created out of plastic, but it was also incredibly sobering. The overwhelming amount of plastic in the exhibit was enough to make me a little anxious (the fact that the artists just found that much plastic around was mind-blowing) but knowing there is so much more polluting the world is even scarier. This is even more surreal after knowing now that there are about 7 billion tons of plastic in the world. Going through the store and the freezer made of white plastic bags really put the world’s plastic pollution into perspective for me. It all felt tangible in that moment, making me more conscious of the ways I pollute and how I can change that. Hopefully everyone else there felt the same way and we can all be more aware of what we do with our trash. 

Walking through the rest of the museum was so much fun. Seeing how the exhibits have changed since I was last there was definitely my favorite part of the day! I really enjoyed two other exhibits throughout the day: the technology prayer room and the hanging portraits of the felt exhibit. The prayer room was particularly interesting because I felt that the meaning was less focused on how we idolize technology, but more about how we can use it for good. The AI-generated prayer for the interned was the coolest part about it for me. The commentary within that piece about how the internet can be a place of love and compassion rather than hatred and division was really interesting. Additionally, the hanging felt portraits on the third floor were beautiful. They were created by an artist from Kazakstan who wanted to represent the 232 victims of government violence through abstract portraits. The pieces themselves were breathtaking and you could clearly see how much time and work was put into creating them. I found it so interesting how the artist did not want to create realistic portraits out of respect for the victims, instead choosing to represent the tension and turmoil of their deaths through the combination of colors and materials in her artworks. In conclusion, I am so happy that I was able to go to Mass Moca again. It is always an incredible experience and I feel so privileged to have seen these amazing exhibits! Hopefully, I will be able to go again soon:)