Indianapolis Museum of Art Blog

I’ve been reading the same book for 2 years. Yep, that’s right. I may have all kinds of other commitment issues in my life, but when it comes to books, I’m in it for the long haul. Sure I’ve read other books along the way. Books that are way more entertaining. Books that are a lot more interesting. But I’m devoted to Art in Theory: 1900-2000, An Anthology of Changing Ideas and I’m not going to stop until I’ve read every page.

Let me state for the record that a page in this book is like 20 pages in any other. It’s dense. Really dense. Check out this quote from page 817: “The articulation of Structuralism and semiotics to a Lacanian psychoanalysis wherin the human subject was understood as formed in the play of gender difference contained far-reaching implications for the avant-garde.” Huh? Try reading that before bedtime. Rather than Chamomile Tea or sleeping pills, Art in Theory is what I use when I have insomnia. I labor through 2 pages and I’m exhausted.

I know I sound like I’m complaining, but I’m not. I love this book. I love all 1376 pages. I love it because I am a self-proclaimed art geek, and this is the book for art geeks. It tells the story of 20th-century art from the first-hand perspectives of artists, critics and philosophers. It’s not distilled down art history in some art appreciation text book. This is art history straight from the horse’s mouth. From Sigmund Freud to Donald Judd, there’s a little something for everyone and a whole heck of a lot just for me!

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I am out of the office three days this week! So you know what that means…I write about whatever I want! Within reason, of course. So today it will be designer vinyl. It is a phenomenon that is catching on at the museum due in large part to the recent addition of Friends with You merchandise to the IMA shop in conjunction with the On Procession project.

Those who are already fans know that there are all sorts of vinyl toys that get designed by artists and make their way to retailers for us to enthusiastically consume. So what do you need to know about them to get started?

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Anyone who knows me knows I love a good mixtape. ( I still call them mixtapes, even though now it’s a mix cd, or an iTunes playlist, or even a muxtape). I love making them, I love thinking about the connections between each song that I select, and I love trying to figure out why someone else chose particular songs in a particular order.

Recently, Bob Boilen posted an entry to NPR’s excellent All Songs Considered Blog where he provided readers with the first song of a mixtape, and asked them to add responses in the comments section, with each new post adding a new song to the mix in response to the previous post. Brilliant!

Let’s try to do something similar with works of art. I’m selecting the first piece in a kind of virtual exhibition. You pick the next one, and post a comment with information about the work, a link to an image of it, and a description of your reasons for selecting it (could be formal similarity/difference to the previous piece, subject matter, some biographical information that links the artist to the previous work, whatever…) Remember that you are responding to the last piece added in the comments section (although some larger themes might develop) and provide some description of why you are adding a particular piece to this chain o’ art.

I’ve chosen a piece from the IMA’s collection as a starting point: Kenneth Noland’s Fall Blues 1961-64.

It is a painting that I have warmed to over time, and one that I hope allows for a diverse set of responses. I’m interested to see where this game of curatorial telephone leads. Your turn…

You may be familiar with a miniature horse named Cheesecake who warmed the hearts of spectators at the April 26 On Procession parade in Fountain Square. What you may not know is the tale behind the parade that brought him to that day. This is my personal account of Cheesecake, the miniature horse who could.

Wednesday, April 23
Three days and counting until parade day. My husband and I were checking out the parade route and scoping out bike racks in Fountain Square. We decided to ride our bikes over to Garfield Park and discovered the Pleasant Run Trail. After perusing in the spring air for an hour, it was time to head back home. Still on the trail, I slowed down upon catching sight of an adorably plump, but unusually small statured horse being brushed on a front porch. I excitedly shouted something like, “Look at the little horse!” and sped past. My more patient husband stopped for a closer look before catching up with me. How often to you see something like that? Read the rest of this entry »

It is an introspective sort of day. I am wrapping up an art appreciation class tomorrow with a final exam and am busy trying to get a grasp on everything happening in IMA’s Nugget Factory. It is so easy to get all wrapped up in the day-to-day hustle and bustle that I forget why I began doing this in the first place.

I love art.

I am a person typically defined by what I hate….I hate reading, I hate obnoxious people, I hate Jessica Alba (not for the reason you would think), (most) chick flicks, social inequality, people who ignore problems instead of solve them, etc. I am all over the place. From the trivial to social issues, I ALWAYS have an opinion. For better or worse. So how could I love something as big and varied as art?

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