Martin Creed: The Back Door
The other day Tim and I explored the Upper East Side for a fun day date at the Armory. I heard about the exhibition, Martin Creed: The Back Door, through one of my favorite bloggers @Taza on Instagram. When I saw giant white balloons I knew I had to come check it out! (balloons are my favorite) The Back Door is amazingly put together using different styles of art form that create contrast and contradictions as to what you'd expect. The whole interior of the armory is beautiful victorian styled military decor with a twist of modern art thrown into the mix which made each new room an adventure thanks to Mr. Creed. As you walk in you hear curtains closing, 5 musicians walking around singing and playing instruments through various rooms, and lights going off and on. And that's not even the half of it! This exhibit was eye catching and best part, made you think out side the box. YOU became the artist as well, whether you took the pictures, stood in front of the lights, or danced to the beat which the musicians played.
Our favorite part of the exhibit was this balloon filled room. The work is called, "Half the air in a given space" because the balloons are literally so big and so many that you constantly have to keep moving to make way to walk. We came into this room twice and wish we would have gone in a third, fourth, maybe even fifth time because it was that much fun. We played tag and hide & go seek in this room, and let me tell you something Tim had a blast finding me. He would come chasing after me or swoop in from the side and give me a little scare which would result to me giving a shout of excitement, to say the least, haha.
i truly loved seeing tim have the time of his life in this room.
As we continued into the exhibit we stubbled upon interesting, and as Tim would put it peculiar works. My favorite, aside from the grandiose dining hall filled with giant white balloons, would be the stack of legos. Reason being was it felt fun, and crazy- so why not?! Stand tall and be bold!
Tim was fascinated with the stack of plywood. He stared at it and counted each and every one. I found this to be very sweet and endearing. I love seeing him embrace art. I love to know his mind is racing with ideas and engineering theories as to "why".
In the Wade Thompon Drill Hall they played a movie, and at the end of it the garage door would open allowing light in. I enjoyed seeing the city's hustle and bustle when the door would open. I understood what Martin Creed was doing all along. It is all in the way you perceive it and what you do with that knowledge. This exhibit will run until August 7th, so if you're in the city, or would like to do something fun and different I recommend checking this place out. I promise you, you'll want to go through the balloon room more than once.
Cordially yours,
Madi