The time we spent was filled with sessions, preparing for our own presentation, keeping up with IMA work and seeing what the city had to offer.  We did a lot of everything despite the inevitable jetlag.  A 12 hour time difference is a doozie.

Nonetheless, we made the most of it.  Of all the sessions we attended I found the last one to be the most compelling.  It was a lecture by Khairul Azril Ismail called Pudu Jail’s Graffiti: Aesthetics Beyond the Walls of the Prison Cells.

The presentation had two main ideas: documenting the graffiti of the Pudu Jail in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and studying it to determine its cultural and historical meaning.  Built in 1895, the institution had a reputation for cruelty and is an example of architecture that is vanishing from the Malaysian town.  The site is currently slated for destruction.

K. Azril Ismail presented a brief overview of the jail’s history and then presented some of his haunting photographs.  The black and white photos (give this link some time to load) document graffiti, architecture, vacant spaces and the memory of the people that passed through them.

His photos have captured a wide variety of graffiti, (the literal sense, not in the urban, underground style you might think of) and the second half of his talk was devoted to analyzing, sorting and categorizing the text and images left behind on the walls.  Their work struggles to make sense of images created by motivations that all human beings share as well as others that few experience.  And K. Azril Ismail continues this project despite considerable personal risk, a fact that he has seemingly suppressed with his dedication to the project.

Immediately following this presentation was the session Daniel and I led, Cramming Aesthetics, Art Appreciation & Education into a Fun Museum Experience.  Our talk focused on the exhibition, Nature Holds My Camera: The Video Art of Sam Easterson.

We shared the ways in which we worked with educators, exhibition and graphic designers, the artist and others to juggle a variety of goals.  Primarily we wanted to offer visitors a unique, fun and memorable trip to the museum that would also teach us something about how visitors participate in their own art viewing experience.  Those in attendance at ISEA seemed interested in the project and some even stayed after to ask Daniel and I more questions and get more info about IMA.  Of course we also took this public opportunity to run through IMA stuff on Flickr, Facebook, YouTube, iTunes U and the IMA Blog.  How could we resist?!?

And of course, we saw Singapore: ate a bunch of food, met with staff at the National Museum of Singapore, checked out Chinatown and Little India…discovered a new point of view.  As much as we gained from attending sessions, it felt equally invigorating as a person and as a professional to be exposed to the unfamiliar and allow the experience to overwhelm our senses.  Both creatively and academically this trip was a great success.

Remember how we said we were going to beef up content on Flickr? Well, it has begun with this set of images documenting the anoxic treatment of a work of art by Thornton Dial.

What is anoxic treatment? Well you either know or you don’t…so if you know, aren’t you dying to see how IMA conservators did it? If you don’t know…aren’t you dying to? Don’t miss out on this chance to expand your vocabulary and knowledge of art conservation.

You will see more conservation on Flickr as the year goes along. The photo-sharing site has proven to be a very useful tool to feature this kind of content. We hope that it is useful in sharing some behind-the-scenes insight for our visitors (and blog readers), but we also hope that those of you who are conservators from other places will find this to be a useful forum for discussion.

And if you visit Flickr you will also find:

• A brand new set of photos Daniel and I created during our visit to the ISEA 2008 conference in Singapore
• New answers to the question: “If you lived forever, what would you take with you?” (Of course inspired by the current exhibition, To Live Forever: Egyptian Treasures from the Brooklyn Museum)
• Photos documenting the Earthworks Camp, a collaboration between IMA and IPS

That’s right. There are Nuggets in Singapore. Daniel and I arrived on Saturday, July 26th as you may have learned from his post yesterday. We are attending the International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA 2008). It is a gathering of artists, museum professionals, university faculty and others who use technology to inform, educate and interact with audiences.

The sessions include a variety of perspectives that range from topics like how gaming relates to learning and actual behaviors of people to how technology affects viewer’s understanding and appreciation of art. Daniel and I are closer to the latter, presenting on Wednesday, July 31st about the integration of technology in the exhibition, Nature Holds My Camera: The Video Art of Sam Easterson. We will share how we organized the exhibition to maximize the use of technology and make visitors to the gallery feel more comfortable in the role of an art viewer.

Thus far we have attended some sessions, including a keynote Lecture by Larry Lessig. He talked about the Creative Commons project and how US copyright laws affect the creative process. The discussion is a complex one that has many opposing viewpoints. If you are interested, you should check out an engaging lecture that Lessig presented at last year’s TED conference.

And what about Singapore? Well here are a few nuggets for you about the Garden City:

• Singapore was settled by the British in 1826. You can still see this influence today in things like street names, high tea service at restaurants, and architecture.
• In 1965, Singapore became an independent nation.
• The time difference between Indianapolis and Singapore is 12 hours!
• The infamous Singapore Sling was said to have been invented at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore. If you want a recipe, you can find one from the National Library Singapore.
• Don’t miss our Flickr set with images from Singapore!

Have a burning question about Singapore or the ISEA conference? I’ll do my best to answer it…