by Ralph
on January 5, 2012
While in LA last month, we visited several art museums Since moving north. we miss the museums we love in LA and savor any opportunities to visit then when we go south. We started on Thursday afternoon after our morning flight by visiting the Orange County Museum of Art in Newport Beach. It was a beautiful day to drive down Highway 1 through the Orange County beach towns. We had never visited that museum although we are anticipating an upcoming exhibition of Richard Diebenkorn next year. What we found was a small building completely filled with an exhibit of new developments in contemporary art – a time-wasting compilation of all the tedious ideas we suffered through and tried to appreciate from the 60’s , things like TV sets playing something, video projectors, objects lying on the floor and a bevy of signs outside the building. It took about 30 minutes to determine that nothing of interest was included and since no real art was in evidence, we were back in the car very quickly and back to our hotel in Manhattan Beach.
Friday, I had my tax appointment in Hollywood but my wife used the time to visit LACMA. She dropped me off and then when I finished with the taxes we returned to the museum The museum continues to evolve, having rejected an revolutionary remodel being proposed in 2004 with a more evolutionary one. There is nothing lovely about the museum complex, however many times they rework it and the new building is just one more odd thing artfully imposed into the mix. The new building (the Broad Contemporary Art Museum) was designed by Renzo Piano. The exhibition spaces seemed fine. You can’t actually look at the museum because of construction around it. What impressed me most is the similarity to the IKEA store in Carson which you enter via a very long escalator to the top where you begin your explorations. Somehow that seemed odd because there was no real reason to start at the top and once you were in there was no other direction provided. You just wander aimlessly like your would in any other museum. By the time we explored the new museum, there wasn’t much time left so we cut off a visit to my favorite Hockney in the Art of the Americas building. To be continued.
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by Ralph
on January 5, 2012
Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood…Make big plans, aim high in hope and work.
- Daniel H. Burnham
Leave them impressed
2011 is history. I had big plans and expectations for 2011 and it didn’t turn out quite the way I wanted. I expected to accomplish more and be in a different place than I am today. I expected to have generated some income through web commerce by now, have my blogs refined and integrated into a clear web presence and get my social media platforms in better shape. I’m disappointed and discouraged and it leaves me with doubts as I start the new year. What was the problem? Did I over commit? Was I confused about my mission? Or was I just lazy?
Time for reflection.
Understanding and measuring my progress is critical as I make my plans for 2012. Misunderstand and I risk serious damage to my future. I need to make big plans and set outrageous goals for the year but if I don’t correctly assess this years accomplishments I risk my future success. Right now it seems to me that I expected too much from myself. The goals I set for 2011 were just not reachable. This suggests that this years goals ought to be more modest. But there is another perspective.
Timid goals don’t excite.
The benefit of having outrageous goals is that they get you excited. You look at the big picture and let the details blur so you can picture the win. Sometime you don’t even know all those pesky details that you will have to master on the way to your goal. But that blissful ignorance lets you focus on the big prize at the end and motivates you to surge ahead.
I didn’t know last year all the details along the way to my goals. Through 2011 I struggled through many obstacles I didn’t know existed when I started the year. I mastered some, got proficient with others and still struggle with the rest. Knowledge of those details can either beat me down or give me confidence to move ahead and engage with even more.
Swallow my pride.
Not reaching a goal is a blow to the ego. But is it a reason to start doubting abilities and cutting back your goals? I say it is a matter of timing. Not reaching a goal is not the same as failing – unless you quit. It just means that I needed more time. Unless I give up, I am still in the hunt. Maybe my limited progress is a sign of incompetence or maybe just being lazy. Nobody can say but me. But those problems are completely under my control. I can fix both of those problems given enough time.
So how should I interpret my failure?
And what does that failure say to me about setting goals and working plan? Should I be more modest and realistic? Should I accept that my potential is limited?
What can I say. I could have worked harder. I could have worked smarter and with better focus. Maybe I dropped the ball from time to time. Maybe I got sidetracked by diversions. Maybe I grabbed some other idea that seemed promising but was just a rabbit trail leading nowhere. But the bottom line is that I am still in the hunt. I didn’t reach my goals for 2011. But however you look at it, I am way ahead of where I was last year.
Today’s challenge.
So my challenge today is to think big about 2012. I need to make plans for this year that are just as outrageous as last year’s seemed a year ago. This is no time for complacency. No time for whining or complaining. It ‘s time to make those big plans with the magic to stir my blood.
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