Museum Visit- Nicole Loumeau

I found the Suburbia work to be genius. Bill Owens captured people, not at their best- or their worst moments- but at the moments they wanted the world to see. I feel like the whole gallery was a show. Neither the pictures nor the quotes showed how hard life was during these times in the early 70’s. They only show how peaceful and fun life can be. I love the title of this gallery; “Suburbia”. I think the word suburban has a connotation of this almost fake-like life style. Where people don’t show their neighbors who they are, but rather try to portray themselves to the world as having wonderful lives. They all have secrets and they’re all terrified the guy next door is going to find out. I think Bill Owens captured exactly what suburban life style is all about.


I watched the Vito Acconci film at the Electronic Media Gallery. Something about it made me want to close my eyes, cover my ears, and start singing, “I love to see the Temple”. It was so creepy. I guess the idea can be considered cool. The idea that in 1974 when this film was made, video cameras were the “new art”. Never before did homes have access to make their own videos. So Acconci took this new form of art and made something that represented the journey out west of so many people in the mid 19th century. Back then, the west was the “new” thing. This video is his way of combing two “new” things that changed America. But he could have found a lot less creepy way to do it. I could not sit through the whole 22 minutes and 18 seconds of this movie without feeling like leeches were crawling through my skin.