"Installation Nation" at College Avenue and Michigan Street vacant lot

The local photo blog The Heidelberger Papers presents a regular visual exploration of Indianapolis through photographs and captions. The upcoming IMA exhibition Judith G. Levy: Memory Cloud will employ plastic photo viewers containing 35 mm slides to conjure memories, many of which visitors will have the chance to peer through, others of which will be out of reach. These two items prompted me to post my snapshots from the past weeks. Do we have some shared experiences?

Metal shipping container lit up at "Installation Nation"

Watching a vacant lot transform into a small village of warmly lit installations and speckled crowds, all from my living room window, was a delight. But it was the people, not the art that charmed me. “Installation Nation” was presented by the Indianapolis-based arts nonprofit Primary Colours.

Street view of downtown by The Maxwell condos

The Maxwell is one of several new condo buildings downtown. Your guess is as good as mine as to whether this one will fill up.

Italian Street Festival

The 26th annual Italian Street Festival near Fountain Square was packed with people eager to taste some real Italian heritage. I got my hands on homemade spaghetti, fettuccine and a chocolate cake dessert and was literally encircled by welcoming families.

Some dogs can't hold their pasta.

Let’s just say the trip home from Italian Fest involved some heavy lifting.

Summer Nights June 12th film "Roman Holiday"

Highly recommended by my mom, “Roman Holiday”, starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, was one of this year’s Summer Nights films. It sold out within an hour at the IMA so I’m happy I watched it from the comfort of my couch thanks to Apple TV.

"European Design" billboard on Delaware and 15th Streets

One of my favorite billboards from the “European Design Since 1985″ advertising campaign, the location of this message staring you head on while driving up Delaware is ideal. The Whippet Bench, even cooler. (The exhibition closes at the IMA June 21 — take your dad! Tickets are 2 for $10.)

Independent Music + Art Festival

The Independent Music + Art Festival presented by the Harrison Center for the Arts hosts countless talented bands and artist. Why did I choose to highlight one? Not only is his work fun to photograph, but I was entertained by Michael Altman’s paintings on cardboard last year. Altman creates his robots, dogs and other funky characters on found cardboard for two purposes. 1) To create an entry point for young collectors. Cardboard is cheap and so is the art. 2) To be green. Painting on cardboard gives each work character and also prevents it from going in the trash.

Work by artist Michael Altman at IMAF

]]> http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2009/06/17/snapshots/feed/ 1 http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2009/06/16/homage-to-whole-and-entrance-pavilion-update/ http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2009/06/16/homage-to-whole-and-entrance-pavilion-update/#comments Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:50:11 +0000 Matt http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/?p=5818 I’ve been at the IMA for over two years now, and without a doubt one of the most talked about art installations over that time has been Orly Genger’s Whole, which lived mainly in the Efroymson Family Entrance Pavilion. It stood in a place that ensured each and every visitor who walked through those doors had to confront and acknowledge the installation in some way. I’ve been a huge fan of quietly observing over-the-top drama for all of my life, so this was right up my alley and I’ll miss it for sure.

The Design & Installation team taking down Orly Genger: Whole

It seems this exhibition was one of those you either love or hate. I for one loved it. The way it sat and overwhelmed the space and the hefty gargantuan sizes of the pieces made it feel epic every time I rode the escalators up to the galleries. Not only did the finished pieces impress me, but the amount of work put into them was equally as staggering as the size. What I loved is that you get slapped right in the face with a dose of contemporary artwork as soon as you get inside and you are forced you to think.

However, I overheard a lot of people who were irate about the artwork! What’s that, you don’t agree with me?? Visitor comments always show how passionate people are about the art in our galleries, and Whole was certainly no exception. Thanks to @katiezarich and Roz Wells I got access (shhh, don’t tell!) to our comment cards and gathered the best of the worst. In the spirit of transparency I thought I’d share a few…

There’s no place to sit in the Oval. If you’re waiting to be picked up, you can’t see anything. This rope is awful and it’s been here too long!

The “Whole” exhibit disturbs the beauty of the soaring entry space, creating an obstruction with blocks of massive nothingnous with no grace. Take them away, please.

Horrible display in the lobby. Who ever made the decision to display “Whole” needs Prozac!

The stuff in the lobby is offensive and is not perceived by me as “art.”

Orly Genger: This reminds me of the Gordian Knot in the time of Alexander the Great.

I have a comment about the exhibit in the lobby. I really like the black things but why did you put something in the lobby that we can’t touch? We have been wondering for a long time.

I thought the exhibit (Whole) was metal. I really like this and I want to touch it.

The Orly Gener rope exhibit is ugly.

I find the lobby exhibit terribly ugly, depressing, unbelievable & a great waste of money.

I feel like I’m in a fort.

New Exhibit: Takes up too much space in the lobby!

The exhibit in the oval is interesting, but please move it to another area. It does not present a welcoming image of the museum–particularly during the haledays (sic).

While I might not agree, rest assured we are reading your comments and we take them all seriously. If you are still a “Whole hater” I’ll try one more time to convert you with this beautiful video produced by IMA’s Nugget Factory.

Ok, I couldn’t resist so here’s one more beautiful photo set of the artwork on Flickr:

What happens to Whole now?

If you are wondering what happens to the artwork next, I asked Sarah Green that exact question and she said:

One of the sculptures is now part of the IMA’s permanent collection. It’s the one named “Len” that is four square columns that come together to form a larger square. The rest of the pieces are being dismantled and returned to the artist.

Up next in the Efroymson Entrance?

Coming soon to the Efroymson Family Entrance Pavilion: Judith Levy’s Memory Cloud. The installation will be comprised of a monumental “cloud” made from white plastic photo viewers that hang on strands of microfilament. That won’t be here until July, so stay tuned for updates.