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Some decisions are better left unexamined. Like why I skipped an advance screening of Beyonce's latest bootylicious star turn for 90 minutes of mind-numbing slides and contemporary art-speak at Reed College. Silly me.
The lecture - which began at 7:00 pm and at which I arrived around 7:25—thank you, Trimet! featured NYC's Museum of Modern Art conservator-in-chief Jim Coddington, a Reed College alum (class of '74). Coddington has, since 1996, been in charge of all matters relating to the care and handling (and occasional restoration) of MOMA's world-class contemporary collections. He's a smart man, impeccably pedigreed and well-established in his field.
He's also, as a speaker, maddeningly old school. In deadpan tone, Coddington plodded through a lackluster slide show and read exclusively from his pre-prepared speech with the enthusiasm of a recent stroke victim.
His subject for the evening—the challenges in conservation and restoration of contemporary art from many mediums—was sporadically intriguing, and he invoked some of the better-known and lesser-known contemporary artists from the mid to late 20th century: Sol LeWitt, Donald Judd, Eva Hesse and Robert Smithson, among others.
Coddington's also something of a scholar on all things Jackson Pollock, and WW asked about his involvement on the authentication of Pollock works, especially in light of the new Teri Horton documentary, which details a working-class woman's claim that her $5 flea market purchase is a bonafide priceless Pollock. His non-response: "I am really good at saying no in about 60 different ways. I'll leave it to others to decide if they're actually the work of Jackson Pollock."
WWeek 2015