Class 7 (9/18)

Today, we visited Amanda Hellmann at the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory. I took African Art with Dr. Hellmann in the spring, so I was excited to see how her talk differed from the trip we took to the Carlos. Dr. Hellmann spoke about the challenges and nuances of curating an exhibition, specifically in a space like the Carlos. I find Dr. Hellmann’s job fascinating, and I could see myself doing what she does. I am really enjoying these visits. I have been very motivated by the success these women have had working in Atlanta’s art scene. It’s empowering to see my major in action, as a career.

Dr. Hellmann mentioned that oftentimes curators are TSA certified so there isn’t a hassle at customs. I thought this was a fascinating piece of trivia. Dr. Hellmann also talked about the upcoming exhibition, African Cosmos, which will be at the Carlos in January. She showed us the exhibition space and discussed her process in writing wall text and choosing wall colors that best compliment the show. She also told us that only 5% of the Carlos’ collection is in the actual museum, which is significant to think about. Dr. Hellmann got me thinking a fair amount about how academic museums differ from larger, public institutions, such as the MET or MoMA.

Last time I was at the Carlos was in the spring. I also went with Dr. Hellmann. We looked at the Romare Bearden exhibition and the African Art gallery. She had mentioned then that she would like to cover up the keyholes in the gallery and try and incorporate the stairs and the Egyptian gallery. It seems that is still part of her vision for the museum. I wonder, however, about the iPads that she mentioned. Part of me feels that they would be a distraction and the other part of me thinks they would be a great investment for the museum.

I think one of the most important take aways from our trip to Art Papers and the Carlos is the transitional role the art world is currently in –and arguably, has always been in.

Class 3 (9/4)

Christo and Jean Claude, Running Fence, 1976.

Today, we discussed elements and principles of design with Nell and Anne. I really enjoyed our conversation and discussion of unity. Nell defined unity as “the aim of all visual design. It is created through nuanced relationships of design elements and design principles.” We looked at Christo and Jean-Claude’s Running Fence. Throughout the entire lecture, I kept thinking of my quote that I put on my blog. “Art and love are the same thing: It’s the process of seeing yourself in things that are not you,” said Chuck Klosterman. In class, we talked about how we subconsciously identify pieces of ourselves in art and that informs our understanding of the work.

Class 2

In our second class, we discussed the curation/exhibition project and our thoughts on it. Hannah and I discussed her ideas for the project. I spent a lot of time outside of classes thinking about possible spaces to hold my exhibition, but then realized I should probably pick my six works first! I’m still struggling with a unifying theme, but I think I would like my pieces to be contemporary works, possibly unified by text within the composition.

Art 260: Class 1

For the first class, we discussed the syllabus and plans for the semester. We were asked to reflect on what we would like our final project to be about and what theme we might be interested in. We were also asked what skills we would like to hone during the semester. I mentioned that I would like to look at works of art produced on the cusp of social revolutions. I also mentioned I would like to work on networking and making connections within the Atlanta art world.