From the Multiple Impressions show, select two to three works, describe them and describe the Mark Dion installation. In the context of your upcoming IP presentation, comment on the how these two exhibitions look at the concepts of reception (how do the exhibits engage the viewer). How does each exhibition interact with the viewer? Does the exhibition succeed?
Please answer in the comment area to this post.
Its pretty clear that the two exhibitions interact with the viewer in different ways.
ReplyDeleteMark Dion's exhibit is an installation piece that has some interactive performance involved (talking to the receptionist). While the waiting room environment directly puts the viewer in the piece, I personally think that Multiple Impressions show interacts with the viewer even more. The print show had so many works and at such large scale, nearly engulfing the viewer into the show. The gallery space itself is an interactive environment.
There is so much detail, visual content and background information displayed in the print show while Dion's 3-D printed artifacts have a more minimal style. This doesn't mean that one show is better than the other or that one work is better than the other. I just think that the Chinese woodblock exhibit supplies more information for the audience.
As mentioned in class, if there were more background information on the 3-D printing process at the Duderstadt (whether it be through in-progress photographs or 3-D modeling mappings) and if there were perhaps more artifacts, than the viewer would be more engaged in the exhibit. Or at least what was behind the closed doors.
Two works from the Multiple impressions show that left an impact on me were the first one with the worker we saw, and the mechanical one in the left corner. The worker left an impression on me, because I love interpretations of figures. I was staring for a long time at the way the artist used line texture to create the muscles, and to make them appear as if they were working and moving. The mechanical one captured me with my mind’s attention. It looked like a large piece of mechanical corn cob to me, and sent me back to APD III. The pieces of corn were projecting themselves off to their separate destinations, and it all seemed very cold. The color of the piece, golds and yellows, brought around a expensive feel, and led me to the though “King Corn”. I am not sure if this was the artist’s intention, but this piece made me think about King Corn. I overall enjoyed looking at all the different prints in the exhibition.
ReplyDeleteThe Mark Dion installation was something very differed from the Museum-style presentation of the Woodblock Prints. Mark Dion’s installation made the viewer a part of a story, their experience was what shaped the meaning of his work. The viewer walks into the space, a waiting room, and the curt receptionist hastily acknowledges their presence, and tells them to take a number and sit. The awkward silence that ensues drives the viewers into their own head, and for me, this made me begin looking around. The room I was waiting to enter has a grand label on the door, and it seemed almost as ominous as if I was waiting to speak to a cult leader. It seemed like the other side of the door represented a lot of power, wealth, and foreboding. After entering the room, it is quite a let down, as it is nothing but a black space and some glowing objects. However, that is quite the point, we wait for someone to let us reach some pinnacle in our lives, and when we wait, it becomes more than it is in our minds. This one succeeded, but I feel it could have been done a little better.
Multiple Impressions- the work that impressed (puns!) me the most was of the old man in the cabbage field (Nice Day), which used water-soluble ink and was a multi-block print, as well as the print (Ready To Go) of an ear of corn with kernels falling to expose a mechanical interior. My favorite part of Dion’s installation was, like most of the people who talked today in class, the waiting room. The installation is segmented into two rooms, the waiting room building anticipation for the adjacent dark room with the ‘illuminated’ objects.
ReplyDeleteThe two exhibitions are entirely different, the printmaking show being in a traditional gallery and Mark Dion’s transformation of a space into an installation. While I personally enjoy the work of Multiple Impressions (AMAZING) more than that of the Dion installation, I find that the way Dion constructs the space around his piece is more refreshing than the placement of work into a gallery. Especially in the context of my project, I am seeking to create a specific place for my works, even though they are illustrations. I want the viewer to be able to physically engage in my work (hold it, buy it, what have you) rather than have to look at it in a gallery. While the logistics of the Chinese printmaking exhibition may have prevented the individual artists from doing so, I think that an installation, or at the least some departure from standard gallery set-ups, takes a piece one step further. To me, Dion’s piece had a lot to do with history and the importance of each object’s conceptual background, which did not come through in the final viewing. I wanted his exhibition to explain just a little more about what these objects meant (if we hadn’t had that talk, I feel like I wouldn’t have understood what the installation was about). On the other hand, the Multiple Impressions show was focused on process, which it provided in placard form and displayed in complex and masterful prints.
http://arambula313.blogspot.com/2011/10/multiple-impressionsmark-dion.html
ReplyDeleteThe woodblock prints were a fairly traditional museum presentation. The prints were all displayed as wall hangings or under glass and accompanied by a short statement bout the work and the artist. There were many prints, all unique; I will give my thoughts on several of them:
ReplyDeleteStreet scene with woman, child and man, a street scene where a pregnant woman walks down the street with a child and a man stands to the side on the sidewalk. In the background there are many buildings, including a mosque, visually depicting a combination of cultural traditions in one place .There is a lot going on in this mage and there is really no way for anyone to really understand all of it with only the information on the plaque. This is one of the prints that really make the viewer think about what they are seeing and make their own decisions about what is going on in the image. As was said during the presentation in the museum, there is so much going on from the cultural interactions and people in the image that outsiders from the US may never grasp.
Two large scale prints of faces, one wearing glasses the other not. Lines have been carved in delicately creating smooth shading and shaping of the faces. The faces are dramatically visually different by the presence or absence of glasses alone but the thing that I found most interesting about the pieces was that with the carving being very delicate the wood grain also showed up in final print and was being used to add texture to the piece.
Mark Dion’s exhibit was pretty far separated from the typical museum setting; waiting in a room to be admitted into the display area where the glowing pieces are on display are the only thing in the room to focus on. I thought it was an ambitious move to display the oddities that he chose without origin, context or label. The viewer has to work much harder in a situation like this one and come to their own conclusions because there is no information given and the other person that ii there with you, the secretary, specifically avoids interaction. This is interesting in that the people walking out of the show might all come away for the experience with completely different thoughts on what it meant. I felt that they had lost a bit of potential interest because the glowing paint that had been applied to them had filled in a lot of the finer details on the more detailed objects. When they are the central focus of the whole room it felt like they should be able to generate visual interest for as long as possible.
Applying these observations to my own project, I would like for my work to be displayed in a way that would be most similar to the gallery setting. Seeing the videos and documentation without some brief context would be too confusing for a project like the one that I am planning but would also include some way for the viewer to interact with the finished work as well, by selecting the video that they would like to see and by viewing books/objects that accompany the videos. Having some of the documentation and finished pieces should also be available to better show the many different types of work that go into making a complex video project and provide some elaboration on how and why the videos came to the finished result on the screen.
The two exhibitions we saw interacted with the viewer in completely different ways.
ReplyDeleteMark Dion’s Waiting for the Extraordinary was much more interactive. As the viewer, you actually played a part in the installation. You would go in the waiting room, take a number, and sit until the sassy receptionist allowed you in. The next room was completely dark, lit with black lights, and had glowing objects on a long table in the middle of the room. You could walk around the objects, get as close as you wanted to them, and stay as long as you wanted. The problem was that since we met with Mark previous to the experience, we knew almost exactly what was coming. This made the end result much less extraordinary.
The Multiple Impressions show also interacts with the viewer in a strong way, but not in a physical, more personal way, like Mark Dion’s. The reason Multiple Impressions was interactive, is because of the amount of work up in the gallery, and the size of the prints. Since it is a gallery setting, you can also get right up to the works and see all the detail that went into them. They were also set up in a way that the works seemed to speak to each other, depending on where they were located. I believe both exhibitions were intriguing and I enjoyed the differences and similarities between them.
As a student I was never given the opportunity to explore the techniques of printmaking. By visiting Multiple Impressions and having Endi as a resource I feel like I have a new appreciation for the medium. The first piece that stuck out to me was the image of the reflection in the large spoon. It baffled me that all of that detail was carved out of plywood. I never knew a wood that usually splinters and is used for making generic furniture could be used to create such detailed textures and create such a variety of shades of blacks and grays. Furthermore the scale of the piece was impressive. The second piece that impressed me was the impressionistic looking image depicting the “American lifestyle” in the west. Although the subject matter didn’t interest me the technique of a reduction print and planning required to do it successfully was impressive. It reminded me of how I have to plan my cuts and all my steps for furniture making because one mistake can ruin the piece.
ReplyDeleteIn comparison Mark Dion’s piece was more experimental. There were more variables that could change a persons experience and therefore views of his exhibit. For example, the receptionist plays a huge influence how a person perceives the exhibit. Also, unlike the prints, which doesn’t necessarily need much context to appreciate it I think that Mark Dion’s exhibit suffers because of the lack of information provided. I understand that he didn’t want to give away too much and perhaps I might have a skewed view of the exhibition because I already knew what it was about before I saw it; however, it would be interesting to see how someone who was experiencing it for the first time would respond to it. Lastly, I think it is an interesting comparison to see traditional types of art work such as print making and comparing it to something that is 3d rapid prototyped and presenting that as art work.
I found both of these exhibitions interesting, but for different reasons, since they are obviously incredibly different in the way they interact with the viewer. Multiple Impressions was a very traditional gallery exhibition, while Mark Dion's exhibition was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. The idea of sitting in a waiting room to see artwork was an idea that never even crossed my mind before last week. But ultimately, I believe it was this element that will make the exhibition stick out in my mind for a long time.
ReplyDeleteI also think that Mark Dion's exhibit was unique because it literally forced the viewer into a specific physical experience. And the exhibit was memorable for me for exactly that reason: it was an experience, rather than just visual stimulation. The show invited visitors to interact with it using all 5 senses, instead of just the sense of sight. I thought that this was one of the strongest parts of the show.
While I'm not forming opinions about which show was better, I do believe that Mark's was much more memorable, at least for me. He made a strong statement, and the element of waiting really built up the visitor's anticipation about the show. It took the everyday experience of waiting in an office for an appointment and elevated it to a new level.
Mark Dion’s Waiting for the Extraordinary and Multiple Impressions show have different ways to interact with the viewer. Comparing to Multiple Impressions show, Mark Dion’s exhibition approaches the viewer more conceptual and makes us more engage in the show with deliberate settings he made. The viewer enters the waiting room, takes a number, and waits to be called. Then, he enters the room and enjoys the exhibition by himself. The whole idea is humorous and unexpected that evokes the viewer’s interest and compels to participate in. With this exceptional idea, he showed simple installation, which has a series of sculptures glowing on black lights. The arrangement of sculptures and the content make the viewer curious without information. In Mark Dion’s exhibition, everything looks questionable, so it demands the viewer’s involvement more.
ReplyDeleteMultiple Impressions show interacts the viewer differently as it displays works more in a traditional way. It shows various woodblock prints by contemporary printmakers in China. They look very laborious and time consumed, but as they contain many details, it is easier to understand what they are telling about. For me the most impressive prints were the huge print with a worker in the center (the first one we saw) and the one with a farmer in a cabbage pitch. They both give a powerful impression as they have strong compositions with elaborated figures. I did not know much about Chinese culture and society, but looking at the works, I really appreciated that I could feel those somehow.
I think both exhibitions did succeed with different interesting approaches to the viewer.
In Multiple Impressions, the viewer was presented with a large gallery full of different works from different artists. Their common tie was the fact that they were all woodblock prints, and to differentiate them the viewer had to go and inspect each. This is probably how most galleries are presented obviously, but it's a far different experience if you're inspecting one piece in one gallery.
ReplyDeleteClimbing, 2008 by Fang Limin
This piece caught me off guard because it felt like and looked like a painting, not a woodblock print. This easily could have been due to my lack of experience and exposure to printmaking, but felt very different from the other pieces in the show. In a large gallery amongst other pieces, it very easily grabbed me because of it just seeming like a distinctly different style than the others around it.
Bright Autumn, 2009 by Li Yanpeng
Endi did a great job describing these multilayered prints and the technical level is just unbelievable. The print uses light direction and minute detail to really feel almost photographic. This type of detail was interesting to see and compare next to pieces that were made around the same time and had different technical styles.
Darling of the Times, 2009 by Liu Qingyuan
Again, Endi went really well into detail about how this piece reflected the creators perception of China in his time period compared to other woodblock prints. This one felt very much about getting to the simplest message to talk about the subject matter. That being said, this one color, bold, vivid style is very powerful and delivers a very different feel than something like Li Yanpeng's piece.
Mark Dion Exhibit: Waiting for the Extraordinary
This exhibit/experience created by Mark Dion had a very different method of getting it's point across than the Multiple Expressions exhibit; this was much more of an experience crafted to carry the viewer along, whereas the Multiple Expressions gallery was one that the viewer entered and was able to create on their own.
I found the lobby/waiting room by far the most interesting part of Mark Dion's exhibit - it really just felt well crafted, sculpted a different time period, put the viewer in a different but familiar world, and really focused on the "waiting". Upon entering, it was hard to be impressed, and I wasn't sure if that was the point - the idea that the "extraordinary" doesn't deliver, is confusing, or can't live up to the amount of time you waited for it.
A gallery is a very traditional way for a viewer to interact with a piece or multiple pieces, so I would say it's difficult to not be successful. I can draw 1000 different conclusion from very different works in an identical gallery space. A separate exhibition where you go through a timed experience is entirely different and brings pacing, mood, and flow into picture, which could easily be messed up. So, the idea that I was greatly impressed by the detail in the Multiple Expressions show pieces was a success in its own right, but most of my idea of "success" on Mark Dion's part came from how he crafted what I would be doing with the piece, not just looking at it. They were successful, but for different reasons.
I'm sure one could argue that the Multiple Expressions show is an experience as well and time/pacing was considered just as much, but that didn't seem like it's core, which is fine. It's core was the work and showing how the creators interpreted their thoughts into the prints, most likely not considering other works in a full show.
Both Mark Dion’s Waiting for the Extraordinary and the Multiple Impressions shows that I attended last week were very different ways of viewing and experiencing art. As I begin to prepare my IP and think about how I would like the work to be interpreted, these exhibitions show me vastly different ways in which others have presented their work in the field. I felt that both shows were informative of a life or historical period that seemed foreign; Mark Dion’s show involved performance, interactive art that informed people of different objects history and significance. The Multiple Impressions show was a multiple room exhibit that allowed the fine art prints to speak for themselves. IN my opinion, I was far less attracted to the work of Mark Dion that of the traditional Chinese printmakers. Without a historical background and thorough explanation of the importance of the objects in the second room, I would have had absolutely no idea what I was looking at. The most interesting point of the exhibition was the waiting room, which I am sure was not the intention of the artist. While I thought the waiting room was well executed down to the finest details of the office, I think that the pieces within the second room lacked detail (the paint was coming off some of the items) and I left the inner room within just minutes, feeling as if I was satisfied after such a short encounter. As far as the Multiple Impressions exhibition, there were several works that greatly inspired me. The work of Chen Yanlong was carved into only used, severed pieces of wood and had absolutely amazing pattern detail. Another artist I found inspirational was Shen Youfu’s work utilizing multiple blocks in his reduction print. Having taken several printmaking courses, I understand the patience it takes to create a print that is absolutely perfect in registration. These prints were clean and beautifully inked. The final artist that inspired my in the Multiple Impressions exhibition was Kang Ning’s prints. Born in china in 1950, his work greatly reflected the issues occurring around the time of his birth. In my opinion, I felt that the Multiple Impressions display of the work was far more successful for me, as a viewer than the Mark Dion exhibition. This view may be skewed, however, because I felt that the content of one was so much stronger than the other. I am looking forward to displaying my work in gallery space, and am certain my display will resonate more with the Multiple Impressions exhibit than with Mark Dion’s Waiting for the Extraordinary.
ReplyDeleteLike I mentioned in class, I felt like Mark Dion was trying to marry two separate concepts he felt a connection to. While the interest in Woodward and his beliefs were intriguing it was hard to see the tie to "waiting for the extraordinary". Perhaps his exhibition would have been further successful if it was completely pitch black with the table being invisible. I remember upon walking in being able to see the scratched off paint on the tables and feeling somewhat cheated that we already had witnessed the process of putting it together. If it was successfully done I may have drawn more of a connection between woodward and waiting for the unexpected - that the miracle in our everyday lives portrayed by the glowing elements that seem suspended midair as if by magic is the extraordinary we are waiting for.
ReplyDeleteFor the print exhibition, there were more impressive pieces than others. My favorite in particular was the one of the Chinese worker digging but the view of him was from an interesting perspective and the amount of black color was just simply impressive. It also portrayed the strength and struggle of the Chinese people in an industrial and socialist world.
What I draw away from both exhibitions is that clearly a successful portrayal of an exhibition is necessary especially in cases of Mark Dion. For the prints, it really depends on the print because one can be extremely powerful in subject and portrayal and needs a wall of its own while others can sit contently next to others. It made me think of my own exhibition and I do believe I would like to show the process of how it came about. Most people when they look at a logo or website they do not realize how much work or creative thought is put into it, more as something just put down on paper and et voila! So it may be my goal to change that opinion
Multiple Impressions and Waiting for the Extraordinary show two vastly different ways of expressing and presenting art. Mark Dion's exhibit prevailed a distinct experience through the context of the waiting room. The concept of the waiting room and its purpose, not knowing what one might see upon entering the next room, was wonderfully executed. The attention to detail in creating a very mundane room was key in order to contrast the "extraordinary" that awaits in the following room. However, the proceeding room I found less successful as far as execution. This may be due to my prior knowledge of the exhibit but I felt the extraordinary should be more than just glow in the dark elements placed on a table in a dark room. I did enjoy the concept and history behind the glowing objects representing various facets of knowledge an individual is supposed to gain throughout their life. I understand the process he used to create this experience is an art onto itself and I generally found this to be successful.
ReplyDeleteA vastly different approach was taken by Multiple Impressions which was placed in the very traditional context of a gallery. This approach allows the viewer to engage more in their own minds and create their own conclusions while subtly suggesting the history of Chinese culture. I was greatly impressed by the attention to detail. In particular the woodblock reduction prints. The piece that stood out to me the most was "Climbing" by Fang Limin which at first glance appeared to be a realistic painting. I myself have created a reduction print and understand the complexity of thinking about each layer in the reverse order and how the image will appear in the end. Over all, I really enjoyed Endi's discussion on the process of printmaking which I believe was the main focus of the exhibit as a whole.
To an extent the print show followed the standards of a museum show. There were prints in frames within a museum room. The difference with this show compared to others is the content of the show. The show contained prints from all over China of various methods of production. Because of the different methods used in the show much of the focus was place on the concept of the images. Again since it is a show with different prints from all over China the conceptual ideas within each print are different too. This leaves the viewer with a broad view of Chinese prints and a further understanding of culture through the comparison and contrasting of the ideas within the prints.
ReplyDeleteThe Mark Dion exhibit is extremely different in terms of the presentation of the artwork. His presentation is based on the viewer’s interaction with the artwork on two different levels. The viewer is first struck by the name of the exhibit “Waiting for the extraordinary” and is then presented with a waiting room where they will wait for a time determined by the secretary behind the desk. They then have to wait in an average waiting room for what they think is the true artwork. The reason why I use true artwork is that most people would not include the waiting room and the act of waiting part of the artwork, this waiting room and waiting creates a mystery and in my opinion strengthens experience the show absolutely. The thirteen ideas behind the show are not simple ideas but they are clearly broken down into thirteen clear and simple categories this is exactly how the room behind the door is for the Mark Dion exhibit.
These two exhibitions have very different experiences as well as showcases artwork in very different ways. The Multiple Impressions exhibit is what you would call a standard exhibit. There are several different artists and pieces are framed and hung on the wall. The pieces that the exhibit showcases show a wide variety of contemporary prints from China which are unexpected and thought provoking. This is what you would expect from any special exhibit but I find this exhibit to be mind boggling. As a printmaker I am very interested on seeing new ways of composing woodblock prints as well as techniques in multi-block printing and this exhibit offers great examples.
ReplyDeleteThe Mark Dion exhibit is a completely different kind of exhibit. In first is is a single artist and the viewer walks through it. When I went there was no receptionist in the waiting room. The room brought that anxious feeling you get when trying to think of what to do in a waiting room. I decided to just enter the next room on my own. My eyes didn't adjust right away so the items on the table glowed really bright and had the appearance of being suspended. Upon looking around I noticed the grout lines on the floor and the slight edge of the table but it wasn't bothersome. That time when my eyes were adjusting and I was trying to understand what was in front of me was what made the exhibit successful. The room felt never ending and the objects glowed so bright.
Each exhibit is different with one being an interactive experience and the other being a gallery experience. Each has its own merits but it is almost bizarre seeing the Mark Dion exhibit and how it's composed.
Multiple Impressions and Waiting for the Extraordinary are very different ways of displaying works and expressing ideas. Multiple Impressions was more of a showcase and clean presentation of individual works that were cohesive in the way they were produced and the culture they originated in. Each piece has its individual narrative and emotional connection to the viewer. Walking between each piece gives the viewer time to digest and cleanse the sight palate before divining into a new story through a printed woodblock print.
ReplyDeleteWaiting for the Extraordinary was an experience piece. From the moment you walked into the waiting room until the moment you left, you were experiencing the work. He created an atmosphere around his idea for the viewer and participant to be fully immersed within.
Each exhibition wanted to achieve a different thing and express different ideas and emotions. Both worked effectively in their own way and it was good to see different options in presenting work.