The Wake

The San Francisco Psychedelic exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Art presents a strange juxtaposition. It is slightly uncomfortable to see photographs embodying the boundary-snubbing acid trip that is the 1960s counter-culture movement lined up in one of Minnesota’s most respectable art museums.

“[I convinced myself] that the Institute should build a collection of photographs of the late 1960s San Francisco musicians, a genre overlooked by most other art museums,” explains assistant curator Christian A. Peterson. Peterson’s idea took shape and the San Francisco Psychedelic exhibit was born: a collection of concert posters, CD cover photos, and other miscellaneous art reflecting the brief explosion of “creativity and idealism” that took place in the Haight-Asbury neighborhood in the late ’60s.

According to the information desk at the MIA, the exhibit is meant to be viewed critically as a display of photography, but the cultural implications are unavoidable. The occasion extracts oddballs from the most remote corners of the Twin Cities and assembles them happily in one place. Aging members of Generation X quietly recount memories and teenaged hipsters feign vast knowledge of rock history.

A popular feature of the museum is the three sets of headphones, through which museum visitors can get a chance to sample the music of some of the artists whose photographs are featured in the exhibit. Fighting my way to one set of headphones, I sampled The Jefferson Airplanes’ hit “Volunteers,” as well as Moby Grape’s soft ballad “8:05.”

A younger, enthusiastic museum guard named James Bour-Schilla stood near the headphones. Bour-Schilla described San Francisco Psychedelic as the “most popular photography exhibit” that the MIA has ever presented. He described the crowd as surprisingly diverse, consisting of visitors of diverse ages. Bour-Schilla agreed that some in the crowd were “definitely nostalgic,” and although himself not a member of Gen. X, conveyed a heightened interest in the imaginative E.P. Covers.

On the outskirts of the exhibit stood an older guard, with a long face and a puzzling accent. Hesitant at first to speak to me, this man, who wished to remain anonymous, revealed himself to be a former member of the counter-cultural movement and resident of the Haight-Ashbury community. His eyes lit up as he described that period in his life as “a creative time, a beautiful time,” and finished by declaring, “My whole life was fueled by those years.” Although happy that the museum has an exhibit on this topic, he seemed disappointed that it did not present 1960’s San Francisco in the grandeur he remembered it.

The older guard’s words brought meaning to the art and photography on display. Bob Seidermann’s close-ups of band members faces showed hopes of freedom and peace gleam in his subjects eyes, and the assertively colorful Grateful Dead posters conjured images of out of control raves at the Avalon.

I spoke to museum visitor Gregory T. Ochs who stood examining Elaine Mayes photograph of the Steve Miller Band. “That is an interesting effect,” he pondered at the multiple layers of the band members’ heads. Growing up in northern Minnesota and hearing news of the hippie movement only second-hand, Ochs had a less romanticized approach to the exhibit. “It’s pretty interesting, I had never heard of a lot of these photographers before,” he says. Ochs skepticism was directed less at the MIA, and more at the hippie movement itself. In a somewhat unrelated but nonetheless valid statement, Ochs finishes by declaring: “apparently George W. Bush’s ideas of peace, love and understanding are different from mine.”

Viewing the exhibit through the eyes of the older guard, I couldn’t help but agree with his inferred skepticism. Although interesting and informative, the exhibit doesn’t do justice to the movement, presenting a watered down version of 1960s Haight-Ashbury. The exhibit is excellent if you are interested in the history of the era or in photography techniques. But do not go in expecting to be swept in a whirlwind of “sex, drugs and rock n’ roll,” because you will be sourly disappointed.