HOG WILD A REVERED MUSEUM GETS ITS MOTOR RUNNING AND HEADS OUT ON THE HIGHWAY.Byline: - Eric Noland LAS VEGAS Las Vegas (läs vā`gəs), city (1990 pop. 258,295), seat of Clark co., S Nev.; inc. 1911. It is the largest city in Nevada and the center of one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the United States. - Motorcycles. Mounted to mirrors. Alongside towering cylinders of chrome and massive video screens. The exhibit represents one of Las Vegas' stabs at high culture, and - as you might expect in this city of excess - it defies the confines of conventional art. Titled ``The Art of the Motorcycle'' and set to run through December, it is housed at the Venetian's Guggenheim Las Vegas Museum (across the casino from the Guggenheim Hermitage, where all the masterful paintings are hung). Rem Koolhaas Remment Koolhaas (born November 17 1944 in Rotterdam) is a Dutch architect, architectural theorist, urbanist and "Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design" at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, USA. was the architect for the massive, skylit hall, and Frank O. Gehry applied his design mastery to the installation of the exhibit. All of it pays homage to the motorcycle, that quintessential symbol of the American rebel. There are great towers of chrome that resemble fenders and cylinders, glass floors lit from beneath, a wide staircase painted in nuclear-waste green. Bikes are mounted to mirrors, some of which are curved into wavelike shapes. Other accents include giant photographs of film stars posed astride a·stride adv. 1. With a leg on each side: riding astride. 2. With the legs wide apart. prep. 1. On or over and with a leg on each side of. 2. motorcycles in various movies, plus a video screen showing appropriate film clips (from the Marx Brothers Marx Brothers, team of American movie comedians. The members were Julius (1890?–1977), known as Groucho; Arthur (1888?–1964), originally Adolph and known as Harpo; Leonard (1887?–1961), known as Chico; and two other brothers, Milton (Gummo) and to Steve McQueen). On a recent Sunday afternoon, however, you'd have had a difficult time convincing most of the customers that this was art for art's sake "Art for art's sake" is the usual English rendition of a French slogan, l'art pour l'art, which is credited to Théophile Gautier (1811–1872). Some argue Gautier was not the first to write those words. . The crowd - predominantly male, some clad in motorcycle leathers - seemed to regard it more as simply a display for gear heads. Visitors pressed in to examine the features of the more than 130 machines, ranging from steam-powered bicycles from the late 1800s to a replica of the Captain America chopper from ``Easy Rider'' to the exotic racing bikes of today. Never mind the daring display elements; they seemed more curious about whether this bike had a transverse flat-twin engine or that one's front suspension employed a double wishbone wishbone see furcula. fork setup. Yawn. It might be a stretch to call such functional equipment art, but, then, the same could be said of elaborate American Indian American Indian or Native American or Amerindian or indigenous American Any member of the various aboriginal peoples of the Western Hemisphere, with the exception of the Eskimos (Inuit) and the Aleuts. blankets woven a century ago for the sole purpose of keeping people warm. Although the installation was built exclusively for ``The Art of the Motorcycle,'' it has been so well received by the public that plans are being weighed to incorporate it into the museum's next exhibit, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Dr. Barbara Bloemink, the museum's managing director. IF YOU GO GUGGENHEIM LAS VEGAS: Located at the Venetian, 3355 Las Vegas Blvd. S. Open from 9:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. daily. Adults $15, students $11, children (ages 6-12) $7. Audio guide $5. Hotel guests get $5 off the admission price. Information: (702) 414-2440. Tickets: (866) 484-4849. Web: www.guggenheimlasvegas.org. Note: A ticket to both Venetian Guggenheim museums may be purchased for $25. CAPTION(S): 2 photos, box Photo: (1 -- 2) The display of motorcycles at the Guggenheim in Las Vegas offers a wide range of models, top, as well as images of motorcycle icons like Marlon Brando Marlon Brando, Jr. (April 3 1924 – July 1 2004) was an Academy Award-winning American actor whose body of work spanned over half a century. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential actors of all time. , above, from the 1953 movie ``The Wild One.'' David Heald/Guggenheim Museum Box: IF YOU GO (see text) |
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