I’ve been taking a beginning drawing class on Monday evenings at the adult education center where I teach crochet. This past Monday, for some reason I was in the crankiest mood ever, totally hulking out. So I decided to skip class and go home to hide under my comforter instead. On the bus ride home, I glanced at the open Metro the woman next to me was reading and caught a blurb about fashion designer and winner of the first season of Project Runway, Jay McCarroll. I totally love this dude, personality- and design-wise, and often watch a youtube of his Project Runway Bryant Park show to cheer myself up. Since I’m just coming out of hermit-Christina mode (see this post) after a dark winter, I had no idea that 1. there was a documentary about Jay McCarroll, 2. it was playing the 2008 Independent Film Festival of Boston, 3. Jay McCarroll and the directors would be doing a Q&A after the screening that night.

Now I am the reigning champ of making up excuses in order to avoid leaving the house unless totally necessary (like in order to prevent starvation). But somehow I caught a second wind, shoved some tofu scrambler in my grill when I got home and left the house for David Square. Go me.

Eleven Minutes follows Jay through a year where he designs and shows his first line, Transport. Contrary to the illusion that Project Runway creates that you win and suddenly become <Heidi Klum voiceover> “America’s next top designnnnnner” </HKVO>, Eleven Minutes attempts to give you the real deal about what goes into a fledgling designer’s first line. McCarroll has talent, charisma and humor coming out of all sorts of orifices. I could have sat there and watched two more hours worth of Jay-vision. You can’t help but want everything to go smoothly for Jay through the film (it does and it doesn’t)! But there wouldn’t be an interesting film in the mix if everything did go smoothly for him though. Eleven Minutes is a love letter to the creative process and all the highs and lows that go with it. He is able to pull off a really cohesive and beautiful show of his line, but doesn’t get the sales that he was hoping for. (P.S. it was absolutely terrifying to see what it’s like to navigate an industry I may be peripherally involved in some day.)

After the film there was a Q&A with directors Michael Selditch and Rob Tate and McCarroll, who met during Project Jay, a one hour special for Bravo on what Jay was up to after his PR win. I got some okay pictures of Jay, but none of the directors, who were both wearing really excellent Jay designed items. Jay McCarroll has a line coming out this fall on QVC. Sizes of items will range from XS to 3X!!

Jenny Holzer pencils. Purchased at MASS MoCA 2/29/2008.

Last week I drove to North Adams, MA (the furtherest northwestern corner of Massachusetts for those unfamiliar with our great state) for work. My job usually entails a whole lotta sitting in a messy cubicle, writing IRB amendments, reconciling grant financials. So getting paid to drive 3+ hours, set up recording equipment and tent cards for a focus group and stay in a posh hotel room with a fireplace was an incredibly welcome change. As a bonus, I was invited to take Friday off to enjoy the Berkshires.

North Adams is also the home of the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA). Awesome. MASS MoCA is currently exhibiting Jenny Holzer’s Projections (through Fall 2008) and a very large collection of Spencer Finch’s work entitled “What Time is it on the Sun?” (through Spring 2008). Doubly awesome. Honestly, I know very little about fine art. I do know that both of these exhibits are top notch.

Projections… what can I say? She’s fucking Jenny Holzer! This is her first interior light projection installation in the US. And it’s a doozy. Luckily there’s a video of the installation and a webcam broadcasting live when the museum is open. I have to say, it’s a poor replacement for seeing it in person. I also scored a few of her “truisms” pencils, which I’ll post pictures of when I get home.

Then there was Spencer Finch exhibit, including a few installations created specifically for MASS MoCA. It blew. my. fucking. mind. Finch’s work deals heavily with color, memory, perception, and the passage of time. My favorites were Trying to Remember the Color of Jackie Kennedy’s Pillbox Hat (1994), 102 Colors from My Dreams, Night Sky (Over the Painted Desert, Arizona, January 11, 2004) (2004), CIE 529/418 (CANDLELIGHT) (2007), West (Sunset in my motel room, Monument Valley, February 26, 2007, 5:36 - 6:06 pm) (2007) and Abecedary (Nabokov’s Theory of a colored Alphabet applied to Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle) (2004).

The only problem with seeing such a amazing exhibit is that I couldn’t take every piece home with me. But then it turned out I could because MASS MoCA was selling a beautifully put-together monograph of the whole show.