The Ingo Maurer exhibit was really great. I have never been to the Cooper-Hewitt museum but really loved it. The building in and of itself is very unique, old, and interesting. When we were walking up the stairs and the guide told us to pay attention to the paintings, I noticed how perfect of a transition the staircase was: from the downstairs – quaint and historic architecture – to the upstairs – modern and unique – I thought the talking Carnegie’s helped make that juxtaposition very seamless.
Walking through the exhibit I noticed how funny Ingo Maurer was. Lots of his trinkets and pieces were quite hilarious and reminded me of old restaurant diner’s that find all old antique, almost uncanny, pieces and put them in one big room to really give the place new character.
I was also very impressed with his lighting techniques and pieces. It’s nice to see an artist not only use the actual piece as the visual stimuli but the lighting of the piece to also act upon the piece to make it even more stimulating. His chandelier’s and lamps were most impressive really showed his ability to combine art and uniqueness with household lighting – sort of like how other artists have used household items, like chairs, to create a unique art chair.
Overall, Ingo Maurer seemed like a very interesting and unique character and I really loved a lot of his pieces. I thought he took into account almost every possible facet of the viewer’s experience when he put together this exhibition and I really look forward to seeing more of his stuff in the future at other museums.
