Visual Acoustics: Cleveland Premiere

(1.28.10)

The adventure began yesterday at 4 pm on Summit street. David, Nick, Tyler, Dana and I crammed into David's little car knowing quite well that we would have to book it and make no wrong/missed turns if we wanted to make it to The Cleveland Museum of Art for the Cleveland Premiere showing of Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman at 5:30.

First missed turn: right onto 43. Note: still in Kent. Off to a good start!

The next missed turn was a crucial one; instead of taking the highway to Cleveland (which only makes sense, right?) we took a right towards Erie, PA. Thank you, GPS.

After Tyler's iPhone GPS rerouted the digital copy of our intended journey, we missed the next entrance ramp to Cleveland.

So, when 5:25 rolled around David's little car was crammed with five people, the majority of which were frustrated and anxious to find the Cleveland Museum of Art and make the 5:30 showing. The next glitch happened when we realized that 1831 E 36th street is not in fact the location of the museum. We were really at a loss now and Tyler's iPhone was steadily decreasing in battery life. We asked a parking lot guard for directions, he told us CMA was on 118th and didn't try to hide the you're-clearly-lost-tourists tone in his voice.

We arrived to the art museum at about 6:00 and bought our tickets for the second showing. With an hour of time to kill we walked upstairs to the galleries for a quick look at the museum's collection. When the Cleveland premiere let out a few minutes before 7:00 we found seats in the small lecture hall and the documentary began promptly. The opening animations were compelling, sucking our interest in with masterful ease. We met Julius Shulman, his garden, and his passion within the first few minutes. It was fascinating to watch architecture and photography meld together so cleanly that even one who has no interest in the two arts would feel a twinge of jealousy. Shulman delivered architectural modernism wrapped in a comforting homeliness to the world. He firmly, but in no way obnoxiously, stamped his artistic presence into history; Visual Acoustics conveyed this master's accomplishments beautifully. Thus, despite the frustrating drive from Kent to Cleveland, the whole adventure was a success and most enjoyable.

Julius Shulman Film (website)

...carolyn