All day today, I get to listen as Symphony musicians prepare for tomorrow evening’s concert in the galleries.

Here’s a picture of their rehearsal this morning:

Performing here must be quite a change from Powell Hall. It’s very intimate, so concert-goers are seated only a few feet away. Instead of performing on a large stage, the musicians set-up at the bottom of the Main Gallery’s stairway. They also must keep a distance of at least 5 feet from any art object–which for this show consists of three works by Robert Gober and, as always, Ellsworth Kelly’s Blue Black.

If you weren’t lucky enough to score a ticket to tomorrow’s sold-out performance, check out Show Me St. Louis at 3pm tomorrow on KSDK Channel 5 (NBC). The Pulitzer will be featured, and you’ll be able to hear the musicians rehearse in the background…and if that makes you want more, check out these upcoming concert dates.

For a worker-bee gallery assistant, keeping people from touching the art is key. Everyone has their method for keeping the distance between the works and the viewer, but up until this show I had never thought of a method to encourage people to physically interact with the art hands-on.

In the Cube Gallery is a work by Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Untitled (Loverboys). The conceptual piece is basically 355 pounds of individually-wrapped candies. I absolutely love the work and just as how I encourage you to view the piece, I also want to encourage everyone to take a piece with them. It’s what the artist wanted. Ironic, isn’t it? Security asking visitors of the Pulitzer to touch and take a piece of fine art. I’ve stood by this piece the last two Wednesdays inviting people to touch and of course, the skilled people-watcher that I am, observing how people react. Some are hesitant. Many take from the same side of the pyramid and don’t really walk around the work. Others just smile to themselves. A couple of people have been concerned with messing up the work by causing a domino effect or their own possible clumsiness. Some ask questions about the work and the artist and even conceptual art as a whole. Almost everyone takes the candy. Some people even take two, one for munching on the spot and one for a piece of memorabilia at home. Regardless of what they do, most people walk away from the work feeling satisfied. They have physically received something sweet from the work. Minimalism can at times, at least for me, seem cold and distancing. But with some interaction and thought, I firmly believe that something sweet too can come from each and every work. So, take some time and let it all sink in, just as you savor the yumminess of the lemon candy in the Gonzalez-Torres work, sit and savor all of the elements of the other pieces and carry it home with you.

The Pulitzer has both gallery assistants and security guards who are on duty during open hours. Silas, who has been a security guard since the year we opened, wrote about his experience:

I began working at the Pulitzer in 2001 when Sergeant Dan Nichols accepted me to his security team. I didn’t know then that I would come to enjoy working at the Pulitzer as much as I do! My experiences with staff and other employees definitely makes me feel a part of something special. I feel appreciated and respected and that certainly increases my motivation to promote and act responsibly when doing anything while representing the Pulitzer.

Working for the Pulitzer has increased my interest in both Contemporary and Modern Art. To say that being at the Pulitzer is an enlightening experience is an understatement. I have learned and have a motivation to learn about things that were once of no interest to me. Sometimes, the excitement of our visitors over certain items such as Joe gets the heart pumping faster and makes me want to tell them all I know about that piece. Whenever there is a new installation, I am compelled to learn all that I can about the works. I enjoy working for the Pulitzer and appreciate the learning experiences by the many contributors whose works represent so many ideas and make so many statements about the periods in time that have either changed the course of, or shaped our lives.

I could have said all of the above in four words; I love the Pulitzer!

For Felix Gonzalez-Torres’ work to be realized and called an original, it must fulfill the artist’s requirements exactly and has to have the authorization of the lending institution.

Here’s the installation requirements for his work, Untitled (Somewhere better than this place, Nowhere better than this place):

Offset print on paper (endless copies), respective inscription: “Somewhere better than this place” and “Nowhere better than this place”.

The paper should be 75 lb. white offset by Georgia Pacific (or something similar if this cannot be found). The sheets should be 29 x 23 inches, and the ideal height of the stack should be maintained as closely as possible to 26 inches. The stacks should be 10 inches apart with the printed side on view; the bottom of the texts should face one another. The text should be Times New Roman Italic, printed in black and centered within the sheet of paper.

Here is how the work looks on our mezzanine paired with Roni Horn’s Gold Mats, Paired (For Ross and Felix):

Visitors are encouraged to take one of the papers with them from either stack. Each night, the stacks are replenished to their original size. About this, Rosa de la Cruz wrote, “These words reconcile the possibility of being here and there-of physical distance giving way to temporal distance. Gonzalez-Torres wants us to take the papers with us. Through our participation the works travel to different places, allowing it to explore new ways of habitation, and the mere fact that the stacks are constantly being replenished gives the work an infinite life”. (Rosa de la Cruz, Introduction to “That Place”)

Side note: We have a new neighbor–tonight the Bruno David Gallery is opening across the street from the Pulitzer. I hope you all have a chance to stop by and welcome the newest addition to the arts in Grand Center.

It’s time for the 2005-06 chamber music collaboration with the Saint Louis Symphony to begin. Works for each series are chosen to coincide with the installation on view at the time. Minimalism and Beyond closes on April 26th, which means a number of different performances will take place throughout the winter and spring. Take a look here for all the programs and dates.

The first will be on Tuesday, November 1st, which is shockingly soon. The concert will feature music by Anton Webern, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Morton Feldman and David Lang. (Starts at 7:30pm, doors open at 7:00pm).

Rehearsal times are scheduled, a piano has been booked, and our graphic designer is working hard on the concert programs. Unfamiliar with the composers, I received this description from the Symphony:

“Webern’s Concerto for Nine Instruments is a work of sparse, angular textures, reductive in method, which is constructed of variations on a 12-note theme. Although pre-minimalist, Webern’s concerns parallel those of the artistic generation to come. Stockhausen, who has influenced popular artists such as Brian Eno and Bjork and appears on the famed Sergeant Pepper album cover between Carl Jung and Mae West, is an explorer of musical space. His work, Kreuzspiel calls for an unusual arrangement of instruments along with amplified sound. Feldman, with The Viola in My Life investigates soft dynamics, blurred colors and soft textures. Lang’s provocatively titled, Cheating, Lying, Stealing makes use of small amounts of musical material which are varied on an intricate scale. On the score he proscribes “Ominous funk.” You, along with the musicians, are invited to determine what that means.”

Two things I am now curious about: 1) to hear one of Bjork’s influences and 2) what in the world “ominous funk” means. For answers, go here.

Also check out the SLSO blog, which is fantastic.

Now that Minimalism and Beyond is officially open, work on the visitor handout and web catalogue can begin. Because the relationship between the artwork and the architecture is a key component to our exhibitions, the works have to first be installed in the building before we can photograph them and publish the related materials. Images of the galleries for the 360 views on our website were taken on Friday, and our photographer Robert Pettus has been taking images for both the catalogue and the visitor handout.

Here’s an image he took of the last installation:

And here’s what the last web catalogue looked like, and the one before that.

The Pulitzer doesn’t use wall texts, so while the gallery guide and web catalogue are being completed, maps illustrating the location of the works are available at our front desk.

Installation specifications for Stack by Donald Judd:

1) This work is installed on a wall with 6 inches between each box (6 inches is the height of each individual box).

2) The lowest box should be 6 inches from the floor.

3) There should be at least 6 inches between the highest box and the ceiling.

4) Because of this, the work requires a ceiling height of 126 inches for ten boxes, or 114 inches for nine boxes. (the work can include less boxes for rooms with lower ceilings)

Where in the exhibition was this work installed? Was it in the same place as the maquettes, or did it look better elsewhere? When you come to the opening tomorrow night from 6-8pm, you’ll find out. Also, take a closer look at it, keeping in mind the installation criteria listed above.

I would like to show further images of the rest of the installation, however, I don’t want to give anything away before tomorrow night. So visit, drink some wine, take a look at the works, and decide how you would install them. That way when I post more installation stories next week, you can see if your ideas matched with ours.

The walls in the entrance gallery have been installed. Here’s how they look:

The coverings are there to protect the pictures from the natural light that pours into the gallery. Wondering what the artworks look like? Guess you’ll have to come to the opening this Friday to find out!

Minimalism Fact o’ the Day: Donald Judd on installation, “It takes a great deal of time and thought to install work carefully. This should not always be thrown away. Most art is fragile and some should be placed and never moved again. Somewhere a portion of contemporary art has to exist as an example of what the art and its context were meant to be.”

Here are some “Before” photos of what I am working on today:

Those piles of papers are our press archives, in the midst of re-organization. What looks like a mess is actually a highly developed cataloguing process known as “stacking clippings into various piles”. By the end of the day (or….next week) I will hopefully have updated this post with “After” photos of a beautifully organized filing system.

Speaking of press, here’s the press release for Minimalism and Beyond. And here’s a look at a Wall Street Journal article now being archived (and linked to on our homepage).

Today, Felix Gonzales-Torres’ Untitled (Lover Boys) was installed. The work consists of small pieces of silver-wrapped candy (of which each visitor is allowed to take a sample). According to the artist’s requirements, the overall composition should weigh 355 pounds and should be presented in a spill formation on the floor or in a corner. However, Gonzalez-Torres encouraged experimentation with the exact arrangement, and before it was installed, we tested a variety of placements.

The candy, still in the bags, was initially placed against the wall in the Cube Gallery. It looked sort of lost and could not stand up to Serra’s jet black corner drawing Pacific Judson Murphy, which is installed across the gallery.

Next, the candy bags were stretched across the floor. This solution was rejected for the same reasons as above.

Here they are arranged in a rectangular format. This, like the previous solutions, seemed awkward, as the idea of heaping up candies got lost.

Now we think that this is it: the placement is in an asymmetrical position, with no more links to the wall. How was it installed? Once the center point and the square shape were determined, we placed the enclosed bags of candy on the outside perimeter to serve as a barrier. We then opened the others and simply poured them in the middle, letting them pile up in a pyramid-formation.

Minimalism Fact–here’s what I wrote in a previous Fact o’ the Day about this piece.