Checking out Damian Ortega at the ICA with Jlee

So yesterday was Columbus Day (even though he didn't discover sh*t, but don't get me started...) and with no work and no daycare, Jlee and I set out make our own discoveries. First we headed to the ICA to check out the Damian Ortega exhibition Do It Yourself. Immediately Jlee was drawn to it, eyes wide open and pointing "Mommy look! What's that?"



He was instantly drawn to the spinning barrels of "False Movement (Stability and Economic Growth)," 1999. We both enjoyed Ortega's use of common items (chairs, dressers, tortilla chips, rolled pennies...) broken down and reconfigured to create monumental sculptures hinged on tension and balance. Even still objects had movement, as objects were tied together precariously, expectantly, on the edge of their own tipping point.





Then we checked out his mini videos "Nine Types of Terrain," 2007, of bricks laid out like dominoes and set in action. Jlee enjoyed watching all nine films... over and over... So proud that after starting him off early with gallery visits, he now appreciates contemporary conceptual art.

After also going to the duck pond and to the Museum of Science, Jlee and I later followed up our ICA adventure with an activity at home of stacking and creating our own balance sculptures and cause-and-effect actions using blocks, chairs, books, cans, plastic cups, cereal boxes, etc.