Travels of THB: Day 5: Munster

Day 5: Munster

Most visited installation

Weather: Very warm, overcast, light rain

DDB and THB in front of Donald Judd installation

Quote of the Day: Conceptual art: work such that no one knows what is going on

THB is up early again, not too early. Go to front desk to let them know THB is using the fitness center so they will turn on the lights. Let us just say that this is the most anemic fitness center THB has been to in many a moon. Two pieces of equipment and the one THB is eager to use has a sign on it: Defekt (now, is the sign talking about THB or the strange looking elliptical?). THB is treadmill-phobic (tredmillaphobia?) so settles for his seven minute workout (no clock on the wall) and stretches (no bands) and skips the curls (no weights). Also, no TV. No towels. No pulleys on that fancy thing on the wall. No water cooler. No water. Nein, nein, nein, and more nein.

The Fitness Center

To repair or replace, that is the question

THB then goes to the breakfast room where there are no cups of coffee to go. There is an unfriendly greeter, so grumpy that THB does not ask for decaf (this is for DB, she sometimes drinks the regular stuff), takes a couple of rolls and heads up to the room. DB is sleeping in, so by the time she wakes up the coffee is too cold to drink.

THB showers and we head to the breakfast room to be greeted by the unfriendly greeter: direct quote “Oh, it’s you again” in what could be interpreted as a snarl. So she can do English idioms because, while she didn’t actually say YOU IDIOT out loud, somehow it comes through THB’s ears loud and clear. She seems too young to be E. German.

The buffet rolls are very good. THB also has a small bowl of “Alaska” cornflakes (sugar?) with yogurt, a sausage (to keep the bowel system moving), and a cappuccino made by our fave greeter.

Today we truck through much “skulptur,” starting with a tour in morning led by one of the high level curators (a member of selection committee which softly issues invites rather than accepts 100s or 1000s of submissions)

Here’s what we saw (sculpture?):

Dr Britta Peters, our guide for the morning (installation guard in background)

Concrete on walkers

Bronze and painted to match railings

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Is video skuptur? Is the theater really dead?

Stills from the video

Interactive: you push a button and something happens elsewhere

A small part of original theater has been preserved

Window across the street had been empty until...

The button was pushed

Building pool and creating bronze figures was going to be too explensive

So they are made of plaster instead

Then a nice lunch in the museum café which includes a nice brewski for THB and DB, chicken in a spicy red curry and a dessert that seemingly is solid tart jam with a glop of something sweet on top.

Cafe in LWL museum

Chicken in red curry

We have a curator-led overview of a room full of Thomas Burr’s work followed by a tour led by a different museum curator of a show by Michael Dean and a terrific overview of a series by Michael Asher from the archives (maybe THB’s fave idea: placing a caravan in a different spot for 19 weeks every 10 years).

Tape and plastic cover "normal" entrance to installation

You walk around to back and then you can walk amongst ruins

Photos from archives of Asher's every-ten-years caravan pictures

DB and THB split up: DB to go with bus (and SC) for a vision of dystopia by Pierre Huyghe in a derelict ice rink and THB via taxi with DDB (she worked with Donald Judd for 10 years and on this installation) to see Judd’s 1977 work and walk back to the hotel capturing other old and a few current Skulptur installations.

Just before the rain started to fall

We wait out the brief storm under tree

We can't figure this one out...are we inn right place?

It's under a bridge, turns out it is a sound installation without the sound on

A giant antenna

With giant wire letters; we can't read them

A pier and resting spot

Oldenburg

Skulptur in a parking lot

Are posters by Buntes skulptur?

Old installation by Shultte next to kiddie park

THB and DB reunite in hotel around 5 to compare notes before leaving again to walk on water, consider getting tattoos, and getting a tour of an art space (THB has checked his brain by this time).

A tattoo parlor for those of us over 65 with funny tattoos

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A steel grate 6-12" under water, stretched across river (or canal?)

A fancy dinner at the one-star restaurant in the hotel. Tonight’s dressing instructions must be fancy chic: THB pretty much can’t possibly get this even half right, wearing a classic blue blazer and no tie. The meal doesn’t come close to the quality at Breda (which appears doomed to be the comparison point for entire trip…DB picked a good one for us in Amsterdam). The three meat dishes tasted too similar, the veggie courses were good, the dessert too cloying sweet (and very large, which didn’t keep THB from eating it all). The wine was much better: the red was a Cab Sauvignon blend and had more body to it than anything on trip so far.

Part of very eclectic table decoration

Excellent

Fois gras

Veggie dish for SC

Duck

Bison and duck tasted a lot like the fois gras preparation

Intermezzo

Collapse in the room after 10pm, we’ve got an early start tomorrow morning…8am…heading via bus to Kassel and Documenta, another bursting-at-the-seems art event.

Pics from around town: