Bad Art Has Feelings Too...

Art is only art as long as it makes a statement, as long as it has a purpose. This mantra is true for fine art, (stay posted), as well as good art, decent art, and really really bad art. At our first successful trip to the museum of bad art, (second trip over all…awkward), we, the BoMa bloggers, learned that throwing paint onto a canvas doesn’t constitute art, not even bad art. All of the art displayed in the Museum of Bad Art was made with the intention of being good, with the purpose to make a statement; it just failed. And that’s ok. The Museum of Bad Art is built upon said failure. Many of the artists exhibited in the museum are there because they accepted their failure and submitted their “mistake art” themselves, while other artists, whether amateur or established, don’t even know their art is on display, let alone that it is labeled “bad art.” But Louise said these artists don’t mind when they find out because at least their art is in a museum and as we spotlight lovers/journalists understand, publicity is always good.


Although the BoMa bloggers were amazed that some of the art in the basement of the Somerville movie theater could be called “bad art,” seeing as though never in our wildest dreams could we have produced such art, and if we had we would have thrown ourselves a party, (don’t worry, you’re all invited), we did have some “failure favorites.” One was a sculpture of a skinny man lifting weights, and as the description so wisely enlightened us, not only was his posture unrealistic, lie, impossible, but the man didn’t even look like a human being. He was too twisted around himself and his proportions were quite quite off. Another highlight was the pregnant baby with an old woman’s face and a penis…yeah that happened. Said baby-from-hell will also haunt our dreams and continue staring at us in our mind’s eye for years to come, not just from its angry face, but from the many eyeballs creepily painted all over its confused body. Oy. But our favorite element of the museum was the clever titles and amusing descriptions of the art displayed. We wish we could give you a sample but our wit falls short to the satirical poem about a woman holding a banana as a volcano erupts disproportionally behind her.

In conclusion, we recommend the Museum of Bad Art highly, and our reason for doing so is threefold. One, the art is fun to look at. It is not pretentious or overwhelming like the reputation of some other museums, (although our goal is to prove this unfair statement wrong, we understand some of you will never give the well established museums a chance, so this conclusion is for you)! Two, the museum is entertaining to spend the afternoon in. There is plenty to look at and the ambiance is quirky yet relaxed. And three, a trip to this museum is really an event because to get into the Museum of Bad Art, you have to buy a movie ticket from upstairs. And don’t worry you cynical hot spot hunting non-believers, we didn’t skimp on the full experience. The BoMa bloggers pulled a James Bond maneuver as we nonchalantly strolled into the back row of one of the theaters, sat back, relaxed, and enjoyed the screening of a hilarious documentary about illegal immigration in the United States. We were also able to observe the work behind screening a movie as the professionals in the movie business followed our James Bond example by speaking in walkie talkies and running around the theater fixing lighting and other technical things that went a little over our common heads. It really was quite exciting. The movie was informative and enjoyable and if it is any example of its fellow movies, we highly recommend the Independent Film Festival going on now at the Somerville Theater in Davis Square. After speaking to a mysterious expert on the current festival, we, (she) recommends the movie “Cyrus” with Jonah Hill, especially for our teenage followers, but also for anyone who enjoys independent films.

The Somerville Museum is only a mile away from this exciting hot spot, and a delectable crepe café is right down the street. Thus ends our exciting week of excursions to Somerville, but stay tuned for more reviews of the drama and the joy to be experienced all over Boston.