Powerful presentation

Most of the time when we see art, it is displayed like this


or like this

Neither one of these art presentations or experiences is wrong but what if the artist allowed us to experience their art in a different way. Would it make the art more powerful?

Think back to our Tiny Art Show.  The experience of seeing tiny art and possibly laying on the floor to look at art created a non-traditional art viewing experience.




Let's look at some artists that make Powerful works of art by creating an unforgettable experience for their audience. 

Ernesto Neto is a Brazilian artist whose installations offer a chance for the viewer to touch, see, smell, and feel his artworks for a truly sensory experience. “For me, mind and body are one thing, always together,” the artist has said.

I

Imagine walking into this exhibit.  Where would you go first?

A view from inside the art

Louise Joséphine Bourgeois was a French-American artist. Although she is best known for her large-scale sculpture and installation art, Bourgeois was also a prolific painter and printmaker.



Spider is a sculpture by Louise Bourgeois It was executed in 1996 as an edition of a series

This sculpture is presented in a way that the viewer may experience the art in many different ways.

Let's look at a few more experiential art pieces where the artist has thoughtfully considered the experience you will have when you look at the art.

Rain Room allows visitors to the installation to walk through a downpour without getting wet.Motion sensors detect visitors' movements as they navigate through the darkened space, becoming "performers in this intersection of art, technology and nature".

Olafur Eliasson uses lights, mirrors, materials and you to create his interactive art.  “It is not just about decorating the world...” Eliasson uses natural elements (like light, water, fog) and makeshift technical devices to transform museum galleries and public areas into immersive environments






Pipilotti Rist is a visual artist. She is best known for creating experimental video art and installation art 
 

Lastly, let's listen to Janet Echelman.  You may recognize her Fiber art from previous lessons.

What specific space does Janet Echelman want us to notice?
What inspired her to become an artist?
What inspires her work?
Does she work alone?



Artist create a powerful experience for us by the way their art is presented to us.

As you think about your own art:

Will you create an experience for your viewers?

Will your art require the senses of the viewer?  Sight, Smell, Sound, Touch, Taste


What a powerful idea, that you as an artist can create an experience for the viewer or affect the viewer's senses; smell, sight, touch, sound, taste

Wish Trees

Yoko Ono Wish Trees

“As a child in Japan, I used to go to a temple and write out a wish on a piece of thin
paper and tie it around the branch of a tree. Trees in temple courtyards were always
filled with people’s wish knots, which looked like white flowers blossoming from afar.”
Yoko Ono: “All My Works Are A Form Of Wishing”.

Artists can send messages, wishes and hope to a community.

Yoko Ono is a Japanese-American multimedia artist, singer, songwriter and peace activist.

Since this series was started in 1993, Wish Tree has been installed in several cities around the world, millions of wishes have been made along with many iterations.

Iteration:  the repetition of a process.   new versions of a piece (artwork)

Yoko Ono’s interactive artwork WISH TREE invites people to write their personal wishes for peace and tie them to a tree branch.  

These trees are installed in a spirit of community, inclusivity, and freedom of expression, and in keeping with the belief that art can open peoples’ eyes and minds.

At the end of a Wish Tree exhibit, every wish is sent back to the artist’s studio, and Ono will incorporate them into her work Imagine Peace Tower (2007–ongoing) in Reykjavik, Iceland. “I hope Imagine Peace Tower will give light to the strong wishes of world peace from all corners of the planet,” she has said, “and give encouragement, inspiration, and a sense of solidarity in a world now filled with fear and confusion.”

Will you create iterations of your work?

A community is a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.  a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals. 

Think about the communities in which you belong.

How will you send messages of hope to your community?

Will your art be a way for you to express hope or an opportunity for others to share their wishes?

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Write your wish on a tag.  We will add these to our Wish Tree that will be in the Meramec Lower Level Gallery.