Coming to the MAD Museum helps a person explore art on a more creative level, and also helps when you want to find something good to review.  If one of us Teen Reviewers and Critics was not interested in writing a review from an outing (cause it hadn’t moved us one way or the other), we could always write one for an exhibition at the MAD.  It is our home on Columbus Circle every week!  And in addition to exploring the main show “Slash: Paper Under the Knife,” we had time to see other two exhibitions: “Ghost Stories” and “Reveling the Collection.”

“Ghost Stories” caught my eye because the creativity of the design firm Nendo definitely shows.  Everything looks so glamorous from afar, and when viewed up close, you see the flaws and even the process through which sculptures and furniture were made.  When you see the video of the artists making their work, you see how they create illusions.  Everything was made from common objects such as wood, plastic, tinting, metal bars, and even polyester cloth.  One piece, Blown Color, displays mushrooms.  At first it looks like paper, but you ask yourself  “How can paper be manipulated in such a way?”  It’s not paper; it’s polyester cloth formed on light bulbs.  Such beauty by an illusion, all at once.  I loved it.

Shao Fan, "King," 1996. Photo Credit: Ed Watkins, 2008

On the third floor (I experienced this twice) was one piece that was also very inspirational.  In the exhibition “Revealing the Collection” two chairs formed one big chair.  The old chair is cut in half, one on either side of the new chair. They are bound together to make one big chair. This can be related to life. The old person is bried but has told many new people what to expect, and the new people keep that old voice with them for the rest of their lives. Shao Fan’s creation is very deep in meaning and one art piece intrigues one to see more.

In conclusion, I love it at the MAD, for their art work and also their friendly staff.