April 25, 2014
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Exhibitions and Goats...
Today's GO SOMEWHERE was the National Art Center in Roppongi. The exhibit was from Osaka based National Museum of Ethnology. Here is the overview from the website:Human history is a history of images. Images preceded writing and they are believed to have served as a source for words. The act of visualizing the world by adding shape and color to its essence and structure is a fundamental part of human nature. Are the creation and appreciation of images universal to all people? Taking this magnificent question as its theme, this exhibition introduces an array of formed objects that were created in a variety of regions throughout the world. The displays will consist of outstanding articles specially selected from the huge collection of the National Museum of Ethnology, which has amassed materials from a host of different countries. A collaborative project between the museum and the National Art Center, Tokyo, the exhibition will focus on shared forms, effects, and functions of images rather than dividing them according to geographical region or historical period. This will also provide us with an opportunity to reassess our stereotypes of formed objects. In the expansive gallery of the National Art Center, Tokyo, everything from the masks and religious idols that you might expect to see at the National Museum of Ethnology to works by currently active artists will be presented side-by-side, transcending the boundary between an institution made for art and one designed for anthropology. Visitors will have an opportunity to experience the breathtaking vitality of objects used in religious rites, the profound nature of hybrid articles that arose out of cultural exchange, and the dynamism of images that have merged with our globalized contemporary society. In this way, we hope that you will be able to savor the power of images as a universal part of human culture.
It was quite interesting, but the signs explaining the different items were small to begin with, and when fastened to the floor become even harder to see. One must contort one's body into all kinds of ungraceful positions to be able to read them. I find this a common tendency at museums and don't understand why in the world the people who set up the exhibits fail to take the view of the guests into consideration when making these signs. So as we were contorting and trying to read the teeny sign on the floor a young fellow came over and told us we were too close to one of the objects and to step back. "But," says I, "We are just trying to read the teeny sign and had not touched and had no intention of touching the exhibit. The sign is just too small for the human eye to read." "Yes, but step back." "But we can't read the sign!! Would you mind telling whoever is in charge that they are just too small??" "Step back!" "But we can't read the sign!!!" "Yes, but you need to step back." The idiot just didn't get it. The word urusai (Shut up already!) was crawling up my throat to my lips, but I managed to suppress it somehow. I wonder if he ever said anything at all to his superior about the unreadable signs.
Well, gotten as my goat was, I decided that I was not going to let an overzealous dummy spoil my enjoyment and proceeded to see the rest of the exhibit with my hands behind my back just in case.
