[NYC] Guggenheim Museum

Last Saturday I decided to visit the Guggenheim museum after failing to get in on the first time.

If you haven't known, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is one of New York's most popular museums, and an impressive landmark of architecture.

Truth be told, I didn't have a lot of prior knowledge before visiting this museum. I saw the architecture, and then I must go. It was that simple.

I found out that the museum was only pay-as-you-wish on Saturday from 5:45 PM until they close at  7:45 PM. Otherwise, you would have to pay a hefty admission fee of $28 per visit.

The first time around, I went with a couple of out-of-town friends to visit this place, but decided not to get in, because the waiting line was literally wrapping 3 sides of the whole block at 5:45 PM =)))

Learning from that time, last Saturday I made sure to come early. I got there 30 minutes before 5:45 PM, due to some weekend subway confusion.

Even though the line was already wrapping around one side of the museum at that point, the wait wasn't too bad.
I managed to finish a chapter of a book while waiting, and as soon as 5:45 PM, the line started moving pretty fast, and I was in after like 10 mins.

Once inside, I needed to buy admission ticket, and the suggested donation was explicitly $10. With all the labor of waiting, I didn't want to pay much for the ticket. I asked them if I could pay $5 with credit card, but they said cash only, so I gave them even less.

After paying $3 for the pay-as-you-wish admission ticket, I was ready to appreciate the museum architecture.

The thing that made Guggenheim Museum stand out was it spiral architecture. It was pretty impressive to look up from the ground floor.

After enjoying the architecture, I made my way up the spiral walkway. The artworks were presented along the walkway, and the walk-up wasn't too steep so you can leisurely enjoy the pieces of art without much efforts.

I soon realized that I didn't have much time, so it was a better idea to save energy and just go straight to the top first, then walk down. I took the elevator to the top, and realized that the view was even more impressive looking down from above. Just enjoy this view.

While walking down the walkway. I soon realized that the exhibition that day was focusing on modern arts by Chinese artists, such as Ai Wei Wei.

Among my favorites was this piece, which signified the contrast between materialistic items (laundry machine, fan, etc.) and Buddhist un-materialistic idealism (the buddha sculptures hanging up-side-down)

Below is  a very radical photograph,

They also have fried plastic tanks,

Some other artworks from my visit:

 

 A lot of scratching

 making a human mountain

What I really liked about this museum was that they had installations, media and sculptures too, not only just paintings like MOMA

 They have sculptures

There were also some western oil canvas paintings too. Some were from Pablo Picasso.

And paintings too

There was also a dragon-like piece hanging in the air. This piece was made from broken bicycles.

Overall, the spiraling walkway really made my experience memorable. I enjoyed the arts while not worrying about getting lost. Just circling around the museum was pretty fun! Great architecture!

Afterwards, I made my way down and visit their gift shops (museums' gift shops always sell interesting items) before leaving for some Texas BBQ for dinner.

 See you at the next museum.

THE END