Indianapolis Museum of Art Blog

I’m a number geek. Give me a calculator and a list of digits, and I’ll be happy for hours. If using the calculator was an Olympic sport, I might be a contender for the gold. I’ve got lightening fast fingers and my addition button is wearing out from all the use it gets. From attendance to web stats, revenue to ROI, I’ve been crunching numbers like Michael Phelps breaks world records.

As numbers twirl around my head like 10-year old Chinese gymnasts (they are definitely NOT 16 that’s for sure), I thought I’d share with you some of my favorites. You can find a lot of these stats on the IMA’s dashboard, but some of the numbers are not accessible to the public…until now. In the Museum’s ongoing dedication to full transparency, here’s IMA by the numbers: Read the rest of this entry »

I was down in exhibition holding the other day, talking with some of the Installation guys about a Tim Hawkinson piece called Moebius Ship. The piece is huge - about 9 feet across - and the conversation brought to mind how Contemporary art poses unique challenges to Security staff that aren’t usually an issue with more traditional art.

Contemporary art is frequently made up of everyday materials and items familiar to normal, everyday people. As such, visitors are not always sure how to react to the art and oftentimes behave contrary to what we would wish. IMA has artwork composed of everything from TVs (Nam June Paik), projectors (Kara Walker), and common furniture (Vito Acconci, Bill Woodrow) to electronic signs (Jenny Holzer) and neon lights (Robert Irwin, soon). We even have flat art on the floor instead of on the wall (Adrian Schiess). Visitors want to sit on the furniture and play with the electronic equipment. They want to TOUCH the stuff, for crying out loud!

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I’m currently in Singapore jet lagged and exhausted.  On Wednesday, Despi and I will be presenting at the International Symposium of Electronic Art - ISEA 2008 where we will discuss Nature Holds My Camera: The Video Art of Sam Easterson.  If anyone recalls, this is an exhibition we organized last summer and it turned out really well.  If you attended, I would love to hear your thoughts.

It took 3 flights, about 19 hours of flying time and 6 hours of airport mulling to make it here.  How does someone that works in new media stay occupied, engaged and sane on a trip like this?  The glamour of economy class, cheap wine and tasteless food can only go so far.  I’m talking about other options – but with a new media twist.  So here goes –

Think about the next big thing.  Think about nothing.  Or, think about Flickr.  I always opt for the window seat.  It allows uninterrupted moments of thought and a great view.  I love clouds and the landscape below, so in between naps, reading or thinking of the next IMA project, I take photos, lots of them.  With that in mind, check out one of my favorite flickr groups, From the Airplane Window.  You might even see some of my snaps and you’ll think about flying differently the next time you take a flight.  And speaking of flickr, have you checked out IMA’s latest set of images?  You should, because they’re kind of cool.

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It seemed like a good idea at the time. When I was first approached about being one of four contributing writers to a history of the first 125 years of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, I didn’t hesitate to sign on. After all, I’d already been one of three co-authors of The Herron Chronicle, a history of the Herron School of Art (released in 2002), and the author of For the Sake of Art, a history of the Indianapolis Art Center (released in 1999). And before resigning in April 2007, I had spent 10 years as the visual arts writer for The Indianapolis Star—covering the IMA had been one of my primary responsibilities.

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…Perennial Treasures from the Gardens of the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

Picture this. Ancient Egypt. Cleopatra’s palace gardens.

“Mark Antony, did you tell the slaves to weed the iris bed?”

“No dear. I thought you were doing that with the gardener.”

“Really Mark Antony, you do amaze me. Do you not remember I had the gardener executed last month for using up all of my eye liner? If you didn’t tell the slaves to weed then what happened to my special iris?”

“What do you mean Cleopatra?”

“I mean my Siberian irises are gone.”

“Which ones were they?”

“You know fully well which ones they were. My Iris sibirica ‘Caesar’s Brother’. Your petty jealous heart just couldn’t bear I would be taking them with me when I die.”

“Alright Cleopatra! Alright. It’s true. I ripped them from the ground. Just like I have tried to rip that Caesar from your heart.”

“Nice try Mark Antony. But like my love for Caesar, the iris cannot be killed by a mere human. Both will be with me in the great beyond.”

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