Arts Bombast: 24th St. McDonald’s “Pop Up” Gallery
Confession: As a self-proclaimed “caffiend” who lives in a city with endless opportunities to drink DAMN FINE coffee (shout out to Coffee Bar on Bryant), sometimes, I decide to save my $4 and go for a solid cup of joe from… McDonald’s.
And that is precisely how I discovered this magic: currently, there is an exhibit of Oaxacan wood carvings on display INSIDE the McDonald’s on 24th and Mission, a.k.a el corazón de la misión. Encased in glass, are about 12 objects that fall under the (surprisingly not-that-longstanding) tradition of alebrijes– brightly colored Mexican sculptures of fantastical creatures. They are even accompanied by two object labels so that people waiting to order their “McCafe” can learn a thing or two about folk art in Oaxaca.
Wonderful, right?
It brings up an important issue for me: Why (the fuck) don’t we exhibit art and/or historical artifacts in EVERY fast food establishment? I know that displaying pieces by local artists is a “thing” in small coffee joints, but what I’m proposing is making the practice more: a. educational/interactive, b. culturally relevant to the community that it is serving, and c. pervasive.
Sure, go ahead and continue carving out time for your enlightening “day at the museum” experience. But why stop there? Museums should not JUST be enormous, expensive institutions that we’re forced to travel out to GG Park to visit. We ought to attend mini-museums in our daily lives- especially places people are forced to wait. I know this is sort of the point of murals (God bless murals) but I honestly think we should try an additional approach- stick an O’Keeffe with an object label at the DMV. Accelerate the spread of knowledge, you know? Guerilla style.
I feel like these small changes would make life a little bit more interesting, and the (shithole called the) DMV a little bit more tolerable.
Ribbon Around A Bomb 
Reblogged this on The P.e.a.c.e. Museum.