Go to the Brooklyn Museum of Art to see
This inspirational show has a lot to offer each team in Lab.
We want you to consider the show and write a 2-3 paragraph reaction (posted as a comment to this blog entry) from the perspective of your Lab team. This is due: 04.05.12. Below are some questions and suggestions for each team when reviewing the exhibition. We will discuss this assignment in class when we are all together on the 5th.
Print Team: What is the printed matter available to you in this exhibition? Visit the gift shop and review the catalogue for the show, as well as the other catalogues available. What do you like about them? How do they function as documentation of the exhibition? What the elements you can take away and possibly utilize in the design of the IB exhibition catalogue?
Web Team: What is the role of video in this exhibition? How did Haring use video in his career vs. how it is used in the exhibition to discuss him and his work? How do you learn about Haring from the videos? Look at the web component of the exhibition. What elements of the documentation can you take away and potentially use for the IB documentation?
Exhibition Team: Describe the use of didactic panels and wall text throughout the exhibition. How is the story of this period of Haring's life and career told? How is the information broken up for you? What do you like (and why)? What doesn't work for you (and why)? What elements of the exhibition can you use or incorporate into your plans for the IB exhibition? Please provide reasoning.
The wall text was successful in the Keith Haring exhibition. When you walk in, the first subject they discuss is the curation of the painting. They talk about the curator, who organized it, and places that are associated with it. They also talk about his general information such as where he was born, his influences, where he went to school, techniques used, and his style. It went in depth to specific ideas indicating his lines conveying movement or emotion, style being evolved with experimentation and combining formal elements, and investigation on abstract patterns and geometric forms.
ReplyDeleteThe wall text inside of the exhibition was organized and successful. Each panel focused on certain topic and a certain set of artworks. One of them concentrated on how he worked. It talked about him coordinating his mind and body. It also talked about the viewer being able to see him be loose in a squatting/bending position. His works displayed the matter of the importance of movement when a painting turns into a performance. The other wall texts discussed him trying to find other ways to channel art aside from galleries, and his interaction with colors and textures of his urban surroundings. Alongside, they also discuss the balance of lines for visual effect and lines used to tell a story. Overall, the wall text was successful since each panel focused on a different topic but stayed focused on one topic. That one topic it focused on stayed consistent and true to its subject matter.
The use of didactic panels and wall text was to almost tell the story of Keith Haring as an artist. The panels were very successful as it lead you through out the exhibit starting with his earlier work when he began doing art, to his work and projects as a student at SVA, and then towards the end his subway and more famous times in art. Many of these wall texts started with a quote said by keith or in his journal. The first panel told the curation of the exhibition and his bio. The second began to talk about his life as a student and techniques.
ReplyDeleteMany videos of him working and journals with his thoughts were displayed which were interesting to compare to with what we do as parsons students. Another panel explained more of the emotion and meanings behind his pieces. Overall I loved this exhibit not only because keith haring is one of my favorite artists but because i feel a connection with his artwork. Being an art student in the city draws me to the work as well as the panels in the exhibit because everything that was told and shown was similar to everything we are doing now as parsons students.
I really enjoyed the quotes they used in each wall text. I could see this being used in the IB exhibition if each of the girls wrote or said a quote about the feeling or ideas they get from art or their personal work. This could be displayed next to their art piece as it may give it more of a deeper meaning. I also loved the videos they used to keith painting in black and white, it was very raw and gave you a feeling of being there. Videos of the girls working could also be a good contribution to the IB exhibit.
In the exhibition, the print matter that were presented to us were his drawings on different kinds of paper, especially the ones that he did with chalk on black paper of subway drawings, exhibition fliers that he Xeroxed that were handed out before to promote his artworks, documentary photographs, and several notebooks that revealed Haring's interest in his practice of drawing via hand gestures and visual language, as well as verbal language. There was also one extremely long painting that was black and white patterns and sprays of red paint.
ReplyDeleteThe catalogs recorded most of the works done by Haring from different mediums, especially his popular subway drawings. It details his early life as an artist and his time spent in SVA. I was especially fond of how they incorporated most of Haring's works that were rarely often seen. The catalog itself became part of the exhibition because it was made in the pretext of Harings works when he was younger, and it was produced to make it seem like Haring made and it was one of his journals/sketchbooks that he left behind.
I would drive the elements of text and words towards IB students. The most important element I would stress towards IB students is process. Throughout the exhibition, Haring's works is led from a smaller drawings, with experimentation and finally, it is made into a final piece. It would be a prime example to show the students at IB and everybody else how process is important and that is why us Parson students make them keep track and work of their sketchbooks.
I found the exhibition to have a very nice flow to it overall, lead by bold and large sans serif text on the walls explaining Haring's process and artistic inspiration. All of the information included in these blurbs was relevant and helpful to the visitors, feeding them interesting information about the artwork surrounding it. The wall labels were very simple and clear, printed on regular paper.
ReplyDeleteThe work itself was split up and grouped into logical sections, and the wall text supported how his different influences throughout this time period lead him to produce a specific series after another. There was a nice variety of media displayed throughout the gallery, and video was very nicely integrated into the exhibition. Utilization of the iPad was a smart way to display his journal entries.
I also enjoyed the vibrantly colored rooms dispersed throughout the gallery; with music in the background that inspired Herring's work. One of them also included a projection of photos of his graffiti work.
For the identity blueprint exhibition, I think it will be key to include information about the process of the girls' artwork and the meaning and inspiration behind it, because that it what spoke to me most in viewing the exhibition.
To me, words are always the pivot of an art show. Without the words, the work does lose a little of it's context. The intent of the artist is to be taken into account, coupled with a bit of historical background and such. I think the wall text formed the spine of this exhibition. From the entrance to the gallery, the viewer's hand is held and he/she is led through every aspect and detail that adds to the show. From important techniques, details and curatorial considerations to Haring's thoughts and beliefs. The organizers of the exhibit focused on giving the viewers as much of a feel of the artist as they could. They spoke of the Haring's varying influences and brought out his idea of art. As a show, I feel that anybody who has lived in the city can connect directly to Haring's thoughts and ideas as well as his execution of them.
ReplyDeleteIn our own exhibit, wall panels would be a great way of dividing and personalizing the show. Also, by making separations through the use of wall panels, we will give the girls a feeling of truly getting a chance to 'professionally' have their work on display- as wall panels give a more formal look to a showing.
At first glance, I found the gallery to be too plain and bland in colors for my taste; however, as I progressed with the artworks and panels presented, I started to build into the entire theme. The simplistic feel started to grow on me and that's when I noticed the choice of texts, fonts being matched with Haring's pieces. Each label had a bold black look to it, which perfectly paired up with his striking and provocative works.
ReplyDeleteThe wall texts gave a very clear understanding of what Haring had to go through personally and also in his career as an artist. However, what I discovered to be an efficient way to describe Haring and his pieces was separating simple short paragraphs, beginning with a back-story of his time during the making of the piece, and ending with a paragraph about the artwork itself. Each label was descriptive and easy to read, making it comfortable to understand more about the artist and his works.
What I liked most about this exhibition would definitely be its simple and cozy feel to it. There were no extreme vibrant colors that would tire my eyes and make me feel like rushing through the entire gallery. One effect that helped me was the relaxing atmosphere, even though this is an abstract idea, I personally elaborating most of the themes around this "relaxing" idea would help our progress in creating a great gallery.
The work of Keith Haring proved to be enormously inspiring to me. I appreciate that Haring uses low complexity imagery to depict a complex narrative. The catalog worked very well in terms of matching stylistic tendencies of Keith Haring, which is to be expected of a professionally developed work. However, what I would've taken away from the catalog has already been implemented by the print team. Our work follows a uniform style and theme, which enables each piece to enhance the others.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure that I walked away form the exhibition with much more than a greater appreciation for Keith Haring's work. Most design decisions seem very logical when you take a step back and examine them. Of course, there are things the print team can be doing better, but I did not get any good ideas from the exhibit (unless something triggered subconsciously..).
He made bold line art, with a political agenda behind it. I would say his work was like the continuation or the modernization of Diego Rivera’s works of art. The way Keith Haring uses line is reminiscent of Rivera’s fast sketchbook pencil and watercolor drawings, found at MoMa, he had created them in the 1920s and 1930s of New York City. These tiny sketches have become or where already historical documents of the time and culture of New York City. Haring used sketchbooks and street art in the same manner. Haring documented lower Manhattan, New York City, exhausting a wide variety of media, most of which where not available to Rivera at the time.
ReplyDeleteAfter migrating to New York, he found himself absorbed into the New York City culture. He transplanted his artistic style, the bold line art, into the underground mass culture of the NYC subway systems. As an artist today, after seeing a few pieces of his work and from hearing his story, it inspires me to start documenting life with the media/ social media that is around and clarifies one of my jobs as an artist: to document things which interest the self, the community, and the cultures which you find yourself involved with. However not all artist document the current culture, nor should they, perhaps there work is reaching out to a future audience; yet, with that said, the art had to be created at some place in time, which still operates as a cultural history, as well as politically. Back to media/social media, these tools have become an expansion on the tools Haring had in his day, except now, we are further into the digital age and the emergence of letting people know what we are doing right when it happens. This rapidisation of quick cultural movements and the rise of fall five-second stars on YouTube, makes cultural history seem to change more quickly than ever before. It is as if time has sped-up, compared to Haring’s day. Or perhaps, I am misguided and misunderstood the lifetime of the cultures of the late 70s-early 80s.
The wall text in the exhibition was simple but neatly organized. I loved the way the music and the video made the artwork look more brilliant and the way he incorporated some of his quotes in the background. I think it was really smart to leave the wall text and panels in a simple way so that it gave a balance to the entire work and it helped the viewers focus more on the artwork. I also liked the contrast between the bold letters and the light letters which I think took some time to be decided.
ReplyDeleteI would really like to incorporate some of these techniques into our own exhibition and try to go as simple as possible for the wall labels and wall text. After looking at the way that they didn't complicated the wall text but they did it on a really organized way, I think that going to the simple and clean direction will help the student's work seem more professional and organized. I will also like to take some of the ideas of the video and music into our exhibition too. I also like the idea of incorporating quotes into the wall text.