The Metropolitan Museum Experience
How did the Starn twins (Big Bambu), Katrin Sigurdardottir (Boiseries) and the contemporary photographers (Beyond Here and There show) change our perspective –on the city, on the museum, on definitions of art? What strategies did they use to alter our perception of time and/or space? What did we–the spectators–see anew as a result? Give at least one example from each artist/show.
Big Bambu, created by Mike and Doug Starn, supposedly fully taken down on October 31, was no doubt a magnificent monument that I not only enjoyed viewing and walking within, but its theme and the artists’ intentions behind it also significantly changed my perspective on both the specific art piece and on the city itself. Its forest-like appearance tricks the viewer of time and space, giving it an almost surreal, dreamlike effect, which is rather a rare encounter especially in the heart of New York City. The structure goes through a sort of an ever-involving process; viewers get a chance to actually observe the constructors and rock climbers building the structure and taking it down, a process that almost makes the construction seem alive. This relates to the fact that it is located at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, both of which are places that never seem to stop changing, or “evolving.”
Big Bambu created by the Starns
Katrin Sigurdardottir’s two constructions came to me as sort of a surprise because I would never have expected such fairylike, otherworldly artworks at a museum that suggested a sense of seriousness and royalty from its entrance. One of her two structures is the standalone white room, which was so white almost to the point of numbness. The room and the furniture are miniscule, which otherwise the viewer would have felt more like a guest invited into a room, rather than an outside viewer looking into the room as a whole. This structure, as opposed to the actual period room which it was modeled from, exists almost as an object in a museum, rather than a place or an area located in a corner where you can go and visit. The artist used one-sided mirrors that seem to give the piece a more enclosed feeling and act as a barrier between reality and fantasy. Her other piece was actually modeled from Hotel de Cabris which we had seen earlier in the day. Each panel of the walls is lined up in a zigzag pattern, instead of firmly lined against a wall. The artist altered the scale of the panels so that they get progressively smaller by the piece. This again creates an almost comical, surreal mood, enabling us to “look” at the work more as an object rather than appreciate it as a place. We almost seemed to forget that the folding screen like structure was actually the replica of an enclosed chamber that we had observed before.
The photography exhibit Between Here and There was also indicative of the sense of ambiguity of time and space. A chaotic and disorganized mood especially in the idea of setting and existence seemed to be what the artworks had in common in this exhibition. One artwork that particularly lingers in my mind is the one with many postcards, called I Got Up, by On Kawara. All postcards were of New York City views, but surprisingly they were sent from many different locations. One very noticeable feature is the great lack of pattern in the time the artist “got up” every day, which makes it impossible to set a steady pattern in any way; we are plunged into a total chaos of time and existence.
"I Got Up" by On Kawara
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