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Thursday Night Thing (TNT) returned to the Museum of Contemporary Arts in Downtown San Diego on November 5 after a six months hiatus to celebrate the "Material Wonder" in  the everyday. TNT was inspired by Tara Donovan's large-scale installations that are created with ordinary objects, such as straws, toothpicks and scotch tape.
Donovan was the first artist to receive the Calder Prize by the Alexander Calder foundation in 2005 and was the recipient of the MacArthur "genius" award in 2008. Her work is said to mimic geological or biological forms. However, Donovan has explained that she is not trying to simulate nature, but rather "to mimic the way of nature, the way things actually grow."
The crowd – a mixture of hipsters, bohemians and geeky art lovers – was greeted at the entrance of the museum with a mesmerizing, gauzy installation made of Styrofoam cups that resembled amoebas. There were tan paper plates glued together in a coral reef shape; there were cups stacked upon one another that gave the impression of glaciers moving; and there was plastic of a serene bluish hue taped on the floor that resembled mushrooms. My personal favorite was a stalagmite-shaped installation arranged in a seemingly haphazard manner that was made of, wait for it, small buttons. Yes, I gasped when I discovered the material that had been used to create this piece. I was not the only one, of course. Ohs, ahs and wows could be heard throughout the night as the audience genuinely marveled how such simple and ordinary objects had been assembled to create breathtaking and beautiful works of art. Well, Donovan is a genius after all.
In conjunction to the exhibition there was a cocktail party with renowned balloon artist, Addi Somekh, and live performances by the San Francisco quartet Birds and Batteries and producer Money Mark.
 Somekh created one-of-a-kind "inflatable crowns" (i.e. swan-shaped hats, bunny ears, flowers, etc.) for his giddy audience before proceeding to play music with his balloon bass (an instrument made entirely of latex).
It makes sense that Birds and Batteries cite Daft Punk and Fleetwood Mac as musical influences given that they blend 70s rock with French electro beats. The attendees tapped their feet softly and clapped politely but seemed absentminded. Perhaps it was the alcohol. Or perhaps they were distracted by the "Cut It Out" activity led by San Diego-based artist Dave Adey, which consisted of cutting out (ergo the name) heart-shaped figures from women's magazines and pin them down on a small mural. In addition to all of the aforementioned, TNT promised "an unforgettable DJ set" by Money Mark. However, the set was largely uninspired and uninteresting - a little Beastie Boys here and there and not much else.
What was truly unforgettable was the exhibition itself. Critics of contemporary art who often accuse it of being vacuous cannot (or should not) raise any objections about this exhibition. Donovan transcends the term "readymade" that Marcel Duchamp popularized with his infamous work “The Fountain.” She does not simply reposition the everyday objects in a clever way, places them on a pedestal, signs them and calls that art. Donovan repositions her objects to create beautiful, transfixing and innovative works of art. Moreover, all her installations are unsigned and untitled and are placed on the floor, walls and ceiling rather than on a pedestal, which conveys the notion that even the space we navigate is art. The exhibition is devoid of any of the contemporary art pretensions. You will not leave the museum with a perplexed expression thinking "I didn't ‘get’ that." You will get it and you will love it. I could continue providing adjectives and synonyms of the word "beautiful," but then I would be entering dangerous hyperbolic territory. Suffice it to say that this is the type of exhibition that needs to be experienced. Do you yourselves a favor and immerse yourselves in the world of Donovan.
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