You call this a Modern Wing?

Oh… Yeah. I have to do it. I have to put my school and its museum on blast for its lame attempt to razzle dazzle the city with its showy “modern” wing addition to the Art Institute. Although it is architecturally beautiful, the whole concept of it is rushed and it only has the appeal of a typical tourist trap.

Let’s begin, shall we?

1. The bridge?  It looks very pretty when you are looking at it from michigan & monroe BUT it really makes no sense.  To use it, you have to walk about half a block north into Millenium Park.  You cannot have any food or beverage in your hands when you board, and if you decide that you want off, you have a long journey back down.  Adding to its suckiness, the wait for the elevator is at least 30 minutes once you reach it and the escalators don’t always work.
2. The art? A lot of it was from the museum’s original collection, but the new stuff they added was not interesting at all.  Some of the rooms seemed bare and others were left “under construction” with one room featuring tacked paper on the wall (faux wallpaper).  There is a really impractical video room which is too dark to navigate into and with the midwestern tourists, impossible to see.
3. Where is the diversity? I expected to see things from a variety of artists of different backgrounds.  There seemed to be no variation in age, skill level, ethnicity… nothing.  It was boring.  With the school being connected to the museum, you would think that there would be a special exhibit room to showcase our work or at least an exclusive alumni section.
4. And there is no fashion or textile section…? What happened to the innovation…

[View with PicLens]

There are a lot of problems with the Modern Wing.  Mostly due to the amount of hype surrounding its opening.  I mean Oprah and the Olympic committee were there before the opening.  Don’t get me wrong, the building is gorgeous and wonderfully intricate, but the BS inside is just….

Wiggity Wack