I felt like I had stepped back into my academic past when my friend invited me to participate in a docent tour for the latest exhibiton at the Metropolitan Museum, "Brave New Worlds: My Utopia in Your Dystopia". During the tour, mention was made of Shakespeare, Chomsky, and post-modernism, and our learner tour guide was a fresh-faced graduate with great enthusiasm for the works and a head full of information. Rather disappointingly for me, it was a struggle to retrieve much of any relevance from my memory banks and I had to repress a strong urge (until I got home) to whip out my smartphone and do some quick fact-checking.
The blue creatures depicted on the exhibition banner at the entrance to the museum looked very familiar and I wondered if they resembled the etchings I had once seen at another gallery and from an earlier century? Or were they representations of those underground creatures from that book by H.G. Wells (i.e. the Morlocks in "The Time Machine")? It turned out to be neither, and they were instead, an artist's rendition of his family members. For once, I am thankful that our family has no artists. Do they remind anyone else of anything in particular?
The curator of the exhibition has explained his concept of the "Brave New Worlds" by saying that, "in this millenium, we are faced with cataclysmic decline of the environment and societies, and artists have dealt or anticipated this world on the verge of collapse". The objects on display were a diverse range of mediums: textiles, digital, aluminium, paper, wood and our guide shared the artists' visions with us, which was quite necessary. I like to believe I have a positive view of the world and coupled with the fact that I am not really an activist, I need that starting point to appreciate them properly (just like Catherine Martin does apparently. I had never heard of her until I caught this interview on Australian Network today, but she has won four Oscars for costume and design in films. I found her world view fascinating and she spoke about her own starting point with candour).
Returning to the tour, several of the works were a little on the sensational side or involved scenes that are confronting to view, and I found myself suddenly blurting out mid-tour, "It is just not nice at all" after the group had been asked how they liked a certain installation. Fortunately my outburst did not impugn my host country's national honour as the artist was Australian, but I was surprised that viewing this particular work evoked such a violent reaction from me. Surprised and exhilarated. Our guide was kind enough to expound on the rise in recent years of "statementism" (is that the name of a movement already? or do people still talk about making political statements with their art?). I was provoked to think about a specific issue but I am not sure I am better off for it. I will return next week with my friend and attend a curator/artist talk, so will update you if my view changes at all.
What was really cool about this museum visit was that the Director joined the tour and described how certain art works had been assembled in situ. One big aluminium wall was welded together inside the hall and will have to be dismantled after the show is over. Another piece involving a dumpster was created by the artist on site using locally sourced materials. And there is another piece yet to be installed after the French artist arrives next week.
I found myself looking at my neighbourhood in a different light as I walked home.
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