I absolutely LOVE the weekends in Los Angeles. While my heart is still in San Francisco, I appreciate the pockets of beauty here and there. We decided to go to the Getty Villa this weekend. We had to get tickets early so that there would be parking and whatnot for us. So early on Saturday we headed to Malibu and passed this neat street art.
The cool thing about the Getty Villa is that it's located in this secluded area, up the hill, overlooking the ocean. It's kind of hidden away, which I really like... a quiet cloister in a busy, bustling city.
Anyway, the art here is really cool for me. I like these ancient pieces of art a lot, whereas at the Getty Center, the art is more mixed. There are ancient things, like DaVinci's art or the exhibit on the Old Testament. The books were simply amazing there (I guess I didn't mention it in my last entry). But the bindings were amazing, leather, old, gold... wonderfully intricate and ornate. The paintings, the script and the paper itself was just beautiful. These books were truly masterful pieces of art. But, on the flip side, there is more of this kind of art at the Villa, where each piece is appreciable in all senses by almost anyone. And the architecture, while not my kind of thing, is really beautiful. For instance, on the sarcophagus with scenes of Bacchus was really neat. The description informs us that "images of sleep and rebirth were frequently represented on Roman sarcophagi (coffins). Since the myths of Bacchus told of his death and resurrection, the god was often included in these depictions. Here, Bacchus's consort Ariadne awakens from sleep as his retinue celebrates their union." Beautiful and informational!
If you look up at the picture of the ceramic imitations: the terracotta vessels in this case all have features that mimic ancient gold, silver and bronze vases, such as sharp angles, disks, fluted ribbing, crisp moldings, incisions, applied reliefs and shiny, colored surfaces. Ceramic imitations, which demonstrate the skills of ancient potters, offered consumers inexpensive substitutes for precious metal work. In the picture, this is this "Wine Cup With Eyes" that was made in 520 B.C. It's really neat because the thing-walled bowl and sharply edged foot of this wine cup were derived from prototypes in metal. When the drinker raised the vessel to his lips, the stylized eyes, nose, and ears provided a temporary mask that was thought to guard against evil spirits and also called to mind Dionysos (god of wine and theater). I really liked that idea of drinking being so common and important that you would risk exposure to evil spirits, and I also liked the idea of creating a mask to protect you in this oh-so-important-part-of-life act of drinking.
This is kind of a perverted cup. It's called "Wine cup with flirtation scene" and it depicts a youth wearing a wreath of a symposiast approaching a young woman who is holding a mirror. The youth offers her a flower as an erotic gesture that may be associated with the pleasures of a drinking party. Tsk tsk. It's interesting though, that so much of the greek art pertained to sex and drinking! There were lots of sex scenes on wine cups and bowls and plates, and all of these items were used in activities related to food and drink.
We also went into the jewelry room, which was pretty awesome. I can just imagine discovering some of this stuff, cached away. How must it feel to be the one to dig it up and realize that it was something ancient and precious? The jewelry in this collection was found together and probably hidden by an owner who never returned to retrieve it. It dates to the third and fourth centuries, A.D. The crude carving of some stones suggest that the jewelry was made in one of Rome's provinces in the eastern Mediterranean. The coins used for the belt span the reigns of Roman emperors from Constans (A.D. 337-350) to Theodosius I (A.D., 379-395), and all but one were minted in the eastern Roman Empire. The small size of the belt and bracelets in the collection indicates that they were made for a woman, while the large rings were probably worn by a man. Some of the pieces were modified and reused, and a few show signs of wear. A variety of metalworking techniques were employed to manufacture the objects. Interesting. I wonder what happened to the owner and what prevented him or her from returning to retrieve these treasures?
And I guess I'm not surprised, but some of the best parts of this Getty were also part of the outdoor exhibit. Take this beautiful, intricate mosaic, for instance. The fountain itself is kind of creepy (see the staring eyes and open, gaping maw of the man's head) but is significantly brightened by the happy mosaic.
After spending the morning at the Getty Villa, we drove down the coast a bit and had lunch at Duke's. It's this Hawaiian burger joint that is decent. We ordered a margarita (Mike and I) just to taste, and it was really light, so we have the second half of it to his mom and had another one to ourselves. The food was not bad. The atmosphere was casual and comfortable, and we were seated quickly despite the crowd because we didn't mind being seated at the bar. The service was friendly and pretty quick, although the waitress did mix up our bills with another table (a more expensive bill at that). But overall, the meal was tasty!
Afterward, Mike's Dad suggested that we go to the Lake Shrine. The temple was off-limits, but the garden was available for public viewing. On the way, Mike's mom fell asleep (ah, that half margarita!). Then she exclaimed "We're not home yet?! But it's been so long!" Really, it had been two traffic lights and lots of traffic...Also, she fell asleep and woke up within the space of only 3 minutes, at the very most! Mike's parents are funny and nice. I appreciate that they are game to take me sight-seeing. Otherwise, I don't think we would have gone to the Lake Shrine.
After we went home, I got to meet Avi. He, Mike and I went to Sawtelle to eat some delicious ramen. Yum yum yum...and then we watched Shutter Island. I really appreciated Leonardo DiCaprio's acting. It's come a long way since Titanic, Romeo and Juliet, the Beach, etc. He was always good, but I like how he didn't play the sexy guy in this film (or in Blood Diamond, or Departed - which a lot of people don't know was an adaptation of an Asian film, Infernal Affairs... and when someone once told me "Asians don't make up stories like this" and voiced the belief that Asians aren't creative enough, I was really quite offended). While the plot wasn't completely unpredictable, the ending made the movie really memorable. And the disturbing scenes, the composition, and the nice supporting actors all made it good. I would recommend this movie to people who aren't afraid of a little disturbance, a little creepiness, and haunting sadness.
On Sunday, we took it easy and had lunch at Pitfire Pizza. Then we met Ben (from work) at this bar called Johnnie's, after which Ben drove us (Mike, Hasti and me) to a BBQ at Jim's house. Jim is pretty much the big boss at our agency. He was working at the agency as a law student when it first got started and he's always pretty much been there. The food was great (mountains of potatoes, salad, sausage, turkey, chicken, lamb, steak, quinoa, and smoked corn on the cob. There was also an array of wine and beer. And we spent the night watching the Lakers LOOSE. Frustrating and disappointing, but they'll probably have two more games to go.
[this is good] You take some amazing pictures! And you have quite and engaging and lively way of writing too! I am really happy to have found your blog. That museum looks quite nice. My favorite place to visit was the Asian Art Museum in SF.
Posted by: The Faustian Man | June 29, 2010 at 12:15 AM
I love the Asian Art Museum. I wish I could afford their private/exclusive sneak-peek programs though. I really wanted to go to the Samurai exhibit, but each ticket was about $1,000. With a ticket, you can go in before the public gets to see the exhibit, have a fancy dinner with cocktails and such, and then get a private tour of the collection. Awesome. :)
Posted by: Barley | July 12, 2010 at 10:54 PM