Ethnography

          On Monday April 28, 2014 at 1:56pm I made my way to the Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla. While observing a woman and two men she was with and an older couple, I noticed that a museum filled with thousands of dollars worth of beautiful art work was not nearly as enticing to them as the ocean view was. I found it interesting to see them enjoy the ocean view in a space where people go to look art work.

When I walked into the first room, I noticed two men staring at a piece by William Powhida, How to Destroy LA. They both had their arms crossed, stood fairly close to the piece for a good three minutes reading the words and phrases and never exchanged any words with each other. They were dressed very casually wearing capri like shorts, sneakers, tank top, and one of them had a camera around his neck, although I never saw him use it. As they made their way to the next several pieces of art work, one of the guys walked over to the woman. They admired a piece by Ramiro Gomez, Yahaira with the Laundry Basket. She was dressed in jeans, black sweater, sneakers, a fanny pack around her waist, and a purse hanging from her shoulder. She pointed to something in the painting and started to speak in Spanish with the man. They continued to speak in Spanish as they made their way to the last few paintings in that room.

I continued to walk around the museum where I ran into the woman again. This time she is alone sitting on a beach in a room with a huge window that overlooks the ocean. She reached in her bag to grab a notebook/journal and starts writing. Her comportment seemed relaxed as her legs were crossed writing in her journal with an ocean view in front of her. She just sits there for eight minutes before one of the guys she is with comes over and sits next to her. I could not tell how close they were sitting from where I was standing. They sat on the bench and looked out of the window as they spoke in Spanish. I went around the museum again making sure I saw everything before heading outside. I walked back to see if they were still sitting there and they still were. It must have been about fifteen minutes since I left and came back to see them still talking to each other as they waited for the other man to join them.

I finally made my way outside to enjoy the scenery and sunshine myself  when I saw a older couple, old enough to be my grandparents, sitting on a beach in the shade looking out at the ocean and the construction men working down below. The older man was wearing glasses, a baseball cap, long gray sweatpants, and a jacket. The woman was wearing leggings and a red sweater. The older man sat on a padded cushion with his back hunched over. The woman’s comportment was upright sitting at the edge of the bench watching the men work down below. She got up a few times to watch what they were doing, and she seemed to come back and till the older man. They reach into the paper bag, which is in the middle of them, and eat a snack as they enjoy the view. As time passed by, the older man dozed off. The woman sat next to him peacefully with her legs crossed. At that moment, I started to think about my own grandparents and how they could just sit next to each other, not say a word, and just enjoy each other’s company and the space around them. I remember watching my grandpa fall asleep in his rocking chair in the middle of the afternoon on a peaceful day such as this one. The sound of the drill woke up the older man. It must have been a good thirty minutes from when I first came outside and watched them. As they got up to leave, the older woman held the bag and the cushion in one hand and held the door open for the older man in the other. She turned to him and said, “I don’t think this is the way we came in.” I sat outside for a few more minutes before I made my way back to the museum.

I enjoyed my time at the Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla. I was not expecting to document people enjoying the ocean view and sitting peacefully admiring the view at a museum. I thought I would find myself looking at people gazing at the art work, taking photos, standing at different distances and angels, and admiring their facial expressions as they walk around. It was interesting watching these five people in this space enjoying and taking in something other than the art work.