Arte a la Malba

The Malba is a modern art museum that features works by Latin American artists. It's small enough to see in just a couple of hours, which is always nice, and it's housed in a lovely building with lots of light and a couple of outdoor spaces.

At the moment, their featured artist is Marta Minujin, an Argentine who has been working prolifically since the 1960's. A lot of her work has involved audience participation and been done on a grand scale, like a replica of the famous Obelisco of Buenos Aires covered in loaves of sweet bread which was unveiled and then dismantled, with all the loaves of bread given away to the viewers.

I first saw her on an episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations (The Argentina episode). She talked about using food in her art because then people can participate in the piece by eating it and then shitting it out (her words), and so the art itself is just a moment in time that goes the same way everything else does. It was a very comprehensive exhibit with pieces from different periods in her life, including a replica of a bedroom with a live couple laying in bed and a room built of mattresses, plus many of the sketches and models she made for her larger structures.

Sadly I have no photos, but there is plenty of information to be had on the internet, including her own website, and of course Wikipedia.

Seeing this exhibit was really exciting and inspiring in many ways. Though I'm not (yet) a world-renowned artist creating massive public works, I feel encouraged to look for my own ways of playing with the world around me. And when I feel sad that life is so inconstant and that the world is always changing, I hope I'll remember that eventually everything gets eaten and shit out, but there is always more beauty to be found and created. Who's to say that cooking and sharing a meal with a few friends isn't just as monumental as a Statue of Liberty covered in strawberries? After all, they both end the same way.