While in New York we visited the Guggenheim which is featuring Matthew Barney's Cremaster series (this series of films is also playing in Chicago currently). While it was interesting to watch videos of people scaling the walls of the museum and flinging molten Vaseline on the floor, I was frustrated by exhibit's impenetrability. Everything seemed laden with meaning and symbolism, but nothing moved me. What's more, Barney himself is featured in a number of the films, usually in costume, which gave the whole thing the feeling of an expensive vanity project.

We left after a few hours, but the exhibit stayed with me until the next day, when I found two straws in a bag from a deli and held them to my forehead as I charged across the hotel room at E., yelling, "Look! I'm Matthew Barney as 'The Ram'!"

This is why E. is convinced he married a Philistine, and why I am never invited to any of those swanky art opening occasions.

I was unable to find the photo of "The Ram" character coated in whitish goo that was featured in the exhibit. You'll just have to imagine.