MASS MoCA is opening up two new exhibitions this weekend!

Saturday, April 2, 2011, 5:30 pm
Galleries
Members free/ $8 not-yet-members

Come raise a glass with curators Emily Leisz Carr and Oliver Wunsch, interns from the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art as we celebrate the opening of the exhibition they've been working on for the past two years.   

A meme is an element of a culture passed from one individual to another by non-genetic means, especially imitation. An "Internet meme" is a form or concept that spreads via the Web, whether through email forwarding, viral videos, or blogs. Some memes may achieve popular recognition, but they generally lose our attention as quickly as they capture it. They may disappear from our view, but memes never fully cease to exist, surviving in the backs of our minds and in the ever-expanding network of servers that make up the Internet. In the realm of digital memory, it is often hard to know what is truly erased and what is simply dormant in the recesses of a hard drive.

Does the Internet only consist of ephemera, or does it contain something more permanent? What roles do time and memory play in an ever-evolving online world? What is the relationship between memes and memory? Taking these questions as its point of departure, Memeryexamines the tensions and intersections of passing fads and enduring icons in online culture.

Saturday, April 2, 2011, 5:30 pm
Galleries
Members free/ $8 not-yet-members

Be the first to see a stunning new installation at MASS MoCA which references on many levels the history of the site as a center of manufacturing. Come raise a glass with Nari Ward, curator Denise Markonish, and MASS MoCA members and staff at a reception celebrating Nari's monumental installation Sub Mirage Lignum.

Nari Ward's dramatic sculptural installations are composed of material systematically collected from the neighborhoods where he lives and works or is personally connected to. By revealing the complex emotional registers inherent within everyday found objects, Ward's work examines issues of race, poverty, and consumer culture and the inherent meaning and gravity we place upon objects from the discarded to the treasured.

We here at Porches couldn't have made that up if we tried! But, now that we think about it, what's wrong with a little live nude intellect every now and then? Curious? We've got an enticing special package for you and the chance to get $25 off.

On Saturday, April 9^th, at 8PM, the National Theater of the United States of America is taking over MASS MoCA's Hunter Center to present Chautauqua!, an exciting and eclectic production that explores the relationship between "High Culture and the Mass Mind."  Channeling the form and style of the original Chautauqua Lectures, cultural happenings of the late 19th and early 20th centuries that brought together speakers, teachers, musicians, entertainers, preachers and specialists of the day, National Theater of the United States of America combines lecture, debate, scientific demonstration and tales of explorers with more traditional forms of entertainment dance, dramatic recital, feats of strength, and joke telling. 

Our Chautauqua package is available from $249 includes overnight in a Deluxe Room or 1-bedroom Suite, 2 tickets to Chautauqua at MASS MoCA and 2 gallery admissions to MASS MoCA  - as always, our healthful continental breakfast is included (taxes included; based on availability).

But, there's MORE! The first three Chautauqua packages are available at $25 off! So, get busy and call us right away at 413.664.0400 - or email us.