Maya Lin, "Above and Below," 2007.

The Viewing Project, which is in its final year, is a three year series of small-scale educational installations providing innovative ways to reactivate the IMA’s permanent collection.  The Viewing Project’s main goals are to encourage new ways of looking at artworks by mixing up the collection in unexpected ways and supporting an enjoyable visitor experience. This includes but is not limited to: hands-on models, comparative artworks across time and culture, videos, flip-labels, technology, and thoughtful questioning.

Typically the Viewing Project installations are located directly next to the artwork they are referring to. With Above and Below, the Viewing Project team bravely took on the challenge of placing the installation in a separate location from the actual work. This method of separating the informational from the experiential aspect of an artwork allows not only new educational connections to be made but also helps visitors make the journey to the sculpture, which is something that hosts its own set of navigational challenges.

The museum has previously experimented with way-finding methods such as arrows on the floor, the walls and posted signage. For this particular project, the team brainstormed about using GPS mapping methods with verbal descriptions, but in the end, they decided the most user-friendly guide would be a handout using photographs of distinct views leading upstairs. This process, along with an overview of the project, is explained by Annette in the video below:

Maya Lin was chosen for this project because her sculpture was not found readily in the museum and certainly deserves more attention.  She combines her unique background in both art and architecture to create forms that quote both industry and nature in a complex way. The sculpture is loosely based on the Indiana Blue Springs Cavern system, which Max Anderson talks about here.  Above and Below was a commission-based project by the IMA in 2007 and is currently on view on the 3rd floor balcony.

This summer, the IMA hosted a group of educators for a special teacher workshop inspired by our newest addition to the artwork in 100 Acres, FLOW (Can You See the River?), a project by New York based artist Mary Miss. Our goal for the workshop was to help teachers think about ways to incorporate the project into their classes, with the aim of engaging students in conversations about environmental, social, and economic sustainability while increasing student’s awareness of the White River and its watershed. Being an “art person,” I realized that to engage with this project and truly see the river as Mary instructs, I would need to supplement my arty knowledge with a little bit of science and history. And when you are trying to learn something, I have discovered that the best way to do so is to be locked up with a room full of teachers. So what did I learn? Here are a few highlights:

• Our friends at the Cell Motion BioBus, a 1974 San Francisco transit bus converted into a mobile science laboratory, showed us an awesome little creature called Daphnia,which is found in a range of aquatic (including the White River) environments and are visible to the naked eye (granted, they are still very small). Daphnia are tiny crustaceans with translucent exoskeletons, making them really interesting to view under microscopy.
• The partnership between the IMA and USGS, that has been a crucial part of  Mary Miss’s project, began several years ago when the IMA commissioned artist Maya Lin to create a piece for our collection. Lin was interested in mapping the bottom of a Lost River in Bedford, IN. Lost Rivers get their name from the fact that they flow underground. The USGS helped to map the river bottom and the cavernous ceiling. To learn more about Lin’s piece, appropriately titled Above and Below, check out this Art Babble video.
• There are a ton of similarities between the IMA and the Marian University Eco Lab. Both places benefited from wealthy individuals with ties to Indianapolis industry that also had country estates located along the White River. James Allison’s house (of Allison Transmission and co-founder of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway) and the surrounding land were donated to Marian University and became the northern part of the campus, while the IMA’s Oldfields, the home of J.K. Lilly Jr. (of Eli Lily and Company and Eagle Creek Park) was donated to the Art Association of Indianapolis (later becoming the Indianapolis Museum of Art). Behind each of the country estates was a patch of land that was used for various purposes. The land behind Allison’s home was once used as cattle pasture and a driving course (check out the picture below), eventually becoming a 55 acre nature preserve for the university known as the Marian University EcoLab. The backyard of the Lilly family was also used for many things, such as farmland, a stone quarry (helping to build nearby Interstate 65), and now as 100 Acres: The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art and Nature Park.

A great Aha! moment from this workshop was my realization of the genius of Mary Miss’s project title: FLOW (Can You See the River?). She is asking us to literally look at the river, but also to see the many ways in which it affects our lives. The teachers that attended the workshop helped me see the power of the word “flow.” Sure it refers to the movement of water,  but we also use it to describe the circulation of blood in the body or the way traffic moves (or doesn’t) during rush hour. To me it implies a Zen-like interconnectedness in the ways in which we share biological features with a creature like Daphnia or a shared history like that of EcoLab and 100 Acres.

Miss’s project opens September 22nd, which means you’ve got a little time to do some research to find out how you are connected to the river. So c’mon, learn something about the river. I dare you.

You may have heard, that we softly launched the new IMA website on Tuesday? Well, we were kind of busy with that recently. But we’ve kept our eyes on a couple of other projects, including a major video documentary. You may recall our first major documentary, on Maya Lin which we debuted on ArtBabble. A pic of Dan on location for that documentary, below.

Senior New Media Producer Dan Dark, on location in Walla Walla

So speaking of documentaries. In December, Danny Beyer and I spent a week in NYC working on our next documentary, featuring the artist duo Type A.  This is a really unique project for us, because we have enjoyed a wonderful working relationship with them – in fact, they’ve become ingrained in IMA’s culture through their work in 100 Acres….even on this blog. We’ve been even luckier in that we’ve received the full support, encouragement, collaboration and engagement from IMA’s contemporary curator, Lisa Freiman. It’s the makings of something special.

Stay hydrated! Simple advice.

In fact, this might be our most prolific collaboration with any artist. We’ve got hours and hours of team building raw footage, a Flickr set, blog posts, hilarious phone calls, hugs, the exchange of gifts and more.  It’s lasted years. They’ve also given us (and ArtBabble) one of the best In the Factory series to date. You can view that below. I implore you to at least watch the beginning…which will prompt you to watch the end.

It’s already become a very special project (and we’re a couple of months away from completing the documentary). Type  A have opened their studio to us, befriended the entire IMA family and been incredibly kind, patient, funny and inspiring collaborators. They even gave us hockey tickets for a Rangers game.

Our week in NYC was intense and we shot hours of footage. Interviewing people is an exhausting process and during the week we conducted on-camera interviews with several different people involved in Type A’s career (you’ll meet them in the video) and we grabbed tons of studio b-roll footage. It was an intense but good time.

The final day of shooting at Type A's studio

We’re a couple of months away from completing this video. Danny is currently editing the piece, sifting through all of the footage and searching for usable nuggets. There are plenty.  Even though it’s not done yet, I can imagine the final product being well over twenty minutes long, in which case, this would be our longest documentary to date. We’ve come a long way.

So while you’re waiting for this release, take time to watch Type A’s In the Factory interview (above) or check out their section on the IMA site and what they’re doing in 100 Acres. We love them.

New Media will be pretty busy starting today and into the weekend.  We’ll be documenting both days of the symposium and grabbing interviews with some of the biggest names in the Design world.  Pretty cool.  Now that we’re running ArtBabble, we need to work harder and smarter to bring you the best possible video content.  The European Design Symposium is a perfect opportunity to do add to the ArtBabble selections.

Juli Capella's Homepage

Also participating in the Symposium is designer and architect Juli Capella.   His site is delightful, playful, surreal, funny and professional (all things I hold in high regard).  It’s hard to pull that off, but Juli manages to do that in the physical and online world.  His site is a must see and you can stop by the Symposium to hear from him directly.  I promise its worth it.  So why am I singling him out?

This past fall, I had the opportunity to interview Juli for our In the Factory series.  This series can be found on our iTunes U page or on ArtBabble and focuses on direct interviews with artists and designers.  Dan Dark and Danny Beyer in the Nugget Factory, shoot and edit this series in the same style and we use the same line of questioning for every interview.  I love ITF and once ArtBabble gets out of the beta phase (I promise, very soon), anyone with an internet connection can hear directly from people like Juli Capella, Maya Lin, Emily Kennerk, Alfredo Jaar, Orly Genger and more.  It’s about artists talking directly and honestly about their creative processes, experience in the art world and the act of creating.  Dan and Danny do a fabulous job of revealing these insights through their own creative approach to video editing.  It’s the type of content we should all be focusing on.

So I leave you with Juli’s In the Factory (one of my faves).  It may be Thursday, but it already feels like a Friday.  See you at the IMA?

A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about plans for The Davis LAB, and shared some early design concepts.  Well, on Saturday it opens and you can see it for yourself.  Phil & Noelle in marketing, just sent out a Facebook invite to all of the IMA Fans.  If you’re free on Saturday, stop by our new space to meet staff, check out the final designs, maybe get some free stuff and…that’s about it.

Computer interface for The Davis LAB -We have some amazing designers on staff.

Actually that isn’t it.  The opening of The Davis LAB is also your first chance to experience ArtBabble — our new online, HD, art video station/website – really, much more – a new way of experiencing video.  It’s currently in its Beta version with many of us (Marketing, Education, New Media, Application Developers and more) still tweaking, writing content, adding videos, finalizing design, etc.  In recent posts, I’ve preached a little about releasing sites or projects in a less than perfect state.  We’re doing the same thing with ArtBabble, but with a twist.

ArtBabble sneak peak - we've got great designers here

The twist is this.  If you visit artbabble.org – you get a sign in screen.  We’re being slightly protective about the site for the time being.  We are still making changes by the hour and importantly monitoring the quality of video delivery.  If you’re going to take the time to watch our brand new documentary on Maya Lin, a conversation with Robert Irwin (featuring our very own Richard), or relive some of the highlights from our Roman Art from the Louvre webis, we want you to experience this in 720p!  So, we’re releasing AB in its Beta state, where membership has its privileges.  Sign up for an account and we’ll gradually release access to ArtBabble with your own set of invites.  You can spread the love – kind of like you did when you got your Gmail account.

Or – if you can’t wait for one of the AB admins to release your account, you have (2) options.  The first, is visit The Davis LAB starting Saturday and beyond.  We will have the unrestricted version of ArtBabble running in the space on a projector or our computer stations.  You can Play Art Loud, select any of our videos, find the official defintion of ArtBabble – and send invites to your friends, families and fans – directly from the LAB.  Option (2) – If you live outside of Indy, have other plans or just want it now, leave me a comment.  I’ll look up your e-mail through WordPress and send you an invite.  I have plenty.  Babble On.

Don't you want to send some invites?

There are actually more than 10 reasons to visit

What, you haven’t been to the IMA’s new Tobias Theater yet? Consider this your personal invitation…along with ten good reasons to get thee to The Toby to catch a film in the next two weeks:

1. To be surprised: Little Fugitive, a black-and-white beauty made in 1953, is probably a film you’ve never heard of. Let that be a good thing. This 80-minute indie gem is about a boy who runs away to Coney Island. Think of it as Leave It To Beaver infused with art, subtlety, and cinematography to die for. Sneak away and see it at The Toby Tuesday, December 30.
2. The sound rocks: As the museum’s senior AV technician, sound hound Chris Cruz made sure the sound system in The Toby is top notch. Three refrigerator-sized speakers lurk behind the movie screen to give you blasts of aural delight.

3. Because Johnny Depp is the new Santa Claus: To cut the sugar that often accompanies the holidays, we’ve picked out two moody Depp films and are running them back-to-back as part of IMA’s One-Two Punch series. Find out which films and when.

4. To escape your mother-in-law: Had enough family time? Sneak off to The Toby for the dazzling animation of Princess Mononoke the day after Christmas, or see Clint Eastwood turn the western on its head in Unforgiven on Jan. 2.
5. To escape economic woes: According to financial and historical gurus, movie attendance surges during troubled times. What are you waiting for?
6. You can come in your PJs: I will admit you free to any Toby film if you come in your pajamas. At The Toby, you can lounge around AND fathom the images on a 15’ x 30’ screen. Netflix, schmetflix.
7. To canoodle in the balcony or the ComfySacks: We won’t stop you and your honey from holding hands up in The Toby balcony or on the massive red bean bags down near the screen.
8. Beverages are for sale: Wine or beer (for the appropriately aged) are available from the stylin’ Toby concession counter.
9. You’re independent: You could go to Kerasotes or United Artists, but seeing a film at The Toby contributes to the local economy.
10. Because you can also visit the galleries: The visual art just won’t quit at IMA. Before or after the cinema washes over you, you can be transported to Ming-dynasty China in the Power & Glory exhibition, check out the new minimalist exhibition in the Forefront gallery, or ponder the wintry landscape through the veil of Maya Lin’s Above and Below installation on the IMA’s second floor galleries.

If you’ve already been to The Toby, please leave us your impressions and testimonies below.

The X Room, shortly after the IMA reopened in 2005

2009 will bring a new approach to this tech environment, that I hope encourages our museum visitors to talk back to us.

We have a couple of strategies in place here.  For one, we’ll be showcasing a large portion of the video art content we produce, in a theater-like environment.  I’ve always been critical of the traditional museum orientation video space, because I’m not convinced our visitors want to sit through a 10-minute introductory video that essentially, is a one-way, passive form of communication (I know I don’t).  To counter this, we’re going to offer our visitors choices.  You will be able to search our video collection and then hear directly from experts in the art field and excitingly, directly from contemporary artists.  The choices will be at your fingertips, and the viewing experience will go beyond traditional methods (sort of top secret at the moment).  Did I mention that those choices will include artists like Maya Lin, Robert Irwin and much, much more?

We really do want to hear honest feedback from our visitors, so we’re also installing a series of computers that will allow to access our images on Flickr, our collection online (not as good as the real thing, but we have more art viewable online), and access to this blog.  All of these applications will allow tagging and comments.  We also know that we have good readership on the IMA blog, but I’m intrigued to see what will happen when any of our IMA – museum (not online) visitors have the opportunity to read blog posts and comments.  I’m sure a lot of our visitors are unaware that we have such a diverse online presence.

In 2007 for the exhibition Nature Holds My Camera: The Video Art of Sam Easterson, we debuted a similar strategy where visitors could ‘talk back’ in the gallery.  They could, in a blog-style design, ask questions directly to Sam.  It was a big success and I hope we have similar participation in this new environment.

I’ll keep you posted on this space, but in the meantime I would love to hear feedback about your thoughts -

• about art and interpretive technology
• museums that incorporate technology into gallery areas
• and if you think we will get more feedback by providing computers in the museum

…talk back!

Check out this photo on Flickr to see a diagram of my crazy.

This is a super-busy time for the Nugget Factory and it just sort of happened.  For a couple of days last week, Daniel was out of the office with Dan shooting some video in San Francisco for the upcoming show, Power and Glory: Court Arts of China’s Ming Dynasty. I found myself sitting at my desk, working at a normal pace…and bored out of my mind.  Two days later, with the full factory back in action, things sort of erupted, with new tasks flying in at every angle.  I guess I prefer it that way…Check out this selection of stuff we have coming soon:

• A new Flickr project giving you a look at some conservation work done by IMA conservators in conjunction with the exhibition, Preserving a Legacy: Wishard Hospital Murals (coming January 2009)
  
• The website for Power and Glory, which will integrate video in a way we have never tried before (coming October 2008)
• A full length documentary on Maya Lin that is in the home stretch, we hope you can see this late 2008
• The special web presence featuring Type A, in the final stages of editing, getting ready for the Virginia B. Fairbanks Art and Nature Park groundbreaking on September 18th
• A new Flickr group called “Class Picture Day” – submit your own class photo inspired by the exhibition, Class Pictures: Photographs by Dawoud Bey (You should submit your class photo, but even if you don’t you can find mine on there!)
• Two audio tracks recorded by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra for you to enjoy, inspired by works of art in the American Galleries

So that is a just a taste for the next couple of months.  We’ll keep you posted as new things come up.  Next year will be bringing some super exciting things that you will definitely hear about here, so stay tuned!!

Never underestimate the potential of a bruised banana. Around the office at the IMA, my desk is known as repository for fruit that’s past its prime. Colleagues know—as an obsessive recycler—that I will repurpose their bananas by taking them home, tossing them in the freezer and using them in a smoothie.

The re-use ethic is the foundation of freeganism, the practice of strategic food salvaging. Freegans use their wits to rescue perfectly good food out of the back doors of grocery stores and other venues. Freegans and freecyclers can imagine other uses for other people’s garbage. [If you are an Indy-based freegan, please respond to this post!]

I love freeganism because it raises questions about transgression and imagination—topics with which an art museum concerns itself. What risks are necessary to alter current systems and make the planet greener? Can artists and scientists re-engineer our technologies, and our worldviews—in time to save our skins from climate change? Designer Bruce Mau, whose name gets mentioned a lot around the IMA, put out a book and exhibition called Massive Change. His agenda is to show how the world can be re-designed (think Google Earth, water purification machines, biotechnologies, etc.) to save itself. Creativity is required to re-think bad systems, such as the coal-fired power plants that make Indiana the second most polluted state in the nation.

The IMA is doing its part to reduce our footprint. Our director of facilities has figured out to reduce our average monthly electricity and natural gas usage by over 21 percent since the beginning of 2006. That said, we are still struggling to institute recycling in public places at the museum. We can’t find a local recycling vendor that will accept plastics 1 – 7 and actually recycle them as advertised. The good news is that our frustration caused us to move from plastic plates to china plates in the IMA Cafe.

If you’re looking to green your outlook, check out some amazing events coming up: artist Fritz Haeg, who lived in a geodesic dome, created the Edible Estates garden project, and recently built a beaver dam on top of the Whitney Museum, is speaking at Herron School of Art today, (Earth Day, Tuesday, April 22).

Architect Maya Lin is speaking at the IMA next Tuesday, April 29, about the Indiana geologic inspiration for her installation Above and Below on the balcony of the galleries of Asian art. And as soon as the Tobias Theater opens, watch for Garbage Warrior, a documentary about New Mexico-based architect Michael Reynolds who builds buildings from trash.

In the film, Reynolds refers to himself as “the turd in the punch bowl” of the architecture world. That’s one way to put it. I’ll say: Thumbs up for creative (and green) transgressions.

But please don’t misunderstand…it is not that we aren’t excited. We are. We just have to get excited months before most people outside the museum know a show is coming. We start planning projects like the BTM site really far out so that we can be ready with cool stuff to keep you engaged as the buzz for a show starts building. For BTM we wanted to be innovative in how we presented info, give you some streaming video and create a unique feature for Project IMA, a special fashion event.

New Media still has a few BTM projects to finish. There will be a video trailer coming soon and we are working on video loops that will run in the galleries. But by the time the show opens we will be on to other things, like a documentary about Maya Lin’s work, the new series, In the Factory (look for this in March) and some other super secret stuff we can’t yet mention.

In terms of web projects, we learned some very valuable lessons in this development process that will inform what you will see in future projects. Look for us to keep innovating our presentation of video and we will strive to make every web project engaging and interactive. So take a look at BTM and tell us what you think. We’ll keep it in mind as we continue working on the To Live Forever web site (the show that opens in July)!