MoMA's new video excites and disappoints

Last week a colleague sent me the link to the Museum of Modern Art's new short film "I See". I didn't want to write about it initially, because I wasn't satisfied with my first impressions. Today I saw the work had made it on to AdAge's online spotlight, so this morning I looked at it again. I'm still torn.

On the one hand I absolutely love the piece. It addresses our tendency to quickly dismiss much of contemporary art without time for reflection. And it points this out without chastising us. I came away reminded of how much richer life can be when you go beyond initial impressions and spend time with an idea.

At some level that's why I didn't write about the short film immediately. I wanted to give "I See" some time for reflection.

But the thing that stuck in my craw the first time I saw it has stayed with me for nearly a week. After two minutes of thought provoking copy and images, the piece ends with the web address moma.org/isee.

I, like most who will watch it, went to the address. And here's where my disappointment comes in. The site simply plays the same video for me again. There is no series of other videos (this is apparently their first). There are no essays on the benefits reaped from deeper consideration. There aren't even T-shirts that say "Now I see" for sale. It's a missed opportunity to extend the idea.

Granted, the piece was powerful on its own, and I would have been completely satisfied had it simply ended with the MoMA logo or the museum's homepage address. It may be that they created an idea larger than they had expected and weren't quite prepared to take it beyond those two minutes. But by providing that special URL, I felt they were promising me more. Then they let me down.

So I'll applaud MoMA and their agency, TAXI, for creating an amazing piece of work. But they should take a cue from the main character in their short film and give more time for reflection. I believe it would allow "I See" to be fully realized.



If you want to read even more, here's what the Wall Street Journal wrote about it.