We have spent some time on-site, working in the U.S. Pavilion and the Giardini as it prepares for an influx of visitors, filming the Commissioner, the IMA’s Lisa Freiman, as she gave an orientation to a group of interns who will tend to the Pavilion during the 6 month run of the show, and shooting the last of the artwork being installed and rehearsed (we can’t show you yet!) with Jennifer and Guillermo (that is, Allora & Calzadilla) looking on. We are working in tandem with photographers Tascha Horowitz, of the IMA, and Andrew Bordwin and Nick D’Emilio, of Andrew Bordwin Studio Inc., to document everything as it happens. We will be releasing more images and video online in the next few weeks, and you can look for the Gloria catalogue to come out later this summer.

Lisa Freiman discussing the exhibition with the summer interns.

Allora & Calzadilla watching the rehearsals.

We have also been gathering b-roll around Venice. We see the bright red Biennale advertising in every campo (they also provide the only benches in the square- smart!) We stopped in Piazza San Marco, took a quick tour of the Teatro la Fenice and hopped over the Ponte Accademia to visit Santa Maria della Salute. While the city is famously difficult to navigate, we have been able to find a lot of the famous attractions to shoot without much trouble and have been enjoying our share of Italian food and gelato.

We will continue to film as the Biennale opens this week, including VIP tours and vernissage celebrations, and you can look for almost everything we shoot to go up on the Biennale microsite. Also don’t forget to follow us on twitter @USPavilion11 for all the latest news from the Pavilion. As the Italians say- ciao!

I have the extreme pleasure of working on the IMA’s video team, a job which, while incorporating a large amount of logistics and planning, also includes the unique task of interviewing artists, designers, scholars and curators about projects they are working on with the IMA. I have to say, this is my favorite part of the job. I am definitely a “people person,” and I enjoy hearing firsthand from the artists as they explain their work, their inspirations and thoughts they had while making it, and the funny behind-the-scenes stories.  All of these elements help it come together as a meaningful experience with a work of art for me. This is also part of why the IMA has made a commitment to producing these videos. Not every visitor can sit down for 30 minutes with the artist (Marina Abramović excluded) so we have to find a meaningful, illustrative way to share their thoughts and motivations with our visitors (and the world).

In watching or conducting many interviews produced by the IMA over the past few years, I have learned a lot about how to speak to many different types of people to get the type of material we are looking for: explanatory for the general public, but not over-simplified for specialists and aficionados, shows the personality of the interviewee, and explains what the IMA is trying to do through the work or program we are discussing.

First, do your research. I have found that even the most planned interviews (think typed list of organized questions, lots of time, quiet interview location) have a peculiar way of going awry. It’s good to have a framework to base your questions on, but understand that the natural course of conversation, and small bits of information the artist brings up, may lead to better or deeper conversation on the topic. This is why a broad understanding of the artist’s work is helpful. Also, what is the scholarly basis for the exhibition or work for which you are gathering material? This may sound elementary, but you don’t want to base your line of questions around an artist’s use of materials when the curator is expounding on spiritual influences in the show.

Know your audience- and your interviewee. Who are you interviewing? Who will watch the resulting video? A famed scholar or author will require a different form of questioning than an emerging artist. Likewise, the resulting videos will have different audiences. Determining who it is that you are working with, and for whom, will lead to a stronger outcome.

Be respectful, but ask the hard questions. This makes me feel like I’m trying to be Oprah. However, I think it can be easy to ask surface questions or let the interviewee gloss over something which is vital to the understanding of their point of view. By understanding who the audience is, I can re-frame questions when I feel that the artist is simplifying or missing a key point. Following the thread of what the artist is saying is how to get the richest, most meaningful content.

Make it a conversation. Very little to none of my face or voice ends up in the final product, however, having a lively or engaged discussion with an artist results in better, more useful or dynamic footage. The person being interviewed may be uncomfortable, so creating a relaxed environment where they can feel comfortable to think about what they would like to say or pause for a breath is key. A sense of humor goes a long way.

Make steady eye contact, smile, but don’t be creepy, and don’t make any noise. This is harder than it sounds. I have found that I am an automatic “mhmmmm”-er. I had to work very hard to stop these conversational soothers. I have replaced this with ardent, almost nonstop, nodding (I only occasionally notice I am doing it!) Again, I try to not look too crazy. I think this is my unspoken cue to my interviewee that I am keenly listening to what they are saying.

Speaking of- Listen! This can be especially hard in an uncomfortable situation; my mind tends to race ahead to the next question when I am nervous. However, this is the most important part of being the interviewer.

So, why was I so afraid of Guillermo’s question? Truth be told, I had no reason to be. I was sufficiently prepared with multiple examples- I read the curatorial essay for the Biennale, found articles and blogs about their work and watched every bit of video I could find on the artists. I think mostly, I wanted him to know how much I knew and appreciated their work on this project, and I wanted to get the perfect footage during our interview.You will start to see clips of the footage showing up on the IMA’s Biennale website, so stay tuned and tell me how I did.

Fast forward four years, (five? I can’t keep track,) and a legitimate scene has developed in Indianapolis. Maybe it’s the hubbub surrounding the Big Game (you know the one), but things are abuzz.

First, there were a few blogs I started to see references to everywhere. I can’t decide if they were simply made more visible to me by social media, but all of a sudden, stylists, photographers, make up artists, dealers, and aficionados started coming out of the woodwork.

Fountain Square and beyond flowered with new, fantastic vintage/local shops like IndySwank, Homespun and Harloh’s. Indy’s own beauty blog, PrettyIndy started – another facet of  a good general style scene.

Then, this past year, the Indianapolis Fashion Collective was founded, to “unite, empower, showcase, and grow the Indianapolis area fashion industry through collaboration, education, and awareness.” I saw recently that they have started a discussion about shared studio space for local designers, a great resource when trying to get a small business off the ground and your basement isn’t cutting it.

Then, at a recent Indy fashion meetup, I heard about Midwest Fashion Week (how have I missed this?) and learned an international style maven moved to Bloomington. We even have a brand new street style blog. It was fun to meet local enthusiasts, designers, stylists and editors all working towards the same passion: advancing Indianapolis’s position on the fashion map.

Now, with intrepid curators Niloo Imami-Paydar and Petra Slinkard at the helm, the IMA has joined the chorus with the Fashion Arts Society, a group for true lovers of Fashion as high art.

Everyone came out for one of the falls most exciting events, the Project IMA Fashion Unbound Runway Show, and stayed to people watch at the Behind the Seams after party, sponsored by FAS.

If you love fashion as I do, consider finding a way to get involved. Join FAS, or the Fashion Collective, or submit to the Midwest Fashion week. It’s the involvement of many individuals that make it something we all want to be a part of. I’ll see you all for the opening of Material World!

Here are three IMA events we have recently posted video of, all of which I saw in person. The funny thing is, in each case I noticed or appreciated something new while watching the video that I had missed during the event.

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright joined us recently for the opening of the exhibition Read My Pins: The Madeleine Albright Collection. I was very excited to film her earlier in the day- she is an amazing person and a wonderful role model for women of all ages.

Even though I was live-tweeting the Project IMA: Fashion Unbound Fashion Show, I  saw outfits for the first time when watching this video- they go by so quickly I missed them during the live events! I also loved seeing the materials used by each designer. This show was so much fun!

Have you had a chance to see it? What do you think?

Eero, the Miller House gremlin

While looking through the Miller House and Garden Collection from 1985-86 in the IMA Archives, IMA archivist Jennifer Whitlock discovered this little sketch on the back of a letter pertaining to the purchase of trees for the Miller property. No one really knows what it is a sketch of, but we all prefer to think of him as a little gremlin doodled by a Miller Family member or someone working on the house. Jennifer put a copy up on the wall, and every time I walk by, it looks like he is smoking a cigarette and waving at me!

What do you think the sketch looks like?

Here’s the front of the document and 2 pictures of the trees they selected.

It is materials like these that make the Miller House come alive as a place a real family lived, not some idealized sanctuary. I think it makes Miller House, a hallmark of mid-century design, more approachable and maybe even more beautiful- it merges real life with such a beautiful aesthetic.

Also, as a special treat for you Ball-Nogues lovers (I am included in this group) here is a picture of the finished install- from below!

With the Indianapolis Colts going to the Super Bowl and the Vancouver Olympics this month, I have been all about sports lately. I type this while watching Lindsey Vonn ski perfectly and gloriously to the first U.S. gold medal in the Alpine event. A few weeks ago, while our beloved Colts were preparing for the big game, the Indianapolis Museum of Art was all atwitter over a bet developing between our fearless leader, Max Anderson, and the New Orleans Museum of Art’s John Bullard. You know how the story ends: we lost the game, and now the IMA prepares to ship off our beautiful Turner to NOMA. You can read the whole story as described by the instigator Tyler Green.

But why was it such a surprise to everyone (ESPN, bloggers, sports fans) that museum folk are sports fans, too? Sports are generally seen as incongruous with arts, even by me, but a tweet by my former professor Jenny Mikulay got me thinking about sports in a different light.

“I don’t understand it when people think sports/games and art/culture are unrelated–they are the same.” -JGMikulay

This is such a wise statement, albeit one which might be difficult to agree with when standing in the midst of a beer-soaked, blue-clad screaming throng. Yes, inebriated with culture!  But why do we apportion sports within culture in this way? Games, a natural occurrence in most children’s lives, are an excellent way to learn about relationships and strategy and can develop over hundreds of years or be invented spontaneously. They are a physical manifestation of artistic communication.

Hundreds of years ago, the influence of sports and games on the visual arts was a little more traditional:

This 1565 painting, Winter by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, which resides at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, displays curling in the background. Curling is now an Olympic Sport.

Movement in dance, theatre or martial arts has long been considered an art form. Now, the lines are blurring between sports and games experiences, performance arts and visual art. The artist duo Type A immediately comes to mind (the IMA is heavily involved with these guys, currently producing a documentary and installing their work in 100 Acres) as a contemporary artist pushing the boundaries of what art is and how it is interpreted. We have had very memorable experiences with Type A here at the IMA.

The work Push, by Type A, explored games and the meanings of masculinity and physical relationships.

I asked some of my fellow IMA bloggers about sports vs. art and got a wide range of answers:

I grew up with a stream behind my parents house, and when it got cold enough we would play hockey on the ice. Looking back probably not the safest idea, but we all survived. All it took was a few neighbors, rocks substituted for hockey pucks, and rogue sticks found in the nearby woods. For the goals we’d shoot for a hole in the ice!
When you mentioned art in sports marbles came to mind. My grandparents had a stash of old beautiful marbles. Of course, I had my favorites because all of the marbles were different. Looking at them was just as fun as playing the game. Not so sure you can consider the game of “marbles” a sport, but then again… curling. -Matt

Roller derby! I’m not a ‘traditional’ sports fan… I love being a part of and watching grass-roots, d.i.y. sports… there’s a lot of passion and hard work that go in to it. -Kate

Nothing really comes to mind other than how much I loved attending IU basketball games when I went to school down there.  Assembly Hall is very small and very vertical for a stadium and sometimes I feared it would collapse when people started cheering and stomping and clapping.  It was such a crazy environment (college basketball as a whole, and Assembly Hall specifically) that I haven’t seen matched in any other sport (I have been to lots of NBA, NFL, MLB games, and even a few soccer games including a Real Madrid game with Daniel..and nothing comes close to crazy college basketball). -Dan

This may be too marketing-esque, but did you know that Shaun White has a couple snowboarding games for the Wii that are pretty sweet? The first one is, at least… I haven’t picked up the second yet (came out this past Nov). Shaun had some ridiculous runs last night, didn’t he? -Ed

I also got a few really interesting links about great sports places here in Indy. Richard sent me info on the US Track and Field HQs and NCAA Hall of Fame. Rob noted the National Art Museum of Sport, located right at my school (!), which I intend to check out as soon as possible. Looks like they have a GREAT collection!

Skiier, by Bernard Fuchs, at the National Art Museum of Sport.

So, how do you see sports and culture? I’ll consider this more, as well, while I watch Lindsey rack up some more medals. Go Team USA!

The Pharmacy prescribes the following links to combat Monday online anemia.

insanewiches.com

Blog: insanewiches

So a few weeks ago, we introduced you to scanwiches. And because we know you’ll be spending most of this week trying to come up with creative ways to use your Thanksgiving leftovers, here’s a little more inspiration: insanewiches.com.

ArtBabble Video: Nic Hess’s Spindle Implosion

IMA Work of Art:

Morning at Grand Manan by Alfred Thompson Bricher

Tweet:

museumofemily: For your turkey-induced, post-Thanksgiving coma, ArtBabble delivers: http://www.artbabble.org/vi…

And you can see how, I mean, it’s painted, this bravura, I mean this coil and the light and then the incredible translucency of the peeled fruit. It’s hard to imagine now how it must have looked... Well, we are always going to be looking at and celebrating that the stuff of the world, you know.

Still Life with a Chinese Porcelain Jar by Willem Kalf

Recently, this work  has caught my attention again, as I’ve had the opportunity to spend a bit of time in the galleries here at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. I love the process of “getting to know” a work of art; the way it becomes like a familiar friend, and yet somehow, each time completely delightful and new.  It has me thinking about what catches my attention in each one, and some similarities between the very disparate works that I love. The first thing to come to mind? FOOD.

Some of my favorite works of art, both in this museum and elsewhere, feature fruit prominently. I suppose this could be attributed to “celebrating the stuff of the world,” as Mark Doty said. Undeniably, there is a universal connection between the human experience and the pleasure of eating good food. Artists have used food extensively as symbols in their work throughout the history of painting. For me, it has to do with the beauty of so many things we eat. I am amazed by the endless interpretation of something as simplistic as a bowl of apples.

Here are a few of my favorite food-related works of art from around the country.

I saw this painting in a Gauguin exhibition at the Met. It’s one of my favorites of Gauguin’s, both in style and subject, and I came to appreciate it more after I learned about his body of work and influence on the painters of his time in Gauguin and the Generation of the 1890s.

Two Tahitian Women with Mangoes by Paul Gauguin

I originally was introduced to the work of Ellsworth Kelly by way of his color field paintings. But the images I can’t get out of my head are his simple line drawings of fruit.

Apples by Ellsworth Kelly

And finally, for something completely different, there is something so jubilant and inviting about the cherry perched atop the spoon in this famous sculpture from Minneapolis.

Spoonbridge and Cherry, by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen

Needless to say, I also loved listening to Alice Waters of Chez Panisse speak about food and nutrition when she was here last year.

What works of art with food do you love?

I have the distinct pleasure of being in Daniel‘s class this fall, Museums and Technology.  While it is surprising for my classmates that I would take a class about something I do already, I am excited for the opportunity to explore more thoroughly the meaning of technology for the museum experience and how the visitor is affected by these changes. I see continual parallels between issues encountered with visitors in physical space and issues we are encountering all over again in our digital spaces. I’ve talked about Twitter before and I have been thinking about how it is harnessed by museums and where we are going wrong.

We were talking about Twitter again in a recent class, more specifically what we consider to be a successful museum tweet, and why. It’s very hard to nail down, and even harder to do. The main reason is because it’s so hard to avoid becoming a marketing ploy, something which happens without rapt attention. A museums use of twitter now stands as an analogy for the way the actual museum interacts with its visitors and the traditional barrier between the inner workings of an institution and the public at large. So many museums need to release their stranglehold on twitter feeds to actually let interesting information get out.

I was at the Indianapolis Greek Festival this past weekend, and I couldn’t help to think that they were doing something right.

There were throngs of people, tons of Greek food, everyone jostling and yelling and having a great time, but here’s the part that baffled me- you had to pay to get in, and the food was delicious, but quite pricey. What is the Holy Trinity parish doing that connects so much with their audience that museums cannot seem to do? I think we can be the Agora marketplace discussed by Dr. Steven Zucker (@drszucker) and Dr. Nancy Proctor (@nancyproctor) a vibrant place for community and discussion, in the same way that the Greek festival is. I think the problem is balance- how do we sell ourselves as experts in our field while maintaining that we want everyone else’s opinion, too?

Some people are getting it right, figuring out how to sift through all the noise and clutter to connect with their audience while maintaining their voice. One such person is the British musician Imogen Heap, who felt a divide between herself and her fans before she started to utilize blogs and Twitter, not dissimilar to the separation between and institution and it’s community. In a recent interview with Melissa Block on NPR, she describes the divide quite succinctly. She then discusses what it’s like to have that direct connection throughout the process of making her music.

It’s been so amazing. I’ve always struggled with this barrier that I felt like I’d had up until blogging came along. Just one comment from somebody really sparks something in me. It doesn’t need to be this huge wall between me and the listeners anymore. I really thrive on that.”

@ImogenHeap gets it- the audience has become part of the process, and there’s no going back.