What does it really feel like to have a rich and clear understanding of a work of art? According to my Art Fitness trainer, this is not a feeling familiar only to art critics, collectors, and curators. It is up to you to come up with your own interpretation, using your own system of active engagement.

Does this sound scary? Definitely. Personally, I was a bit alarmed at the thought of producing my own analysis of a piece of art, since I am a far cry from a decent art critic. My artistic background includes one drawing class in college, a slightly artistic eye for design, and a whole lot of conjecture. But as I went through Art Fitness training last week at the Contemporary, I was taught about my own natural ability to appreciate a work of art.

We are all trained to put art into categories. This one is abstract art, that one is post modern, the other is cubism, et cetera et cetera. This is art fat, my Art Fitness trainer told me; and just like that, everything I’d learned in art class was destroyed. But as my world was spinning, the trainer continued, explaining that lumping a work of art into a group takes away from the piece itself. Art is not created in relation to other art; it is its own thing.

For example, I like impressionist art. But wait, does that mean I like ALL impressionist art? What about that one painting that is considered impressionist, but that I think looks like a bowl of macaroni painted by a two-year-old? In Art Fitness training, I learned that categorizing a work of art interferes with my ability to really SEE the piece itself. Instead of seeing the details of the painting, I was seeing that it was an impressionist painting and assuming that I liked it because I’ve liked other pieces that might be just a little bit similar to it.

Art can take all forms. It can be straight lines or wavy madness; it can be paint, pastel, sculpture, or crayon on loose-leaf paper. But we don’t have to think about what kind of art it is. All we need to do is see the work itself, see the details, the process, the final product of an artist’s creativity. We don’t need to judge it, we only need to really look at it. And if we take away all those factual distractions, we can personally comprehend a work of art and appreciate it for what it really is: simply art.  

Contemporary staff members during Art Fitness training

From being a typical museum visitor, to an intern on the “inside,” here are Caroline’s thoughts:

Over the past few years, I have occasionally visited the Contemporary as a casual observer, and as I finish up my first week as an intern, I can’t help but look back and see how my ideas have changed.

Outside, I was struck by the beauty of the building’s minimalism, the outer façade wrapped in a futuristic metal mesh. Within, the interior is a sparse collection of white walls, crisp angles, and strategically-placed skylights. Such simplicity contrasted sharply with the imposing grandeur of the typical conception of a museum, elaborate stone monuments that commemorated the great art of the past. But as its name implies, the Contemporary is all about now. There are is no permanent artwork to gather dust or become overly familiar after years of visits. Exhibits change every few months, and The Front Room features exhibits as fleeting as a single day, true to the constantly shifting, blink-and-you’ll miss-it nature of contemporary art. 

On my first visit, I quickly realized that on the whole I understood contemporary and conceptual art about as much as a third grader could comprehend Moby-Dick. I saw a whale and a crazed captain, but that they remained. Used to “traditional” art, I was content dissecting the minutiae of mythology and obscure symbolism. But confronted with a pile of Mylar Christmas trees, a floating mass of black wires, or a room empty save for a strategically-placed rug, I only saw objects. It was over my head, even literally in some cases.  Only after investigating the artist’s background or intentions could I start to get a feel for what was happening in the space around me. I realized that trying to understand contemporary art requires digging just like the comprehension of a centuries-old painting does.  Instead of searching for outward-referencing symbols, though, conceptual art requires searching for the artist’s own personality, message, or philosophy and then applying it to what you see on the surface of their works. 

Of course I can’t pretend to be any kind of expert, but this is what I have come up with so far. And as I continue to learn about the inner workings of the Contemporary as well as the public exhibitions, I’m willing to keep an open mind for whatever new experiences come my way. What’s that? There’s currently an exhibition that takes place entirely over the phone? And another one that includes a room filled with TVs, each showing a different film by the artist? I’m there.

From Jenny, a new intern at the museum!

Summer is quickly approaching, and as St. Louis is trying on the hot, humid coat it discarded last September, the Summer arts season is gearing up. While the Contemporary’s exhibitions last three months, some of St. Louis’ other art options are as brief as the transitions between seasons.

Should you find yourself in St. Louis this weekend with time on your hands, I suggest you rethink a lazy day by the pool in favor of a trip through some of St. Louis’ cultural offerings. This Saturday is a free day at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, and we have two exciting installations that may lead you to rethink, not just your afternoon, but also the way you view art.

Chantal Akerman’s exhibition, Moving Through Time and Space, is comprised of several videos. Her piece, D’est: Au bord de la fiction (From the East: Bordering on Fiction), projects scenes from a documentary on life in the post-Soviet Eastern Europe on dozens of television monitors, forcing travelers in train stations to rub shoulders with tired women in yellowing kitchens and surrounding the viewer with lives and a time that is not their own. It is not exactly a documentary; it is not exactly a single piece of art, and it is exactly not conventional art.

Upstairs, Carey Young’s exhibition, Speech Acts, takes a completely new approach to performance art. Using the model of a call center, visitors speak to live telephone operators, conducting conversations on anything from the global economics to the operator herself. It is an exhibition that may challenge your view of yourself, communication, and certainly of how art can manifest itself. If nothing else, it will make you think twice before hanging up on telemarketers (or not).

After your afternoon in the Contemporary, I encourage you to venture out into the cool summer evening to Forest Park for this year’s Shakespeare festival, although it may not be the return to tradition you expect. This year’s showing of The Merry Wives of Winsdor is set in the 1920’s and will make you wonder if “forsooth” is a type of gangster slang you’ve never heard of. You’ll have to go soon – the festival ends June 14^th.

If a day in the museum and at the park doesn’t change your perception of art and performance, go ahead and spend Sunday by the pool.

On Museum Tours
By a new Contemporary intern, Megan

After visiting the Contemporary, I usually leave with many new thoughts swirling around in my head. For me, experiencing art is like opening the door to a room full of new thoughts and ideas. Each artist has a different way of thinking about art, emotion, gender, politics, religion, and even life itself. These ideas, when expressed in many different forms of art, have the capability to stir my imagination, to make me think about things differently. One thing I had never really thought about, though, was the process of giving a tour at the Contemporary. I recently followed a museum employee as she led a small group of high school art students on a tour of the works of Chantal Akerman and Carey Young. While watching her speak, I realized the hard work and passion that goes into leading each tour.

Contemporary tour guides act as instigators of ideas. They know each exhibition thoroughly, they understand some of the artists’ motives, and they have their own interesting ideas about each work. However, guides are not there to push their ideas; instead, they prompt visitors to think of their own. They explain, make comments, ask questions, and encourage each visitor to actually think about what they’re viewing.

The current Contemporary exhibitions aren’t of the “normal” types of art, works that can be seen or touched. Chantal Akerman’s show, Moving Through Time and Space, is a video installation in which visitors walk through galleries of movies and sounds. And in Carey Young’s exhibition, Speech Acts, visitors personally interact with call center agents through a telephone connection. At first, I didn’t know how to react to these unusual forms of art. But that’s where the tour guide came into play. She explained some of the artists’ ideas, introduced a few of her own, and then asked me to think about how I felt about the works. She pointed me in the right direction, then nudged me down the path of my own realization.

Art isn’t only something that can be seen, touched, or heard. Art is also created IN you, when you actively view it, and when it initiates the production of your own ideas. Viewers don’t have to accept everything they see or hear as the complete truth. Instead, they can form their own opinions; and the ability to do so is what makes each person, and his or her reaction, a work of art.

The tour guides at the Contemporary have introduced me to many new forms of artwork and prompted me to come up with my own ideas about everything with which I come into contact, whether or not it is normally considered “art.” And do you want to know one of my new ideas? Perhaps giving tours is an art form in itself.

Hello all, my name is Emily and I am the Contemporary’s new education intern. As a volunteer staff member I can give you a different look at what goes on behind the scenes here. How did I end up at the Contemporary? The story is pretty simple. I originally moved to St. Louis to begin my freshman year in Wash U’s art school, but soon decided that a career as an artist was not in my future. This led me to study art history, which led me to the Contemporary because I wanted to share what I know and love about art with others. Many people are intimidated by contemporary art. It can be ugly and confusing, but what we emphasize here, at the Contemporary, is how this can push you to see the world in new ways. Working with the education department, I help to plan and put on events designed to introduce new audiences to contemporary art. DJ/ Magic, our most recent event, brought in more than 125 visitors. It was an evening of free entertainment and fun, with guests enjoying music, a wandering magician, and the museum’s newest exhibitions.

Last week we said goodbye to one of interns, Umberto. He was with us for about two years working with development before he had to move on. He has helped us tremendously and as we feel like we owe him a big thanks, he felt the same way. On the day of his farewell, before we dug into a giant feast of brunch type foods, he said this, “I never enjoyed working at a place more than this one.” He hopes to work for a high-powered publishing house or magazine and then retire to a villa in Tuscany to write a great American novel. Alright Umberto! We also recently said goodbye to Tara, also here for about two years (and only 19!). She interned first in our curatorial department and then our marketing/public relations department. Tara was also a wonderful volunteer at our many events.

We really appreciate all the support and dedication our interns give to us and hope we provide a great, life experience in return.

Check out some of their experiences here…

Tara on Muse

Umberto on last years Gallery Walk

 
Umberto’s Farewell Feast!

On Maya: Check out some video that was just uploaded to YouTube. First, we have Education Director Kathryn Adamchick asking Maya about laying eggs and then about listening to music. 

And then see what happens when you hand an intern a video camera on Opening Night.

     This past weekend was the Maritz Free Family Day here at the Contemporary, where families participated in a number of fun and creative activities.  For the first activity of the day, we made small scale landscapes with wood using Maya Lin: Systematic Landscapes as inspiration.  Before making her landscapes, Maya Lin uses wire to draw a plan and lucky for us, one of the gallery assistants made cutouts of seas for the kids to trace around with wire.  For the last project, which can still be viewed outside of the museum on the sidewalk, the kids created a map of the world using chalk; this turned out to be quite imaginative if I do say so myself.  Everyone took home a magnifying glass, a pencil that can be used as a ruler, and an eraser that looks like the earth for all of the aspiring monument artists that attended Family Day.

You’ve probably enjoyed recent posts from some of our interns (here and here). Today we celebrated Umberto’s birthday, and mourned the fact that Megan is leaving for her next semester at college. These events (the celebration and the mourning) sparked a conversation between Kathryn (Education Director) and me regarding the immense importance interns have in organizations such as ours. Not only do they lick envelopes and make copies (as do we — often it’s a big envelope stuffing party at nonprofits) but they also make valuable contributions in planning, organizing, and researching projects. They are immersed in the contemporary art world and the day-to-day joys, sorrows, and interesting times at the museum.

Interns gain long-term fame with organizations. I recall my favorites fondly and smile at the antics of the others. The time they spend with the organization usually speeds by — regular staff sees faces and hands dive into projects for a few weeks or months at a time — the projects stay. . . the interns go. . . and they are often missed. Their contributions and their personalities seem to make the day to day work so much easier. Our interns are definitely an extension of our staff. We are grateful for all of them — and all of you interested in internships. And for those of you who are interested in learning about museums and the art world, while contributing in more ways than you’d imagine to nonprofits, we have a list of internships on this blog. Investigate the links and good luck. If you love it and contribute your knowledge, skills, and desire to learn, you’ll leave a pretty big footprint for others to follow and a fond smile from those you worked with. Plus, it’s great for your resume!