In which I give MOCA a to-do list, or maybe just some more unsolicited suggestions on how to get past hitting bottom. Consider this my belated Chanukkah gift to you, you crazy museum, you.
1 ) The disturbing thing about last Tuesday’s announcement was that no trustees stepped down. I guess letting them buy their way out of shame may be helpful to the endowment, but it was their collective poor judgment that drove MOCA to the brink of collapse, and the fact that the board even considered selling off the collection or being eaten whole by LACMA as viable options has further convinced many that MOCA’s board may be dangerous to MOCA itself. Public confidence in MOCA can only be achieved if major changes occur on the board, including new a new chair or chairs.
2 ) Get that permanent collection on display, permanently. Do this at Grand Avenue, which is a sub-par space, anyways, and which has a parking deficiency that is crippling to MOCA. People will come to see the collection, and MOCA can concentrate on other things, primarily at the Geffen. Using the Grand Avenue space for this purpose is a perfect match until the area transforms in the next decade as it gets rehabbed from the ghost town that it is now.
3 ) Make the Geffen Contemporary the center of MOCA’s programming. Get that space open, permanently, even if it means doing slightly risky, local things on the cheap. It is the responsibilty of MOCA to do two things at that space. First, to deliver ongoing, continuous contemporary art programming. Second, to be part of the cultural life of the City. Interpret those missions loosely, but keep the damn doors open. The Geffen should be the new center of the universe for MOCA. That’s how the City is coming to understand the institution - it’s in a livable neighborhood, adjacent to transit, has ample parking and there’s some damn good ramen nearby.
4 ) Tie up loose strings. If the Geffen is going to be closed for a while, and there is at least $35 million coming in right now (15 from Broad and a pledged/promised 20 more from the board), blow some money on getting a new roof and whatever climate control doo-dads are needed for the space. Just get it over with. Keep the look, though - the Geffen is beautiful. I don’t even want to hear an architect’s name mentioned. This is about repair, not about design.
5 ) Find a purpose in life for the Pacific Design Center space. I understand that MOCA has just signed a 15 year contract for the space, and it’s a donation from a board member and MOCA receives funds to run it, but it has no mission, brand or identity. Either find a way out of the contract and shut it down, or give it a specific, separate purpose. MOCA is spread too thin and the PDC is a “institutional mental distraction” that the organization doesn’t need.
6 ) Get lean and relevant again. MOCA needs to stop humping the leg of both Europe and the art market. Basquiat, Weiner, Kippenberger, Murakami, Bourgeois? Where is the vision here? How risk averse do you want to get? MOCA needs to be about tomorrow, not yesterday. You know what MOCA show everyone always brings up when they talk about MOCA’s legacy? Helter Skelter. And that was sixteen years ago. In the 20th Century. Before the Internet. Etc…
Being relevant means embracing the potential for failure. I’d rather see an ambitious, but flawed, show that introduces new voices to the conversation than a safe bet on promotional steroids, any day of the week. We’re overdue for a game changing mindblower from MOCA. There’s a mile-long list of contemporary folks who are making work right now who aren’t getting museum attention in LA - opportunities are being missed (and not just by MOCA).
7 ) MOCA already contains the elements of leanness and relevance. Poetics of the Handmade was the best show I saw at MOCA in years. The Andrea Zittel show was underpromoted, buried under the controversy and attention that WACK! generated. While Skin+Bones was a mess of a show (there was some great stuff in the building, but the curatorial premise was never followed through on, and the design of the exhibition faltered at numerous points), at least MOCA was trying. Again, while WACK! was a dogpile of an exhibition that overlooked some key artists (Rachel Rosenthal being the most obvious) and included some poor choices (both Louise Bourgeois and Eva Hesse were totally out of place in the show), the catalog was amazingly well done and will be a must read for college students and curators for decades to come.
8 ) Develop a Pacific Rim focus. LA is a Pacific Rim city, and we need to look across the Pacific for partnerships and inspiration. There is an opportunity for a West Coast institution to birth the kind of cultural exchange that could be definitive in determining the emergence of a global arts culture. Many Angelenos are more interested in Latin American and Asian perspectives on contemporary art than European ones - bring those inside the museum. I want to see focused surveys that tell me what is going down in Beijing, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Lima, Vladivostok, Mexico City, etc… Champion artists who American audeineces aren’t familiar with but should be. Lead, dammit. MOCA’s programming is a continuation of a tradition that treats European culture as insider culture and continues to treat non-European culture as composed of outsiders, and that must be shoved into a Western model in oder to be relevant.
And, no, the Murakami show doesn’t count. How tough is it really to slap together a chronological mid-career retrospective of a single artist, who’s commercial success is overwhelming and fixed? Sure, there’s a lot of work to be done because of the scale, but really? When Murakami curated Superflat, that was interesting, game changing and generationally influential. Every damn piece of paper to scoot out of MOCA in 2007 described © MURAKAMI as “the most important… we’re doing in 2007/2008″ or something along those lines, basically dissing every other show. Sorry MOCA, but Poetics of the Handmade was the most important and interesting thing you did in 2007, and on your website there’s only six tiny pictures and a brief descriptor for the show. Be proud of yourself when you do something that’s new, that might require you to work a bit to sell the project to a short sighted and glamour-oriented public. Stop trying to hide behind celebrity and Kanye West spectacles.
9 ) This is MOCA’s opportunity to deliver an international biennale to Los Angeles. There are very few international biennales or analogous events in the United States (SITE Santa Fe’s bienalle being the major standout), and LA is the ideal location for a globally oriented, forward-looking one. With New York blowing it’s leadership position, an art scene so bloated and provincial that it can’t see past Brooklyn when it comes to global vision or historical perspective, this is LA’s opportunity to be wide open to new ideas and global opportunities. The Port of LA most recently tried to tackle the concept and couldn’t handle it (they weren’t willing to provide the nucleus of cash that a biennale program and its major sponsors gathers around), and no one else in LA has either the venue (the Geffen is perfect as a hub) or the right profile. MOCA needs to reinvent itself - the Engagement Party series is a first step in the right direction, but MOCA has the muscle to think really, really big.
A lot of MOCA’s financial problems seem are directly tied to the board’s desire to go for expensive spectacle and hope the money would follow. Well, the board’s idea of spectacle turned out to be pretty mundane (spending a pile of money on prgramming does not automatically generate spectacle, nor does it grow more money), and a biennale program can attract major corporate money and sponsorships that slap boosters onto your investment. It’s also an opportunity to partner with LA based organizations with niche specializations, like American Cinematheque, The Cinefamily, The Getty Research Institute or Freewaves on the film/video front, for example. Or to partner with non-LA organizations and groups. Museums are often at their best when they loosen up by partnering with the community or other organizations. It’s also an opportunity to attract curatorial visions from outside the institution (especially from outside the United States) - your audience doesn’t care if you cook up the idea yourself, what we care about is if you deliver the programming we demand and deserve.
10 ) LA is a town that loves a comeback. Our streets are littered with actors, musicians and artists who have exploded, imploded, melted down, and risen from the ashes, bigger and better than before. While MOCA’s financial implosion might turn off the confetti machine for a while, our Hollywood mentality is eternally forgiving, and even if MOCA does spend some time in rehab, it is only natural in this artificial paradise that MOCA’s next act is bigger, more dramatic and exciting than anything that’s happened in the past.
Technorati Tags: ten, list, MOCA, museum, unsolicited advice
