So, last night I went to the Hirshorn museum. It’s in D.C. for those who don’t know. It’s a pretty dope place. I’m not the type to use terms like that on the regular, but they have some cool events there. I once saw Jim Henson’ s work there and it included his early noted and sketches. That alone made me love that museum.

It’s so different from its sister museums like the Air and Space where there are so many people. And it not so touristy, not that there is anything wrong with tourists, we are all tourists when we visit other places. It’s not crowded and has more obscure exhibitions. I like seeing less traditional works to break me out of my shell a bit.

This is a link to what we got to witness last night https://hirshhorn.si.edu/exhibitions/brand-new-art-commodity-1980s/https://hirshhorn.si.edu/exhibitions/brand-new-art-commodity-1980s/ . But add in a DJ, good eats, and drinks stands and it was a hipster party. And for a couple of hours I felt like one of them. Though I am cooler than most of the moms I know, I felt like I stood out like a sore thumb. 🙂

What was great is I got in free to this event because my kid is involved in the arts and got me in. Anyone can go to the exhibit, last night was just a special gig for 21 and up. I got to skip the line of 200 people and it was freezing cold, so I felt all VIP. And it made me wish I lived in D.C. proper so that I could be privvy to more of these exclusive events.

This display boldly splayed consumerism and the material world that we celebrated on a grand scale. Even still, I had a huge and cheesy smile on my face as I walked through MY decade. I spent the lower half of the 80s as a little kid and the last half listening to Madonna and putting on makeup and crimping my hair. My coming of age time was all over the walls, it was enthralling.

There were many people there under 30 who probably viewed the art and the decade with furrowed brows and judgement. Yes it was a label-heavy time. I concur that it was a time of excess. But I love (d) it. It was colorful, the music was fun and the hair-oh my!! Messages in media were clear. There was no guessing about what a message meant. Reporters still existed. As fake and fluffy as everything seemed then, it was “realer” than anything today. Big time.

Needless to say, I love the time in which I grew up. But most people do. Besides the 50s though, I haven’t witnessed a decade in which people still cling to and try to recreate more than the great 80s. At schools, people still have 80s day or sock hops or re-creations of Grease.

I’m not saying I don’t like other periods of time I love the music of the nineties especially some of the alternative and the R&B girl groups. I’m just saying that sometimes it’s nice to think of a time where escapism seems like the theme. Of course there were things that weren’t as good in the eighties and certainly not the 50s as they are today especially in race relations or a woman’s place in society.

But for last night I remembered lace gloves, rubber bracelets multi colored eyeshadow and a time of innocence and wonder. I miss in TV when it played music and The Muppet Show and the NBC lineup on Thursday nights. I still listen to 80s music and I’m so thankful that my kid has embraced a lot of it as well.

I’m thankful for art of all kinds even though some of it is weird or too modern for me, it really takes people to a different place and allows people to see through others eyes. Sometimes we can relate and sometimes we can’t, but “the whole point of art is to be shared and seen” (quote from ML). And I’m glad I got to witness it last night.

If you can’t go to the Hirshhorn anytime soon, I encourage you to go see art whenever you can. Be it in the form of live music, a poetry slam, or Visual Arts. It really is enriching and at times endearing…

simply

~Dee