October 10, 2010: Palace of Arts, Budapest

October 10, 2010: Today I decided to go check out the Budapest Palace of Arts. It required me to take a bus and then a tram to get there. On the tram I sat across from a grandfather holding a tiger. See for yourself:

Figure: boy on tram with tiger makeup.

The Palace of Arts is a modern building that was finally constructed despite considerable rancor by people who didn't want to disturb the beauty of the Danube with such a modern building. And modern it is -- but also very impressive. I guess it has been accepted for the most part by now.

Figure: Budapest Palace of Arts

When I arrived, there was a children's workshop going on. Children were all over the place working on art projects, participating in singing, playing with puppets, etc. I roamed around inside and found nice areas where (I imagine) they must give talks about the music before it's heard. As you can see, the inside of the building is very spacious and modern. I picked up the calendar for the season and noticed that one of my favorite jazz pianists will be performing here on November 25th. His name is Brad Mehldau and he'll be performing with Joshua Redman. Should be a very good concert. I know that shortly after appearing here, Brad will be performing at Disney Concert Hall and Ruth will be hearing him, too. I wonder if he'll be doing many of the same works. 

Inside the Budapest Palace of Arts

At one side of the main floor, I found the Ludwig Museum. I went to the ticket booth to see how much it would cost -- free for me because of my International Teachers Card (otherwise it would have been around 1900 forints -- almost $9.50). (By the way, the exchange rate between the US dollar and the Hungarian forint has changed significantly since I've been here -- going from 222 forints per US dollar back in August to 195 forints now!) There were three exhibits showing in the museum, the first of which was a light art show by Kepes Gyorgy and Frank Malina. The works were, not surprisingly, based on shining different colored lights through the media. Some of them were mechanized to spin color palettes in a pin wheel effect to create different colors and shapes. It must have been quite avant garde for the time they were created in the 1960's, but of course art has surpassed this stage now. However, what REALLY caught my eye and ear was a video on a TV that was speaking English. When I looked more closely, I recognized five men lying in what looked like the Arroyo Seco launching a rocket. I watched the video more closely and came to learn that Frank Malina was one of the suicide squad of five ballistic engineers who did experiments with rockets in the Arroyo Seco and that they were the five individuals who created what would become JPL! Watching the video further, I saw video for the detailed launches of some of these rockets with these five engineers hiding behind sandbags with protective glasses to prevent their corneas from being exposed to bright lights. It was fascinating. Frank Malina and the others would eventually work for von Karman and were eventually ousted during the McCarthy generation. Who would have thought that I'd encounter something so close to me at an art exhibit in Budapest!

The next exhibit was a photography exhibit of Martin Munkacsi. After looking at the photos and reading about this photographer, I developed a new appreciation for what makes a good photographer (NOTE: I am NOT one of them!) Take a look at some of his photos at 

http://www.google.hu/images?hl=hu&q=Martin+Munkacsi&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=xsaxTPf_GdHCswatlvmvDQ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CC0QsAQwAA&biw=1280&bih=607 

and see for yourself what makes a good photographer. (If you cannot click on the above to open the file, copy and paste it into your browser.) The exhibit was outstanding. 

After that it was on to the third exhibit of very modern art. All I can say is that it rivaled the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's new wing which houses so-called paintings that are rectangles that are solid red, or a rectangle that is solid black with a word written in white on it. I've tried hard to appreciate such "art" but have failed miserably to see what all the "art" is. Well, the third exhibit was sort of like that, but at least the solid colors had some sort of texture to them. Maybe when I'm more sophisticated, I'll understand it all.

After going to the museum, I went outside to take a look at a weird structure that has a spiraling walkway to the top of it. 

Figure: spiraling tower next to Budapest Palace of Arts

On the way up, I noticed below me a large maze of bushes that kids were trying to get through. 

Figure: Maze

I also noticed that between the museum and the Danube River there were paths, one for joggers, one for bicyclists, and one for pedestrians. How nice to be able to do those activities without having to worry whether you'll be hit by a wayward car or bus. 

Figure: jogges, bicyclists, and pedestrian paths next to the Danube

After climbing to the top and coming back down, I noticed that there is another museum inside the structure. This exhibit was just as elusive as the third exhibit I saw at the Ludwig Museum. There were several rooms off a central spiral staircase inside the building, each room labeled with an emotion (e.g., Love, religion) and all that was in each room was a mostly black "painting" that looked like it was a huge fingerprint when you examine it closely. All of the "emotions" looked about the same, so you can tell I need to learn about appreciating this, too. 

Figure: inside the spiraling tower

After the spiral building, I visited the impressive building next to the Palace of Arts. I believe (but am not really sure) that this building is used for arts events, too. In front of this building was a rather modern garden with all sorts of strange sculptures, one of a temple that looks like it collapsed into a lake, another of a gate, and many bronze statues. I walked the length of this garden and enjoyed seeing Hungarian couples and families just walking and enjoying the good weather.

Figures: the garden and Hungarian National Theatre next to the Palace of Arts


I returned home by dismounting the tram at the downtown market. When crossing the street I was pleasantly surprised to see the mall that had been completed since I arrived in Budapest in August. Back then this area was a big eyesore with much digging and construction going on. And now, the area is completely covered with nice stone to walk on and a new working fountain.

Figure: new mall across from the downtown market.

But with this area completed, I also discovered that the area where I used to take a tram from Deak ter to Buda has been dug up so that it is no longer possible to take the 47 or 49 trams. In fact, when I walked by it today, I noticed that construction men were hard at work digging up tram rails and the street. I'm sure that they'll be replacing the tram lines, but it's anyone's guess as to when this will be complete. Just as I learn how to get from Deak ter to Buda, now they do this so I have to find an alternate route!!Budapest, don't mess with me!

On the way home, I noticed AGAIN a woman who had dyed her hair in an unusual color. I don't know what fashions are like in the US anymore, but here in Hungary, I'm finding it more in vogue for women to dye their hair anything from carrot orange to magenta to (my favorite color) puce! Now Ruth, don't get any ideas to follow suit and dye your hair puce just for me. I've been meaning to take a picture of women with this color hair but don't want to be too obvious about it when I'm clicking my camera. Here's a picture of a woman with puce colored hair. I'll try to get another picture some other day so you can get the effect without all the shade.

Figure: woman at bus stand with puce hair