This weather has so many horticultural events happening it feels like I could blog every other hour on something new. Today I first want to talk about a little “Blue Sunshine”.

What do I mean? Well, what I am actually talking about are some so-called minor bulbs with blue flowers. They just make me happy like spring sunshine. Only they’re blue.

Anemone blanda (Grecian windflower) has beautiful daisy shaped blossoms. They come in white, pink (more or less) and of course, blue. These come from strange little corms (bulbs) you plant in the fall. It’s kind of hard to tell which end is up so plant them sideways, like putting a quarter in the slot machine (Oh yeah, I know your dirty little secret). Soak ‘em for a few hours or overnight too. In a location where they are really happy they will self sow. Like most spring blooming bulbs the foliage dies away so you want to plant them with other perennials or a groundcover.

The Iris histrioides, I. reticulata (reticulate iris), and their hybrids are early bloomers also, mostly in shades of blue plus purples. It’s hard to tell the different species or hybrids apart really so they all go by the common name of reticulate iris. I’ll show you some pictures of ‘Harmony’, a lovely hybrid blue cultivar blooming in the Overlook.

The markings on the petals actually guide bees to the pollen and nectar so the plants are more easily pollinated.

And here’s a bee hard at work.

Now for the freak show.

We grow Petasites japonica for its huge leaves which can get over 2 feet across. Okay, we also grow it because the common name is butterbur. Anyway, in ideal soil and light, very moist organic soil and dappled shade, it can get a little aggressive so may need to whack some parts off every year. And there is a lovely yellow variegated selection called of all things, ‘Variegata’. The stems are also eaten as a vegetable (fuki). I have not tried them. But this time of year I love it for the bizarre flowers that appear out of nowhere. They belong in what I call “My Star Trek Collection”. These are blooms that in my opinion are so freaky it would be natural to see them in a pot or vase on the Starship Enterprise or even on one of the worlds they visit. Some Petasites are right along the road in Hosta Curve. Don’t park in the road to view it. You make me crazy when you do that. Park in the main lot or the greenhouse lot and take a walk. There are a million other things for you to see anyway between your car and these plants. Take the time to see them. Plus you have sat around enough this winter. Get some exercise.

Here’s a bud shortly after emerging from underground.

Here it has opened some. See the individual flowers?

Here is one even farther along. Freaky.

Don’t cha wish your plant was a freak like Petasites? Don’t cha?

IMA's Rain Garden

While green slips into our wardrobe only once a year here, it is at the top of our minds every day. Here’s just a sampling of all the ways the IMA thinks green:

• Recycling – In 2009 the IMA recycled 7,392 pounds of newspaper, 12,950 pounds of office paper, 2,099 pounds of aluminum, and 2,046 pounds of plastic. Each employee has a recycling bin at his or her desk and large recycling bins are available in areas available to the public and staff.

• The Toby – During the renovation of The Toby in 2008, the IMA used green products whenever possible. The floor is made of recycled cork and tires. Recycled carpet tiles were used in the lobby, seating areas and hallways. Recycled glass and concrete was used for the countertops in the service area.

• Rain Garden – The IMA’s rain garden (see image above) captures and filters storm water runoff from the asphalt parking lot outside the Greenhouse that would otherwise flow into nearby waterways, carrying oil and other pollutants with it. Next time you visit the Greenhouse, be sure to check it out!

• Visitors Pavilion at 100 Acres: The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park – Currently being constructed and opening June 20, 2010, the 3,000-square-foot Visitors Pavilion will be a LEED certified facility.  See images of the ongoing construction of the pavilion.

• Programming – The Planet Indy speaker series – an annual speaker series that addresses quality of life from a sustainable, creative perspective.  Last month the IMA hosted filmmaker Chris Paine (director of Who Killed the Electric Car?) as he discussed transportation and green lifestyles.  As part of the event, the museum exhibited an electric car just outside Nourish Cafe (check out the IMA TV clip).Upcoming Planet Indy talks include “gestalt gardener” Felder Rushing (April 22) and author of The Not So Big House series, Sarah Susanka (May 20)

So there it is, just a few examples of how the IMA is green in honor of St. Patrick’s Day.

Slainte!

Inside, we spied a familiar feast: a circular tower of TVs spewing the pop-optical jam of Nam June Paik (an artist also represented in the IMA’s collection).

The two special exhibitions on view included Peppermint Candy, Korean art from the last 20 years, and Megacity Network: Contemporary Korean Architecture, Seoul. Both shows nailed South Korea’s speed-of-light cultural production, considering that the country was ravished by civil war 60 years ago.

Peppermint Candy featured op-art laser-like paintings blending propaganda and pop stars; a room full of actual incense burning words into a rug; eerie large format photos of elder Korean nudes; and a sculpture of 60 stiff, empty military uniforms sewed shoulder to shoulder by Do-Ho Suh (another artist in the IMA collection). Overall, the work accented the diversity, materialism, urbanism of South Korean society. Farewell, Confuscianism; hello, drag queens.

My time was limited in the Megacity exhibition, but suffice it to say, Korean architects are hot, hot, hot. The showcased examples had a boxy, glassy, grey chic.

More observations from museums in other Korean cities and towns:

A memorial to the Korean War experience featured old-timey dioramas, like this one depicting a POW camp:

More modern displays use 3D technology, like this ship steering simulation activity at the Samsung Heavy Industries corporate headquarters in Geoje, where they build massive ships used for oil drilling:

A dinosaur museum on Goseong featured an evolutionary timeline that I could have looked at all day. (We’re all descended from this critter, folks):

The dino museum also included a 4-D film.

What’s 4-D, you ask? Try puffs of air that shoot out of the seat in front of you, simulating the breath of a cranky T-Rex.

Interactivity is always a good bet, shown here at the Jinju National Museum:

It comes down to our relationship to objects. Imagine the Korean war horse outfitted with this noble faceplate, centuries ago.

One of the most exciting and rewarding aspects of my job is researching, planning and finally, mounting an exhibition. I liken it to what a performer or musician must feel when they step onto stage after months of practice. One of the nuances of this feeling though, is each exhibition has a personality. Moreover, getting to know that personality is at times a joy, or a challenge, or both. Some exhibitions are straightforward and others will throw you for a loop. Nevertheless, these quirks are what propel an exhibition team forward – together. And… like any great performance or concert, it takes a group of people utilizing their aptitude in a variety of ways. Every exhibition at the IMA is supported by a team, made up of members representing different departments, each responsible for an aspect of its’ planning and execution. The upcoming fashion arts exhibition, Body Unbound, Contemporary Couture from the IMA’s Collection, is no different.

Body Unbound, explores the varied approaches modern fashion designers use to manipulate materials and experiment with construction; producing garments that liberate the female body while maintaining a desired aesthetic. Due in part to the emphasis on the body, this exhibit offered us an opportunity to reconsider how we wanted to show the pieces.

Fashion in Bloom deinstall. Notice the stark white mannequins. We use the carts in the foreground to transport mannequins around the museum

This focus on the body is what led our Chief Exhibition Designer to propose a unique suggestion for our mannequins. His idea is to present the mannequins in such a way that the concept of flesh is readily apparent, but executed so that the “skin color” represented is of no one real person. Traditionally in a museum setting, mannequins remain neutral or are painted to tie into the overall design of the space. Done so, frankly, because mannequins are not people and while they represent the physical qualities of a person, it is only because the attributes of the objects, clothing, require specific support. Think of it this way, mannequins are like frames or pedestals, complimenting an artwork or providing a base. Therefore, as if you might choose an appropriate mat color or frame for a photograph, we choose individual mannequins and their colors.

Curator of Textile and Fashion Arts, Chief Designer, Textile Conservator and me picking out colors for mannequins based on the garments

Concurrently, because we chose precise colors for particular objects we needed to be sure that those pieces fit on specific mannequins. Mannequins are primarily chosen for their ability to provide the best support. The second criterion is the appropriate stance or pose. Now, for all you fashion historians who also mount exhibitions, you know how time consuming and challenging mounting clothing can be. (Look for a later post on dressing and undressing mannequins). Most people (myself included, before working with fashion and textiles) think that all one has to do is drape a piece on a form and walk away.

This is not the case.

Bare in mind, these garments were made for people, real people – with short torsos, long arms or wide hips. For that reason, we pad out, slim down, or adjust each mannequin in a way to best fill and support the object. Concerning most, we can manipulate the forms by building upon an existing mannequin using archival materials to create the desired “body.”

Background: Mannequin with reset arm to better display a garment) (Foreground: Mannequin had breasts cut off and filled with Marvelseal® 360 and Ethafoam® 220

However, in other instances, we have to take measures that are more drastic. Such was the case for one of our Rudi Gernreich dresses from 1961, included in the exhibition because of its cutout sides. The dress fit perfectly on a slender mannequin with protruding hips, great for the style of the dress, but sad because her bust was too low. The mannequin had a natural (lower) bust line, more appropriate to exhibit pieces from the 1970s, not the high “bullet” silhouette popular in the 1950s and early 1960s. The decision was made to give the mannequin a reduction.

We called upon on our exhibition preparator, who specializes in mount building. The preparator worked closely with our textile conservator to adjust the body of the mannequin so that it can be used again and so the adjustment is not harmful to the garment when it is exhibited.

Mannequin with sides cut out to accommodate a dress with 22.5-inch waist

Mannequin is the same as above, but here you can see Ethafoam® 220 inserts

After selecting all the mannequins and paint colors, the mannequins were painted individually, in advance, to allow time for off gassing. “Off gassing” is the term used by conservators to describe the release of volatile compounds emitted by the paint as it dries completely over time.” (Thanks Kathleen and Richard!) Thus, each mannequin must sit and dry for at least two weeks before any objects come near them.

Mannequins freshly painted, off gassing

After all the mannequins “off-gas,” we will dress each accordingly. Stay tuned for the second installment of this discussion on exhibition preparation and mounting.

In the meantime, mark your calendars for Body Unbound, Contemporary Couture from the IMA’s Collection, opening April 10.

It’s gonna be a good one!

The details: Double-Shot Music Documentary Day at the IMA
Saturday, March 13
1-5 pm
The Toby

Wug Laku, local artist and member of ArtsWORK Indiana fills us in on the events taking place this weekend as part of Disabilities Awareness Month at the IMA:

Tags on Artworks

When viewing an artwork on the website you will notice a section called TELL US WHAT YOU SEE in the right sidebar.  This is the area where you can interact with the page by providing your own tags.  It also displays the top tags provided by users for this work.  When you enter your own tags they will be highlighted in a color matching the IMA logo on the page.

The larger the tag the more times it has been used to describe this work.  You can even hover your mouse over each tag to get a tool-tip that shows how many times that tag has been used. Clicking on a tag will take you to the Collection Search and perform a search for other works with that tag.

Tags in the Collection Search

One of the goals of using tagging on the IMA website is to make artworks easier to discover. To achieve this we also integrated the tags into the collection search. When you perform a search you will be provided with a list of the top tags associated with all of the works in the left sidebar. You can click on these tags to filter your search results to only see works with the tags clicked. As you can see in the image on the right, I have filtered my search to only show works that have the tags sky and water associated with them.

Tag Tours

Tag Tours provide a guided tour through some interesting works that you otherwise might not discover on our site. These tours were built by our staff to provide a fun and alternative experience for browsing our collection.

Tag Tours

Latest Tags

On the Interact page you are able to see the latest tag activity in the right sidebar. Here you can see the most recent tags added to works in our collection. You can click on any of these tags to view the page for the work that the tag was applied to.

Interact

How it’s Made

All of the tagging functionality was built using the Steve Tagger software. The Steve Tagger software is being developed to provide tagging for museums and to make it easy. For full disclosure… I am one of the primary developers on the Steve Tagging project and the IMA is one of the grant partners.

Crocus seiberi ‘Tricolor’ around Sutphin Fountain.

The three colors in ‘Tricolor’.

Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) still make me happy no matter how many years I’ve seen their spring show.

Winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) are very happy little bulbs.

Even on a gray day their bright yellow color absolutely glows.

The honey bees love them. Look at all the pollen on the bees leg.

The bees tended to take flight just as I was ready to snap the photograph.

Bee butt.

Now get your butt to the IMA and enjoy this glorious weather.

This week I wanted to talk about the iPhone app “Is This Art?“.

Made with love in the STEEL City, this app is collaborative endeavor produced by the Pittsburgh-based artists and developers at Deeplocal and the Mattress Factory. Extra-special assistance was lent by C-Monster and WNYC in New York. This project was inspired by a tweet from Nina K. Simon.

First, I think this is a great collaboration of local Pittsburgh artists and organizations to make something for the whole art community. And the best part is that it’s free of course! If you have an iphone, simply fire up the app and take a photo of an object you want to check out to see if it is art… or not art.

Clearly this is an epic question that is nearly impossible to answer, but I love the humor the collaborators have injected into the app. From what I’ve seen, the results are actually pretty accurate! Also, it’s nice to have the content users are submitting added to the website on the fly if the app user chooses to do so. I’m a big fan of the super simple app interface. A job well done indeed to all those involved!

More Info: http://isthisart.org/

Many restaurant facades bear a cartoon depicting the main dish served, like a perky eel or cute cow.

Even bathroom doors have creative signage.

On the natural side, the mountainous Korean terrain inspires a terraced pattern for landscape architecture.

Ancient designs can pack the biggest wallop. The eaves of Buddhist temples are decorated with exquisite detail and color.

We all need dragons guarding our doors.

(via indianadisabilityawareness.org)

Last year my blog at this time concentrated on what we do in the gardens to make them accessible to as many people as possible. All of that information is still relevant so check it here.

With 100 Acres – The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art and Nature Park opening June 20 I decided to take a look at it this year. Since it does not have an asphalt road running through it, or concrete walks, it won’t be as easily accessed for those with mobility issues as the rest of our gardens and grounds. But there will still be much to experience and enjoy.

First you have to get there. One of the main access points will be the 38th street loop just west of the IMA’s 38th Street entrance. The parking area there will put you right at the Park. However, once there, you do have to cross a one lane road. On the other side an ADA compliant ramp will lead visitors down into the Park. Other access points will be crossing over the Pony Truss Bridge from the main IMA campus and, of course, the Canal Path that runs along the edge of the Park. Once inside, many areas in the 100 Acres will be accessible by way of crushed stone paths. Not as ideal as concrete, but much better than mulch or turf. These will lead you to the visitors’ center and some of the inaugural art pieces. Several mulch paths will give people even more opportunities to interact with nature and art. Those paths will quite simply require a different level of mobility.

I really want to emphasize the nature side of the Art and Nature Park. At this point we cannot get everybody to all areas of 100 Acres. However, you will be immersed in nature no matter where you go. Native trees, shrubs, vines, grasses, and perennials will abound. We began replacing the exotic invasives two years ago with a major tree planting. This year over 70 species and cultivars will be planted in and around Alfredo Jaar’s Park of the Laments.

Animals like beaver, squirrels, and turtles are common sights. Occasionally you might even glimpse a red fox or mink. Above all, it will be a great place to experience the joy of birdwatching. Waterfowl such as ducks and herons can be found on the lake, the canal, and the White River. Great Blue Herons show up regularly in the shallows of the lake. Birds of prey soar in the skies. Songbirds can be found throughout.

I have been crazy-mad about pileated woodpeckers (Dryocopus pileatus) from childhood as they were frequent inhabitants of the creek-bottom woods where I grew up. We have at least a pair of these brightly colored crow-sized birds in the 100 Acres.

It’s not all about seeing the birds, listen for their fascinating calls as well.

Our newly revamped website will also give folks multiple ways of getting information about the site, the nature, and the art. You can begin accessing information before you leave home! Heck, you can get information right now, over three months before the official opening day. Check out the 100 Acres page to learn about the geology of the site (work done with the US Geological Survey), the first eight commissions, or details of the opening week-end. Access is about more than physical attributes.

The visitors’ center will be fully accessible with ramps leading to a surrounding deck. Drinking fountains and bathroom facilities are located in this building. Educational materials to be housed here are still being developed. The Visitor’s Center will also give shelter from the elements – like our sudden Midwest thunderstorms.

Be sure and mark June 20 on your calendars. Free Your Mind and see you there.