by Courtney Henson, Visitor Services Manager

Coordinating the Frame of Reference talks has become a way to meet new and interesting people.  As a staff, we brainstorm a lengthy list of names of individuals who we think would have a diverse set of perspectives on the works in our current exhibition.  For Reflections of the Buddha, the list includes various sects of Buddhist practitioners, artists, philosophers, yoga instructors, and art historians just to name a few.  The experience of viewing Buddhist works at the Pulitzer will have different meanings for different people.  The Frame of Reference talks share in 15-minute increments one perspective. Typically we have a minimum of four speakers and move from each work with the speakers and any guests interested in hearing.  Sometimes the talks share ideas and sometimes they do not, but these short talks are a great way to get new insights on the work.  I look forward to hearing the talks this weekend and being enlightened through a whole new set of eyes.  Works discussed this Saturday, beginning at 2 p.m., include “The  Universal Gateway of Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara,” Chapter Twenty Five of the Lotus Sūtra (Miaofa lianhua jing Guanshiyin pusa pumenpin), with an Appended Heart Sūtra (Xin jing), Standing Buddha Śākyamuni (Shijiamouni), Standing Prince Shōtoku at Age Two (Shōtoku Taishi Nisaizō) and The Monk Ananda (Anantuo). 

See the schedule of speakers here.

How do psychoanalysts interpret dreams? Bernard Feinberg, a psychoanalyst, describes how he would interpret a patient’s dream if it had the same plot as Max Klinger’s A Glove.

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A Glove

A Portfolio of Ten Etchings (1881) by Max Klinger

Comments from the Perspective of the Unconscious and Dream Theory

by Bernard Feinberg, MD

 
When I had the pleasure of seeing this series of etchings for the first time, I was intrigued by the artist’s understanding of the Unconscious and dreams. Though Freud’s Interpretation of Dreams. (1900).was revolutionary as a scientific study of dreams, he was not alone in intuiting the workings of the unconscious and its expression in dreams. 

My plan is briefly to describe the logic that prevails in the unconscious and then to suggest how this logic governs the drama that unfolds in the etchings. Please hold onto your socks because the logic I describe will be utterly illogical from the point of view of normal consciousness. … Read the rest of Bernard Feinberg’s comments.

In this video, Lisa Harper Chang, Community Projects Director, talks about her personal connection to Do Ho Suh’s Staircase. She was a speaker for Frame of Reference in March. The next Frame of Reference is this Saturday, April 2 at 1pm. For a list of speakers, visit our main website.

Frame of Reference was developed in the context of Urban Alchemy/Gordon Matta Clark, when we invited non-art specialists (e.g. architects, social workers, patissiers) to talk about individual works in the context of personal experience.  The idea was born out of our docent program Exploring Art.  One pitfall of Exploring Art is that it is a lengthy time commitment for some guests, so we wanted to find a way to bring the diversity of our docents to the forefront in a bite-sized portion. 

We are continuing this program in conjunction with Dreamscapes, every first Saturday of the Month.  In March, talks were given by a curator from a lending institution and focused on the historical relevance of Max Beckmann’s work.  After his 15 minute talk, Lisa Harper Chang, Community Projects Director at the Pulitzer spoke about her personal connections to Do Ho Suh’s Staircase-Pulitzer Version.  In each talk, guests were able to understand the speaker’s interest in the work and possibly relate to the art in a different way than they might have already seen the work.

In future presentations, there will be multiple guests speaking on the same work.  In this way, in 15 minutes you can have a completely different impression of a work of art.  We invite you to attend and see how artworks’ meanings change through the lens of others.

http://www.vimeo.com/19980837

Visitors at the Dreamscapes opening reception share their thoughts on the exhibition. Artworks they refer to include Do Ho Suh’s Staircase–Pulitzer Version, Kiki Smith’s Pee Body, Wolfgang Tillmans’s Forest (Briol II), Philip Guston’s Dark Room and Edge and Max Klinger’s A Glove.

Last Friday’s opening reception for Dreamscapes was an all-out success. I know we always say that, but it’s always true in my opinion. Hundreds of art enthusiasts roamed the galleries from five to nine, and the gallery assistants actually had to invite many to leave so they could close for the evening.

While there, I took a few videos of visitors sharing their thoughts so far on the exhibition. We’ve done these “In Your Own Words” clips for the last two openings, and it’s been eye-opening to hear what people see on their first visit.

A particular comment from last week, which highlights the Pulitzer experience, involves one visitor’s walk down the hallway on the lower level to discover at the end of it Wolfgang Tillmans’s Forest (Briol II). This print depicts a man with his back to you, walking down a path in the forest. Like him, you discover a path, the hallway, which seems to lead you into unknown territory. When I dream, there’s always the feeling of “what happens next?” and I love how the placement of this piece leaves you with that feeling. The Pulitzer’s architecture is also known to do that.

So what happens next with this exhibition? As always, the Pulitzer will be offering public programming in conjunction with the exhibition and the themes it encapsulates. We will have a Dreamscapes Concert Series and every Saturday at 1pm offer regular programs, including Frame of Reference, Exploring Art and Dreamtime Storytime, a kid-friendly series in which special guests tell stories related to–you guessed it–dreaming.

We’ll also be asking you to share your dreams. As our senior curator Francesca Consagra said in her video introduction, “This exhibition privileges the idea that art and dreaming does serve a purpose. By engaging with a painting, by trying to recall a dream, you may learn a little bit more about yourself.” We hope that you will join us in exploring concepts around dreaming and the artworks on view and, at the same time, learn about what dreams your mind has to offer.

Juan William Chávez comments on Gordon Matta-Clark’s father, Roberto Matta, and one of Matta-Clark’s works in the exhibition Urban Alchemy/Gordon Matta-Clark.

For May’s Frame of Reference, Juan Chávez, an artist and the director of Boots Contemporary Art Space, examined Gordon Matta-Clark’s A W-Hole House: Roof Top Atrium. As a panelist for “The City as Studio” and curator of Theaster Gates’ exhibition Dry Bones and Other Parables from the North, Juan has greatly contributed to Pulitzer activities in the last few months. You can read his post on the Urban Expression blog, which explains what he thinks of “the power of art.”

Frame of Reference is a series of in-gallery discussions on the first Saturday of every month. The Pulitzer tailors each set of speakers to engage visitors in conversation and to provide a range of perspectives on the art being displayed. The last Frame of Reference for Urban Alchemy will be June 5.

Paul Shattack, Assistant Professor at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, shares memories conjured by Gordon Matta-Clark’s Bronx Floors.

Another month has passed, and it’s time again for Frame of Reference, a regularly scheduled program at the Pulitzer. Since our last exhibition, Ideal (dis-) Placements: Old Masters at the Pulitzer, the Pulitzer has hosted monthly in-gallery discussions, led by individuals with a range of backgrounds, about the artwork on display.

Visitor Services Manager Courtney Henson geared this Saturday to combine the perspectives of those specializing in art and those in social work. Our Senior Curator, Francesca Herndon-Consagra, who is the curator for Urban Alchemy/Gordon Matta-Clark, will be among the speakers.

You’ll note that the schedule for these 15-minute forums has changed from previous sessions to be all within 1-2:30pm, rather than at the beginning of every hour. This way, we hope you can stay for all of them and give your special viewpoint.