7/28/2019 Museum Coreography_Material Matters

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MUSEUM CHOREOGRAPHY MATERIAL MATTERS

MOVE: Find a work that confuses you . Maybe when you look at it you think:Is that art? Why is that here? or I dont get it.

What are we looking at? What do you think about it? Write down a few firstimpressions of this piece:

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LOOK: Take another look at the work, and study it longer than you mayinitially want to. Push yourself to notice what it is made of, the color, thetexture, and how you feel when you look at it.

Now, read the wall label . The wall label should be located close to the work.It is typically a small, white, rectangle that will tell you the title of the work, thematerial the work is made of, the name of the artist (usually his or her date ofbirth and country of origin), and may describe the artist or the work of art.

What is the most important part of the wall label and why? :

How does the information you read help you understand the work? :

THINK: Where is this piece located? __________________________ Is it near any other works? __________________________________ What kinds of things surround it? _______________________________

Just like the wall label you read a lot of thought went into the placement ofthis work. Similarly to how DJs choose songs that sound good with eachother, museum curators think carefully about the location of each work andits relation to the space, other things around it, and how they will present itthrough text such as wall labels in the galleries

REFLECT: Why do you think the curators decided to put this work in thisspace? Do you feel that it relates to anything around it? Why did the labelprovide the information that it did? How do you feel about the work now?

MOVE: Go to a different floor of the museum. As you walk start to notice thetextures you see. Are things smooth and sleek? Do you see anything rough?Choose a work that you find interesting to look at .

LOOK: Take a long look at your piece really examine it. Walk around it andlook at it from all its different sides. Notice the size of the piece. Is it biggerthan you, is it smaller? What material is it made of? Did the artist f ind thesematerials or buy them? Will the work last forever or only a day?

If you had to give someone instructions about how to make this, what wouldyou tell them?

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THINK: Imagine if this work was made of a completely different material. Forexample if your artwork is made of concrete, think about what it would looklike if it was made of cotton balls. Pick a new material for your piece. Whatmaterial would it be and how would this change or affect the artwork. Wouldyou feel differently about it this piece if it was made of this other material?

REFLECT: The form artworks take often falls into categories which we callthe a rtists m edium . Common mediums include painting, drawing,photography, sculpture, and video. Does your piece fit any of thesecategories?

Think about why the artist chose to make this work out of this/thesematerials. Could he or she have used a different medium? Would the effecthave been the same? Why did the artist choose on medium over another?What do the material tell you about the work? Write your reflections on theback of this card.