The Power of Shared Ideas by Lilly Harvey

Walking through Mass Moca can only be described as an adventure. Complete with bridges, strange rooms, and mysterious tunnels, everything about Mass Moca is an experience.  Mass Moca features unique contemporary art, which is all displayed in an old industrial building.  By simply wandering through Mass Moca you can discover all sorts of unique artwork.   While all of the art is contemporary, a large variety of pieces are displayed. Some of the is work extremely large and impressive but there are also smaller pieces of work displayed as well.   When I initially looked at some of the art I have to admit I was most often confused more than anything else.  However, when I took the time to think about what I was seeing I found deeper meaning in each piece. 

There was one piece in particular that really made me think.  The piece was located in a smaller gallery, which could be easily missed if you weren’t looking carefully.  The gallery featured six artists, all looking at the space of a library and what that means.  The artists investigated a library as a place where people can share ideas through books.  The gallery also delves into the sharing of ideas in a day and age where social media is such a prevalent way to share our thoughts.

While there were several pieces in this gallery that intrigued me, “Marginalia,” by Jonathon Gitelson really made me think about libraries in a different way.  The piece displayed markings and ephemera that have been left behind in library books. This includes letters, newspaper clippings, polaroid pictures, dried flowers, faded pictures, and wrinkled maps.   I was completely fascinated by these pieces of themselves that people had left behind in library books.  I found myself reading all the letters and thinking about the people who wrote them.  There was something intriguing about the ambiguity of these objects and the stories that they held. 

There was one letter in particularly that I found myself reading over and over, thinking about the person behind these words.  The letter was written on a yellowing, crumpled up piece of paper with a green crayon.  The letter was from a younger child, judging from the messy handwriting and spelling, to his mom.  He was complaining about how his mom always made him eat healthy food, which made him mad.  He also complained about how he didn’t like that his mom always made him go to school.  He went on to describe everything else that he didn’t like about her but at the end he messily scrawled, “but its okay because I love her.” As I read these words, I could almost picture this small, chubby cheeked kid clumsily scribbling these words on this piece of paper. While this letter told a story it also left a lot of questions.  When was this written? How did it end up in a library book? Why did this kid write a letter to his mom? How long ago was this written? How old is this kid now? While part of me wanted to know the answers to these questions another part was perfectly happy leaving them unanswered.  The mystery that these objects held was part of what made them so special. 

This piece perfectly sums up what makes Mass Moca a notable experience.  While the work can seem initially strange, it really causes you to think.  “Marginalia,” really made me think about the importance of a place like in a library in a time with e-books and kindles.  There were many other pieces that made points that were just as intriguing, but this one just happened to be the piece that spoke to me the most.  If you are looking for a unique experience that will make you think I would highly recommend Mass Moca!