A recent comment on the “Making It Real” blog was “What is the Making it Real exhibition about and when will it take place?” The short answer is: Making it Real will be at MAD from October 12, 2011, until January 15, 2012, and will look at the emergence of the American Studio Craft Movement in the period after World War II. But that begs the question—what was the studio craft movement? So today’s blog is a (short, I promise) history lesson about how and why crafts went from being a necessity to being a choice. Along the way, I will also explain how we came up with the title.
I spent my first day in the open studio on Wednesday . It proved to be a very productive and enjoyable day! A diverse group of interesting and engaging visitors help create great dialogue despite the atrocious weather.
Destruction was the theme of this year’s valentines day; at least it was for this Studio Sunday where artist Sonya Blesofsky brought meaning to the term “You must destroy to create”. The focus was mainly on selected pieces from the exhibition Slash: Paper under the knife. Composed of mainly adults with the occasional five-year-old toddlers straddling their parent’s leg, the group made unique observations and held in-depth discussions about the works of art.
I’m kicking back after my first full day as an artist in the open studio and feeling pretty certain that if I could do this everyday for the rest of my life I would have it absolutely made! It’s incredibly refreshing to escape the confines of my own modest studio and to work in such a dynamic public space. I met a wonderful assortment of characters including a delightful group of inquisitive first-graders, an eccentric French artist and an introspective student of architecture. There were many visitors who frequent the Museum and several people discovering it for the first time. Hearing their range of responses was both insightful and invigorating – I’m psyched to be back in the studio next Tuesday!
February 10th, 2010
Jackie Brown
Teen Voices:
MAD Advisory Counsel emerged pretty organically. After four months of settling into my new responsibilities in my new position as Manager of School, Youth and Family Programs, I had been thinking of the next step in the Artslife program, an internship for teens whose pilot program began last summer 2009. Two teens from the Beacon High School had just dropped off volunteer applications at MAD’s visitor’s service desk. Though, not a customary practice to accept interns in the Museum in this fashion, the timing seemed appropriate. Why not respond now, call and interview these two students; they could certainly give me added insight into what it would be like to have teens interact with staff at the museum.
Both students are exceptionally smart, responsible, and interesting teen-agers. I arranged a meeting between the alumni of Artslife, myself and my two new teenage interns. After introductions and discussing the positives and challenges of the Artslife program in the summer of 2009, we decided upon a regular meeting time, and some initial ideas regarding the role and responsibilities of the Advisory Counsel. Delighted to have the Artslife Alumni back into the fold, I look forward to their continued counsel on matters that have to do with youth audiences for the museum, and their contribution on the interview process during the 2010 Artslife application process at MAD.
February 6th, 2010
clewis
I participated in a walk-thru and critique with the students from Bridget Malloy’s Honors and drawing class at The Beacon School. I was invited to attend the tour, but; since I was there I participated in the dialogue. The exhibition at Beacon was inspired by their recent visit to MAD to see the exhibition Slash: Paper Under the Knife. The Beacon work is ambitious, well executed, sometimes political, sometimes beautiful and very inventive. All of the work, done with paper, looked at the exhibition for inspiration.
February 1, 2010, Andrea Dezsö a featured artist from Slash: Paper Under the Knife conducted a morning seminar with teachers at MAD. Dezsö shared not only the amazing tunnel books that she is known for; but also the smart, witty and beautiful embroidery pieces that she creates, all the while sharing funny anecdotal stories about growing up with Hungarian folklore and myths spun by and about women.
Togolese designer, Kossi Aguessy is best known for award winning design for the Stella McCartney perfume bottle. Aguessy who trained in industrial and interior design at Central St. Martins, has worked with Renault, Yves Saint Laurent, Cartier, Swarovski, St Dupont and Branex to create sleek, sensual objects that range from lighting to watches. A consummate artist, Aguessy has exhibited art, sculpture and furniture in Paris, Copehagen, Tokyo, Shanghai and Istanbul.
….at the newly opened Muriel Guepin Gallery in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn.
So the Moving Paper cut animation website has been running for a few weeks now. This project represents something of a milestone for MAD in that we were able to build a fairly sophisticated video-sharing and social-networking site in about three weeks with a budget that was basically non-existent. For many years, the tools required to create projects like moving paper were simply out of reach for most organizations, let alone most non-profits and cultural organizations. I am pleased to say that this is now not the case, and it is even true that you don’t need to be a serious programmer in order to take advantage of some of the resources that are out there.
Next Posts
Previous Posts
