125th Anniversary

Documenting Right Now out Here

Though I’m writing this post from NYC I don’t want you to get the impression that I travel a lot.  The vast majority of my days are spent down in the “service level” of the museum conserving objects.  But today is a rare exception:  I’m at the Conflux Festival for the rest of the weekend with IMA adjunct curator Rebecca Uchill to experiment with ways to enhance our work with documenting variable art – art without a static original visible state (such as time-based media or ephemeral art).

Here’s a link to our project description.

Since the Conflux Festival is “The art and technology festival for the creative exploration of urban public space” we thought this would be an ideal place to expand our ideas and methods for documentation as we prepare for a number of upcoming projects in the contemporary department.

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daily caloric intake exceeded

Outside JuniorsI’ve got a few traditions I follow when I’m in New York – find the best possible cannoli, visit Chinatown to buy non-violent toy robots, see friends, drink $10 beers and now…always, always meet with Shelley Bernstein from the Brooklyn Museum.

Despi and I headed to Brooklyn to have lunch with Shelley at Juniors. [Quick side note: do you realize I ate cornbread, a fried chicken breast, mac and cheese, and mashed potatoes with gravy?] The food was absolutely delicious and it was a chance to catch up with Shelley about museums, technology and our projects. It’s rare to spend time with someone that is so honest and open and willing to collaborate or share experiences. That is what Shelley has done at Brooklyn and it’s that same spirit that we try to follow in Indianapolis.
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