Contemporary - Pulitzer

The Pulitzer: Holiday Break

Our blog is going to take a small hiatus for the holidays.  Worried that you might go through withdrawal?  We have a few options to help.  The Pulitzer will still be open for visits, with the exception of Saturday, December 24th, when you can't visit us because we'll be closed.  And of course, our new website catalogue is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so you can still get your online fix.  This will also be a perfect opportunity for you to catch up on all the posts you missed by reading our Contemporary-Pulitzer blog archives.

Speaking of holidays, after you visit the Pulitzer in the afternoon on New Years Eve, there is lots happening in Grand Center that evening.  The Symphony will be presenting Charlie Chaplin's movie City Lights, accompanied by the Orchestra and conducted by David Robertson.  Additionally, Grand Center will be transformed into the Emerald City for this year's First Night celebration. 

From those of us at the blog, happy holidays, and see you again on January 3rd! (Rachel)

The Contemporary: NAN Holiday

The Contemporary's acclaimed teen program, New Art in the Neighborhood (NAN) finished out 2005 with a blast.  After participating in workshops given by exhibiting and touring artists such as Kimiko Yoshida, Dorit Cypis, and the Guerrilla Girls, we ended the year with a snow person made entirely out of bubble wrap and hand-decorated ornaments.

Student Ryan LaFarney laments, "I'm not going to know what to do without NAN these next three weeks."  After a holiday break, New Art in the Neighborhood class will resume January 7th.  All excited to return, the NAN students play a major role in designing the second semester of this program.  We have been actively engaged in a lot of art making and learning and we wanted to take the time to say, "Happy Holidays from New Art in the Neighborhood!"  (Ben)

The Pulitzer: Minimalism Online

Sorry about the lack of a post on Friday...the website was down.  However, we are now up and running again.  In other exciting web news, we have (drum roll):

officially launched our Minimalism and Beyond online exhibition catalogue.  We've done this for a few exhibitions now--click here for Brancusi and Serra in Dialogue and here to view the catalogue for Exploring Ando's Space: Art and the Spiritual.

Want to learn more about the art in our exhibition?  The catalogue is full of excellent information on each work!  Curious about the artists we are showing? View quotes about them!  Wish you could tour the galleries from the comfort of your own home? You're in luck!  We have Quicktime videos that allow you to view the galleries in 360 degree views that you can navigate yourself. 

Though there's no comparison with actually being in the building, our online exhibition catalogues allow visitors to get a sense of the Pulitzer, even if they're on another continent.  The process is a long one, involving many steps and edits before completion. Photography of the installation has to be taken, as well as shots for the 360 views.  Additionally, the accompanying text must be written and rights need to be obtained to show images of the artists' work.  Once all this and the website layout has been decided and re-edited, it's ready to be launched.

So if the weather gets too chilly for you to visit on Wednesdays and Saturdays, visit us virtually instead.  (Rachel)

The Pulitzer: Winter Wonderland

Last week during our mini-blizzard, I took tons of pictures of the Pulitzer in the snow.  It was incredible to watch--within an hour of being at work, the whole building, courtyard and watercourt were blanketed.  The snow really highlighted the edges of the architecture and sculptures, making me re-appreciate how beautiful they are.  Though it is now much (much) warmer outside, I thought I would share some of these wintery pics with you (click on them to enlarge):

Joe, as seen through the library window.  My favorite thing about this view is as the snow fell, it accumulated around the top ridge of the sculpture, creating a bright white spiral.  It was perfect to view this through the horizontal library window.

At the opposite side of our courtyard from Joe is Aristide Maillol's Torso, Study for Venus, standing in the middle of snow-covered black sedge.

  I love how the snow outside creates a deeper golden glow on the Roni Horn, in contrast to the bright glowing yellow it radiates on a sunny day.  Behind it is the pygmy bamboo garden on our mezzanine.  It's hard to see in this picture, but the bamboo has yellowed for the winter, so it also reflects the gold in the work.

Another Roni Horn with a very different effect in front of the Scott Burton and watercourt.   (Rachel)

Contemporary: Ideas 2

Thank you for the feedback provided so far (some written, some not).  Time for the second idea:

Artist Book Club (ABC)

This idea is an obvious development from the huge success of traditional book clubs set up in bookstores, front rooms etc. around the country. I envisage reasonably intimate gatherings with books on art historical topics, artist recommendations, and maybe even art magazines. The options are endless. Coincidentally, I noticed this same idea has just started at The Aldrich completely independent of my own inspiration. Perhaps this indicates the idea could be well received. What do you think?  (Mark)

Good - Bad - Plain Silly

The Pulitzer: Glass and Riley

I'm not going to pretend that I know much about Minimal music, but listening to last week's chamber concerts did make me curious to learn more.  I've found some background info about the pieces performed and thought I would share them on today's post.

First in the program was 1+1 (1967) by Philip Glass.  This was the amplified table top I wrote about last week.  David Robertson theorized that Glass wrote this while working as a cab driver, sitting in line at JFK airport.  Notes on Glass' website say that "The player performs 1+1 by tapping the table top with his fingers or knuckles.  Two rhythmic units which build the block of 1+1 are combined in regular arithmetic progressions."  David Robertson positioned himself in front of the amplified table (which was hooked to a contact microphone) and played the piece with his finger tips.  He said he tried using his knuckles earlier, but they became pretty sore from all that table knocking.

I think an article from the Washington Post highlights a nice way to approach Glass:  "Much of his mature work is based on the extended repetition of brief, elegant melodic fragments that weave in and out of an aural tapestry.  Listening to these works has been compared to watching a challenging modern painting that initially appears static but seems to metamorphose slowly as one concentrates."

The second piece performed was Glass' Music in Similar Motion (1969).  Here's a quote from Glass about this piece, taken from his website: "The real innovation in Similar Motion is its sense of drama.  The earlier pieces were meditative steady-state pieces that established a mood and stayed there.  But Similar Motion starts with one voice, then adds another playing a fourth above the original line, and finally a last line kicks in to complete the sound.  As each new voice enters, there is a dramatic change in the music".

The final piece of the program was Terry Riley's In C, which was my favorite of the night.  Its considered to be the first significant piece of Minimal music.  Check out how complicated this must be for the musicians (I found this on Wikipedia):  "In C consists of 53 short, numbered musical phrases; each phrase may be repeated an arbitrary number of times.  Each musician has control over which phrase he or she plays: players are encouraged to play the phrases starting at different times, even if they are playing the same phrase.  The performance directions state that the musical ensemble should try to stay within two to three phrases of each other.  The phrases must be played in order, although some may be skipped.  As detailed in some editions of the score, it is customary for one musician ("traditionally played by a beautiful girl", Riley notes) to play the note C (in octaves) in repeated eighth notes. This drone functions as a metronome and is referred to as "the Pulse"." 

As David Robertson took his seat, he jokingly commented that instead of a "beautiful girl" playing the pulse, we were stuck with him.   He also noted that this part was suggested by Steve Reich.  Riley felt like the piece was missing something, and Reich said what it really needed was a pulse.  Reich also appeared in the first performance of In C. I enjoyed hearing this anecdote which tied in this concert with a composer we featured in a concert last year, during Brancusi and Serra in Dialogue. 

If you are curious to read more...here's an excellent review of the concerts in the weekend's Post-Dispatch.  (Rachel)

Contemporary: New Ideas

My job here falls within the curatorial department, which includes putting together exhibitions, and interpreting the art on view by compiling our gallery guides, catalogs and labeling.

Unfortunately, this means that there is not much opportunity for me to indulge in face-to-face communications with visitors unless they are artists or visitors looking for an interpretive tour. But it doesn't mean I can't come up with new ideas and try to get the education department to investigate their potential. This week, (final one before I take a short holiday) I would like to share some ideas to stimulate your brains into letting me know if they are good, bad, or plain silly. Some of these ideas are my own and others from friends in the museum world. There are no plans to implement these here, unless you would like to voice your opinion to me? Your input is important since you can look at things from outside the walls of CAMSTL. Please let me know!  (Mark)

Idea 1:
Longer opening hours.....to accommodate those who work late or even those who work in similar institutions and mirror our opening times.  For example, being open until 10 pm on Saturdays.

Good - Bad - Plain Silly
(Please circle as appropriate)

The Pulitzer: Concert Recap

Two concerts and four inches of snow later, here's a recap of the last two days:

  Wednesday we are open, so setup of the chairs, piano, and musicians' dress rehearsal began as soon as we closed at 5.  However, after Wednesday night's concert we could leave the chairs in place so they were ready to go for the next night.  Here's a view of the chairs on Thursday morning, ready to be filled with concert-goers. At the bottom of the stairs the piano and chairs for the rest of the musicians were in place.  Only thing missing was the amplified table (more on that later).

Because of the close proximity between musicians and art, we had to place stanchions around Robert Gober's sinks to ensure a safe distance. 

I thought it would be fun to see what the musicians see.  This is the view from the keyboard.  Imagine all those chairs and steps packed with cheering and applauding guests. Imagining I actually had any musical talent was slightly more difficult.

This is how it looked outside for most of the day on Thursday.  It was exciting to to still see a full house, even through a snowstorm.

Plus, the snow created a beautiful background for the music.  The program consisted of pieces by Philip Glass and Terry Riley that were very different than anything I've heard, which made me want to learn more.  I am going to try to (including info on that amplified table), and then write a longer, more in-depth post about the music next week. (Rachel)

Contemporary: Snow

Rather than indulge in many (very) bad snow puns, I thought you might like to see some pictures from my office. By office I mean the working environment I share with colleagues. As the snow has been falling today I took some pictures because everything looked so pristine, serene and clean. It has just stopped falling (2pm), so no chance of going home early but it looks like we have only had a couple of visitors all day; the sensible ones are obviously staying at home and looking us up on the web.   (Mark)

My office view

  Paul (Director) view

Jason shoveling our entrance

The Pulitzer: Morning Steam

I walked up the stairs to the offices this morning and this was the first thing I saw:

(click on the pictures to enlarge)

It's 11 degrees outside and the heated water in the watercourt was making steam rise.  The pictures don't do the scene justice; the wind blew the steam so it continuously swirled and glided across the water's surface. 

At the far end, the heat wasn't enough to keep the water from freezing, making the contrast between swirling steam on one side and solid ice on the other even more interesting to watch.

It was a nice way to start a busy day.  Today is the first of two chamber music concerts this week.  Because they have been so popular, we're doing back-to-back performances tonight and tomorrow.  It's a good thing too--tickets for tonight's concert are sold out, and only a few are left for tomorrow.  On Friday, I will post a summary of all the behind-the-scenes details and excitement. (Rachel) 

Contemporary: Technical Issues

"Yesterday had to be one of the most unproductive days ever at the Contemporary", I overheard someone say this afternoon.  Why?  Well, we had a few computer problems which resulted in a number of  "restarts", logging off regularly and plenty of wire fiddling.  It was nothing serious - at least not to my technophobe understanding - but you can imagine how disruptive it was.  Not being able to do any research, no communication to the outside world and absolutely no "blog surfing" (which the Post-Dispatch informs us is losing the nation millions of man hours).  It did, however, help with my writing focus; peace and quiet is exactly what I needed to get on with cerebral thinking.  A further draft is now well underway, so I am off again to recreate that quiet place.   (Mark)

The Pulitzer: Saigh

Tim, our Visitor Services Manager and seasoned docent, writes about a new and evolving program:

The Saigh program (which is named after the company that has generously provided funding) was introduced to the Contemporary Art Partnership early this year.  As first presented, it contained a basic premise that was sure to interest even the most skeptical docent.  The idea was that the docents would be involved with a specific group of students in an ongoing manner.  Two docents would be assigned to each of four high school classes and would speak, in the schoolroom, about current exhibitions prior to visiting each facility; the Pulitzer and Contemporary.  Added to this would be a student project based on elements of the exhibitions and facilitated through a visiting artist. 

This concept deals directly with a major issue for those who give tours; i.e. the limitations brought about by the time constraints of a typical tour.  Usually, a docent has just a few minutes at the outset of a tour to gain the attention, curiosity, interest, focus and respect of the group.  A tone and flavor is set very quickly and will pervade the entire experience.  This is tricky enough when the group is a casual one, just exploring the exhibition for fun or out of personal interest.  But students who are required to be involved are already seeking (even if unconsciously) an escape from anyone attempting to control their experience.  So, this idea of becoming better known, even familiar to the class, by coming into their space (on their turf, so to speak), seemed a definite step in the right direction.  Of course, all of this musing was revolving around one side of the encounter.  I was looking only at the effect I would have on the students...not the effect they might have on me.  (Tim)

Contemporary: Studio Time

At last Friday has arrived, it is always difficult doing a full week of work following holidays.  Today, I visited an artist's studio for further details on their work and to see it first hand, rather than viewing slides.  It is always an exciting time translating the work from 2D to 3D.
What does it look like as an object?
What size is it?
What will the effect of the work be?
Does the work have its own resonance?
How is it hung on the wall?
Where should it be placed in the gallery?
And these are just very general observations. I have edited out my own questions!  (Mark)

The Pulitzer: Like Liquid

Here's a nice review in the Riverfront Times of Minimalism and Beyond (click on the link and scroll to the bottom).  Ivy Cooper mentions Roni Horn's Untitled (Yes) and how "...a block of cast black optical glass, looks positively liquid in relation to the Pulitzer's watercourt...". 

I agree, and think it's also true of Horn's clear glass piece in the Lower Gallery. Here's some more info on optical glass:  This website about optical fiber (which is made of optical glass) states that, "We think of a glass window as transparent, but the thicker the glass gets, the less transparent it becomes due to impurities (...).  However, the glass in an optical fiber has far fewer impurities than window-pane glass.  One company's description of the quality of glass is as follows:  If you were on top of an ocean that is miles of solid core optical fiber glass, you could see the bottom clearly."

In addition to the purity of the glass, something else that seems to amplify the smoothness of the top surfaces is its contrast with the rougher glass on the works' sides.  Take a look in this picture:

In a paragraph by Louise Neri in the book, Roni Horn (2000),  she writes about this same effect in Horn's piece entitled, Untitled (Flannery). "Each block of glass is contained on five sides by a cast surface, which can be identified as such because the surface is uneven and its quality variable where the piece has picked up traces of contact with the mold.  The upper surface, which was not in contact with the mold during casting, is fire-polished as the hot vitreous liquid cools, meaning that the transparency of the upper surface - it's 'window' - is an organic condition of glass just as the translucency of the sides is the direct precipitate of the casting process.  In other words, it's spectacular yet subtle beauty is achieved totally within the integrity of the process itself."  (Rachel)