So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye……….today was the last Walk-in Wednesday to be held during the Great Rivers Biennial (which closes THIS Sunday so hurry if you haven’t been!).  The Education Staff, Kathryn Adamchick and Katrina Hallowell, led a walking tour of the exhibition.   Stopping in each artist’s area, Kathryn and Katrina recounted the different ideas and interesting thoughts that were brought up during the GRB’s Walk-In Wednesdays. 

Gearing up for de-install, the museum will be closed April 20 at 4:00 pm through May 8, re-opening on the 9^th for the upcoming exhibition featuring renowned artists John Armleder and Olivier Mosset.  

We’d love to hear your farewell thoughts on the Great Rivers exhibition!

Though there is another flood in the forecast, today has shaped up to be a lovely day and today’s Walk-In Wednesday made it all the better.  The focus was on the novel A Clockwork Orange written by Anthony Burgess and the film directed by Stanley Kubrick (and created from the book).  For those of you who haven’t visited the current exhibition (hurry it closes April 20^th), one of the artists (Juan William Chávez) has work that focuses on the film.  Chávez created still images of the two most violent scenes in Kubrick’s film and then reanimated the stills to the actual audio from the film. For today’s Walk-In Wednesday, we watched interviews with the director, author, and film enthusiasts concerning A Clockwork Orange.  I have yet to watch the film myself, but after today, I’m intrigued more than ever.  I found out that when the film was released, it created an uproar.  People thought the film would be detrimental to the already deteriorating social state in England, because, during this time, the environment was already considered dark with the onset of anarchy, the three-day work week, and with power shortages in the country.  The collection of interviews we watched showed us the effect it had on the public, as well as how the film changed the industry.  All of the interviews shown during today’s Walk-In Wednesday can be found in the extras section on the DVD of A Clockwork Orange.

Make sure you catch next week’s Walk-In Wednesday where Contemporary staff members, Kathryn Adamchick and Katrina Hallowell, will recap the ideas explored during the Great Rivers Biennial exhibition. 

Come hungry…leave informed.

 This week seems to be jam packed!  Not only did April creep in, but a new tenant moved into The Front Room (see the previous blog), there was a Walk-In Wednesday today, and tomorrow there will be an off the wall concert from electronic rocker Silverio. Today’s Wednesday-In Wednesday was hosted by Corey Escoto, one of the Great Rivers Biennial artists.  Escoto shared with the crowd the general goals behind his work and how it came to fruition.  We were joined by a group of students from Lebanon, Illinois who helped fuel the discussion regarding presentation of his work.  There was some great insight brought to the actual housing and casing of his work and an interesting point was also brought up regarding the drill that Escoto has exhibited in the courtyard.  Although it’s an homage to Claus Oldenburg, it was noted how it alludes to the current oil crisis; it creates a contemplative moment when viewing it.  Escoto ended the lunch hour with a quick insight of his future plans and hopes for his work. 

Don’t miss next week’s Walk-In Wednesday, especially if you’ve ever wondered about the film behind Juan William Chávez’s work!  Come view interviews with artists, directors, actors, and authors as they discuss the influence of Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange.

Links to some of the organizations mentioned today:

United Nations

Kiva; loans that change lives

Brand

 -noun

1. Kind, grade, or make, as indicated by a stamp, trademark, or the like: the best brand of coffee.

2. A mark made by burning or otherwise, to indicate kind, grade, make, ownership, etc.

What does it mean to brand?  I pulled up the definition of “brand” to provide a reference and, as expected, branding alludes to marking a product or even an animal.  But what about branding a person?  If you looked at a political campaign, you could easily say that the person running for office, in a way, has branded themselves.  During today’s Walk-In Wednesday, we took a closer look at branding with the Contemporary’s Registrar Cole Root.

Cole, who studied advertising and marketing at Webster University, shared with us Our Brand is Crisis directed by Rachel Boynton,  a documentary that focuses on the 2002 elections in Bolivia.  The documentary follows Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada (Goni), the presidential candidate at the time, and shows how he used American campaign strategies to brand himself and win the election.  Cole chose this film because of how it ties into, Corey Escoto’s work in the Great Rivers Biennial.  Escoto’s work, playing off of the idealistic views of the United Nations, includes an entire fleet of vehicles that have been branded as the Global Repair Service.  After seeing how the marketing team in the film literally ‘brands’ Goni, I couldn’t help but to think how this process is done for our own presidential candidates.  Just like a tube of toothpaste or a new sports drink, political candidates adopt a slogan, a color scheme, and a platform.  They have commercials, jingles, and logos.  Thank you for hosting today Cole. It was a wonderfully poignant topic/film/discussion…definitely something to chew on. 
-Elizabeth

It may just me, but did anyone else notice how perfect the gloomy weather played into today’s Walk-In Wednesday? Not because of the subject matter, but because of the format of the discussion. Today, in Tempt café, with overcast skies and dimmed lights, Director Paul Ha shared with us a PowerPoint on the current and upcoming happenings in the contemporary art scene.  Paul opened the lunch hour with an interesting point…when Matisse and Gauguin created their works they were labeled as Fauves and gained considerable condemnation with each showing; do we not regard them as masters of their time now?  They were contemporary artists…at that time. 

Today’s talk was like grabbing an appetizer platter at your favorite local eatery…a great sampling of good things covering a wide range of tastes…but instead of food, with art and instead at the local eatery, at the Contemporary (my old college professor would hang her head in shame with that simile).  Paul shared with us five different exhibitions he finds interesting ranging from the Guggenheim to the NewMuseum.  The shows covered include:

• Cai Guo-Qiang; I Want To Believe  at the Guggenheim Museum
• Unmonumental  at the New Museum
• Life on Mars at the Carnegie
• Take your time: Olafur Eliasson at MoMA
• 2008 Whitney Biennial at the Whitney

It was a great insight as to what is happening today in the art scene and upcoming shows around the United States; paired with soup from the Tempt café and a dreary day, it was the perfect lunchtime retreat. 

Make sure you catch next week’s Walk-In Wednesday when we sit down with Registrar Cole Root who will talk about marketing, advertising, politics, and the award winning documentary film Our Brand is Crisis directed by Rachel Boynton.  So come hungry, leave informed.    - Elizabeth

 Before I can dive into today’s Walk-In Wednesday, I have to mention the weather here in St. Louis…it is absolutely gorgeous.  The chairs and couches are back out in the Contemporary’s courtyard and I feel spring coming on!This Wednesday we were able to have some one-on-one time with Juan William Chávez in regards to how violence informs his work and how he views it in contemporary films.  Juan’s work for the Great Rivers Biennial 2008 exhibition centers on the film A Clockwork Orange by Stanley Kubrick, a very violent portrayal of today’s (relevant at the time of the film) youth.  Juan opened the conversation with a quick view of some stills from violent films and discussed how there are elements of beauty found within the horror of the scene, the juxtaposition of the enraged villain holding a chainsaw in silhouette against a beautifully lit sunset, the brush stroke and colors used to portray The Scream, etc.  This alluded to a discussion of the cartoonist style of his own work and how, on first glance, it’s so inviting. Upon closer examination, it’s depicting a rape scene. 

The floor was opened up for a closer inspection of violence verses evil and how one can be violent but not evil.  What defines evil and violence?  Can violence be committed for good and if so does it still carry a negative connotation or do we get to validate it because it was committed for good?  Can someone who is evil not be violent?  How would they be characterized as evil if they didn’t commit violent acts? 

Please feel free to answer, ask, or comment on any of the themes touched on today and stay tuned for more Walk-In Wednesday rewinds. 

Digressing from our normal interactive talk style, things this Wednesday got a little funky. After the success of last Thursday night’s event, Carol Lark, PhD, ATR-BC, joined us one more time for a little lunchtime social dreaming. Carol Lark is a registered art therapist who leads workshops that aim to bring groups, businesses, and communities together to share their dreams and gain insight, open communication, and ‘unlock’ the subconscious. 

This Walk-In Wednesday was definitely different from the norm. We were given the chance to discover our artistic sides. I wasn’t sure what to expect. The chairs were in a tight-spiral, facing inward. After sitting down in very close quarters, Carol spoke about the idea of dreaming socially. Personally, my dreams are a private conversation between me and my pillow . . . there is nothing social about them.  But today, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to learn something new. Carol invited us into the chair spiral and helped ease the group into a dream–like state. We were invited to share whatever imagery came into our minds. After sharing our lucid dreams, we were asked to create a visual representation of them. This was a throw-back to elementary school free-drawing (Yes)! After we finished indulging our inner artist, we discussed the images and revisited the dreams that were shared. Even with my reservations, I found this lunch hour to be very enlightening. Carol invited anyone from this session and last Thursday’s Social Dream Matrix (the 28^th of February) to talk with her if they had any questions about their dreams or about some of the other topics that were touched. So let us know if you would like to get in touch with her or leave your thoughts here. 

Join us next week as Assistant Curator Laura Fried and artist Juan William Chávez talk about violence in contemporary film and how it informs his work. Come hungry and leave enlightened. 

Yesterday, at Walk-In Wednesday we hosted a discussion with Jaclyn Jones, a doctorial student at St. Louis University.

Her current research involves disenfranchised groups in the area (in particular the Japanese American Citizens League, JACL), how they participate in the political process, and how they are making themselves heard.  The main focus of our discussions centered on the JACL and its involvement with the creation of the Japanese garden at the Missouri Botanical Gardens.  Jaclyn shared a small portion from her larger work regarding the festival, attitudes towards the event, and the JACL’s perception on the authenticity of the Japanese Garden. 

Ms. Jones shared that her research shows that during the 1970s, feelings of resentment and hatred seen during WWII began to resurface in regards to the Japanese.  During this time, the JACL raised funds to gift a large stone Japanese lantern to the Botanical Gardens in order to create diplomacy and positive publicity.  The director of the gardens, at the time, proposed constructing a Japanese garden instead, and so, the funds were used to hire on a garden designer, Koichi Kawana.  Upon completion of the garden, a large-scale festival commemorated the opening.  The festival attracted the largest crowd ever seen at the Botanical Gardens up until that point. During this time, the JACL felt that the festival, centering on a historical and romanticized Japan, did not reflect the modern-day reality of the country and its people.  Since, the JACL no longer participates in the Japanese Festival.

After Jaclyn finished up her talk, everyone was able to openly discuss the opinions and sentiments toward this struggle with what is an “authentic reflection” of a country and its people as times and culture changes.  To our delight, there was a woman in attendance who had actually worked at the Botanical Gardens during this time and was able to share some wonderful insight.  For anyone with continued interest on the subject, please leave your questions or comments here and we will get in touch with Ms. Jones to ask her to reply.  If you are interested in viewing her finished, larger work, please let us know and we will put you in contact with her.

Please check out the post below for photos of this Walk-In Wednesday.

Walk-in Wednesdays truly are a relaxed and enriching way to grab a tasty bite to eat (visit the Tempt Café) and deviate from the typical lunchtime experience.  Next week catch artist and art-therapist Carol Lark for a hands-on exploration of dream imagery.  So skip out on your REM sleep, make sure you’re hungry, and come see what the buzz is about!

If you haven’t heard yet Walk-In Wednesdays are just about the greatest thing since sliced bread.  At the Contemporary every Wednesday (since the start of February) we have a guest speaker who makes lunch time more of an experience than just a get-away.  This Wednesday we were given the chance to host Jaclyn Jones, a doctorial student at St. Louis University.  Please look for a recap of this Walk-In Wednesday tomorrow.  In the mean time, if you had a chance to make the discussion and would like to continue the conversation, please do so.

If you are interested in further information on today’s topic check out…
The Japanese American Citizens League or
The Missouri Botanical Garden