LACMA's Coolest Exhibit Ever? 'Metropolis II' Wows

Sometimes having a kid pays off. Yeah, there's the unconditional love and affection from the little ones, and they can be cute to boot. But those tiny sponges don't come cheap -- except when it comes to a visit to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. As part of LACMA's "NextGen" program, kids (who are usually free) can bring one parent in for free two. For us, that means 2 kids, 2 parents... and a free afternoon at the museum.

On Sunday, we grabbed the kids and took them to LACMA in order to finally see the "Metropolis II" exhibit. I knew the Blogger Kid and the Blogger Toddler 2.0 would be fascinated by the sight of toy cars and trains speeding around a miniature city -- but I gotta admit, I couldn't wait to see it as well. The exhibit runs only certain times of the day, and we got there early enough to stake out a prime viewing spot in the viewing balcony above the exhibit. And I was right: It's pretty damn cool. Details:

Metropolis II is an intense and a complex kinetic sculpture, modeled after a fast paced, frenetic modern city. Steel beams form an eclectic grid interwoven with an elaborate system of 18 roadways, including one 6 lane freeway, and HO scale train tracks. Miniature cars speed through the city at 240 scale miles per hour; every hour, the equivalent of approximately 100,000 cars circulate through the dense network of buildings. According to Burden, "The noise, the continuous flow of the trains, and the speeding toy cars, produces in the viewer the stress of living in a dynamic, active and bustling 21st Century city."

See Metropolis II in action at these times:
Fridays: 12:30–1:30 pm; 2:30–3:30 pm; 4:30–5:30 pm; 6:30–7:30 pm
Weekends: 11:30 am–12:30 pm; 1:30–2:30 pm; 3:30–4:30 pm; 5:30–6:30 pm

Good news: Metropolis II is "ongoing," so it looks like you'll have plenty of chances to catch it. Bring the kids. More pics:



















Don't have a kid? LACMA still makes it amazingly easy to visit for free. Free admission is granted on the second Tuesday of each month, plus to all LA County residents after 5 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday (the museum is closed Wednesdays).

More from our LACMA visit in another post!