STUDENT NAME: Kelly Lew. Thinking Frame:

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1 Learning Places Fall 2018 SITE REPORT #2A name of site report NAMING PROTOCOL. When saving and posting your site reports on OpenLab, please follow the following format: SiteReport#Letter.LastnameFirstname. Here s an example: SiteReport2B.SwiftChristopher. STUDENT NAME: Kelly Lew Thinking Frame: In the reading, audio, and video assignments for this week a number of spaces for voices of protest are discussed. The Guerilla Girls broadcast their messages across a wide variety of media and places: posters on walls and billboards, handouts on the sidewalk, t shirts on bodies, projections on walls, installations in abandoned buildings and art galleries, magazines, zines, websites, etc. Next Epoch produces ecological art in neglected urban wastelands. Decolonize This Place conducts protests in museums, without prior permission for use of the spaces. As a group, these interventions could be described as unsanctioned or subversive events performed in spaces that were not designed or curated specifically for protest. In response to these kinds of activities (and perhaps in recognition aesthetically or culturally of their importance), there have been increased efforts by community leaders and cultural institutions to create spaces for critical or dissenting voices. Landers, et al, describes strategies to create sanctioned spaces for protest in libraries, plazas, and parks. Similarly, the Brooklyn Museum now seeks to create spaces for alternative, minority, and resistant cultures and voices through curation and architectural interventions. The question remains whether resistant practices, alternative performances, and protest are more effective when sanctioned or unsanctioned. Where is Dread Scott s Impossibility of Freedom in a Country Founded on Slavery and Genocide more effective, in the original 2014 performance on a street or represented in photographic form in a museum in 2018 as part of a curated exhibition? As you go through the site report collecting images and documenting your ideas, keep these tensions in mind.

2 SITE OBSERVATIONS Insert two images of Brooklyn Museum s facades. The first of a more traditional architectural feature for a public civic space and the second an untraditional architectural feature. Traditional architectural design. 1

3 Public seating Why did you choose these images? As you look at each, what do you expect to encounter once you enter the building? Explain. From the first picture I imagined a huge historical archive displaying our history and life in Brooklyn. Then I looked to my left to see space to sit which introduced a public space for all to share. It was not roped off to people who did not buy tickets or went to the museum. There were people having lunch or children running up and down the stairs. It felt like a sense of community that was joined by one large building. Upon entering the building was a new layer. There was the smell of coffee in the air and more public sitting space. Many historical or educational institutions do not have public sitting spaces. I felt that the museum was welcoming people to sit in the space that were going to view behind the ropes or the art that was in the lobby. The entrance felt more like a café or gift shop than a museum entrance. Take for instance the Metropolitan Museum which is another large historical museum and attracts a lot of visitors, but does not have a public seating space nor a café when entering the building. The Metropolitan feels more enclosed and heavy weight of regulations while the Brooklyn Museum felt open with lighter weight of regulations. Despite how both museums in size are not the same; however, the architecture on the building are very similar as well as the content within the museum. The stated mission of the Brooklyn Museum is to create inspiring encounters with art that expand the ways we see ourselves, the world and its possibilities. Take a photo of one piece of artwork that expands the way you see yourself or the world. Give the photograph a caption and 2

4 explain why it expands your vision of yourself or the world. Web of Life: John Biggers. The painting to me describes how life begins and how it will end. We walk on this Earth to make a home from the ground and work the land the make it our home. When we pass away we go into the ground we worked to make a home. In other words, we came from the Earth and we will return to the Earth when our time comes. Life will always revolve around Earth itself, whether it is the land, water or the air. She gives us life and takes us back when time comes. It describes how I look at the world and take the time to be more conscious of my habits to reduce pollution. When trees start to die so does life itself. The stated vision of the Brooklyn Museum is to create a place where great art and courageous conversations are catalysts for a more connected, civic, and empathetic world. Consider the curated areas of the museum. How is space arranged in order to create courageous conversations? Can you describe conversations between spaces? The space in the museum is quite interesting and fascinating how the curator has organized the artwork to blend together to create a sense of a story. I wondered through an archive of furniture, vases, and miscellaneous pieces of silverware. At first I thought it was storage area and went beyond the Employee Only sign. But it was an actual display of American historical household pieces. It was organized by item and dates. It was a true display of archive like a library with furniture, silverware and vases. After exiting the archive space there was an open space of portraits and more furniture pieces. It displayed a contrast of difference between the British and American design. It has 3

5 allowed patrons to observe where our inspirations come from and where we came from. Some items in the museum I feel were pieces that are controversial and misunderstood. These are the artwork pieces to make you think, feel and agree or disagree. I felt that the feminism hall displayed a lot of pieces that were unusual and curator designed it with pieces we can recognized and the further you walked in the pieces started to look not like art but a display of propaganda or documentation. I felt that it would create a sense of connection for those who can see the message and for those who did not cause confusion and distaste in the artwork. Insert an image of designed space (not art objects themselves) that suggest connection. How is the concept of connection articulated in the way art is arranged in space? (Consider the 4

6 walls, walkways, display boards, pedestals, rooms, etc.) Vanity with Mirror and Stool: Kem Weber. It creates a sense of connection especially how the curator has the words above it as I saw myself see myself. Brooklyn Museum declares that since we see ourselves as a conduit for open sharing and learning, we accept the controversies that may accompany courageous conversations. Consider 5

7 the way art objects are arranged in space for the Half the Picture exhibition in relation to viewers. How would you describe the arrangement of objects for viewers. Did the arrangements accept controversies? Did they encourage courageous conversations? If so, how? If not, why? I believe in our freedom of expression, but the intent to express to hurt someone. Now it seems like a contradiction; however, most art is offensive depending on your cultural background and gender. I felt that the space for Half the Picture was not controversial. For myself, I felt the space projected more of interpretation of what would considered offensive. I walked in with an open mind and expecting something offensive. I feel that art is offensive especially with nudity or certain colors. I felt it created more of a conversation starter or an education approach of why would this offensive or why not? Art has ways to move you to tears, anger or calming a person. I think that Half the Picture makes people think differently and question things more than they usually would. I felt very confused with certain pieces, but maybe that was the artist intention or maybe I do not see what the artist indeed for me to see. I believe that controversial or not controversial art needs to be viewed and talked about in order to create our sense of identity as well as a connection to our society. 6