Art Speak

Despite the technical difficulties with the monitor and the camera, the workshop turned out alright. The actual camera works the best (naturally) but I was surprised by the decent quality of the iPhone pictures. The only problem is that you have to move the glow sticks really quickly to capture the movement on the iPhone because of the super short shutter speed (haha try saying that five times fast). My personal favorite color combination is the blue and red together because the photos turn out with hints of both distinct colors but also a purply combination. I also like all the colors together because it turns out almost white. 

-Natalie

Dancing lights around

Limbs flailing wildly

Technical Failures

I think I've always taken mochi for granted. Mochi: the sticky, yummy childhood treat; something that my great-aunt always has at her house for Christmas. But I'd never given much thought to actually making mochi until I heard that the museum was hosting the mochi pounding celebration to ring in the new year. When I told my parents, they started to rave about the time they pounded mochi together in Japan so I was excited for the day. We started in Samsung Hall, polaroid cameras ready, looking on over the crowd of people. Little children bordered the front of the crowd, eagerly straining forward towards the demonstration. The members of Kagami Kai were all dressed in colorful red and blue robes. Happy colors for a happy celebration. I felt slightly out of place in my black outfit which was too somber a color for the occasion. 

The demonstration started with an artist painting an ancient character for horse in front of the crowd. Seeing this performance was fascinating as it celebrated the new year by painting an old character. At the Asian, mixing old and new seems to hold a special place.

When the members of Kagami Kai actually started pounding the mochi, the room filled with the beat of drums, the ringing of bells, the happy sounds of voices chanting along, and of course, the deliciously nutty smell of the mochi. They were so enthusiastic while pounding the mochi, it was hard not to start clapping to the beat. As audience members volunteered, I sensed such gusto in hitting a mass of glutinous rice over and over again with a wooden mallet. Kids looked hesitant when they first stepped up but soon this feeling transformed into total bliss (I guess it's not everyday that kids actually are allowed to play with their food). At the end of the demonstration, everyone lined up to pick up some mochi to eat. I'm not sure if it was the excitement of the celebration or the mochi itself, but the result, my little mochi souvenir, tasted amazing.

-Natalie

I remember how the banging of the drums seemed to rattle my heart and the excitement of the audience began to grow. Young children would be called up for a turn of mochi pounding, and even though I was clearly far over the age limit, I couldn't help myself raising my hand and begging to be picked. The one good thing about being a teenager, someone stuck in limbo between childhood and adulthood, was that I was able again try to be picked as an adult volunteer. I loved the way that their pounding was so perfectly timed with the rhythm of the drums; it was as if they were all driven by the same beautiful, unyielding beat. Towards the end, I could feel the anticipation radiate off the crowds for everyone wanted a taste of the mochi that was so diligently made. 

This is very informal! I wasn't exactly sure what you wanted:

There’s something special about doing stuff yourself. Or watching things get done. Just the idea that something productive is happening, and you’re a part of it.  A couple of weeks ago the Asian Art Museum hosted a Mochi Pounding ceremony, and it honestly felt like the museum was in it’s own little world. One where people joined together to make mochi and enjoy art. These were my type of people! The ceremony was pretty and exhilarating and wonderful and I was lucky enough to be able to document it. I didn’t actually get to partake in the actual mochi pounding, but it looked so satisfying to see someone putting effort into making this delicious food. I imagine, (although I’m not sure), that most foods are made with machines and stuff now, and this just felt more heartfelt, which made it 3958930x more delicious.

Working at the Asian has introduced me to a new community, one where people can join together to participate in events like this. I felt truly ~blessed~ to have seen the members of Kagami Kai work together to create mochi for us to eat. 

On Sunday, when we were doing an art meditation in the gallery, we started to talk about how we could improve the space to make it more interactive for visitors. Cami's assignment for the art meditation was to curate a display with the pieces in the gallery that had a theme. This was the inspiration for our ideas later. I started to think about different themes in the galleries and how you could explore a certain throughline on your visit in the museum. My idea was to have a bunch of laminated maps at the front of the gallery, which showed a path to follow, with certain items to see, that all were related through some theme. On the card, there would be several of these paths so visitors could choose what they wanted to see, or what pertained to their interests. Then, at each piece, instead of a single label, there would be a flip-book like thing where each page had a different label, corresponding with the themes of the gallery walk. I think this setup could help visitors, especially young ones, to be able to interact a bit more with the pieces in the museum.

-Natalie

Hello! 
So last Sunday, the four of us participated in a Korean folk art painting activity at the museum.

In this activity, we were given paper fans with line drawings of peonies on them, and we colored the fans using acrylic paints. This activity was associated with the current special exhibition, In Grand Style, which features art from the Korean art of the Joseon dynasty. I found it very interesting to discover that the peonies that we were painting actually had great symbolic meaning in Korean culture. They represent wealth, honor and high social position and were often used in Joseon dynasty artwork. 
I really love painting so this was the perfect activity for me. Sadly, I didn't get to finish mine but it was still a great experience.

Mik Gaspay's installation titled Eve was what caught my eye in the Proximities exhibit. What made it stand out was that it was the only multimedia installation, and I appreciated the use of the televisions. When looking at it I noticed a reflection on the pot in the middle, and bent down to see that it was actually reflecting the image of the televisions. Looking at the installation from a couple of feet away I imagined it a sort of home, a television playing with a beautiful woman on screen, and a pot cooking what I guess would be some food. However from different angles I began to see flaws within the artwork. The reflection the pot made the woman seem like some sort of grotesque creature. The pot itself was making creepy noises, and I even realized that the TV had been flickering. The piece was not the calm scene I had first envisioned, but instead held within itself multiple dialogues. It was is if I had been looking into a mirror only to find something completely different staring back at me. The art itself contained multiple universes, perfect and balanced on one end of the spectrum but twisted on the other.

Picture taken from mikgaspay.com because my phone wouldn't send the picture to my email! >:(

On Sunday we engaged in a plethora of activities including testing out the explorer packs (the sketch expedition one). We started out by setting up the cart in the loggia and Nell and I practiced giving and explaining the activity to Cami and Marisa (who were pretending to be kids). That was hard and slightly awkward but I think we'll get better with practice. We then took our own packs and went off into the museum to try it out. I chose to explore the second floor, and stayed within the Japanese galleries. The only major problem I had was with time management (since we had only 25 minutes to do the activity) but that won't be a big problem for kids and families who want to try out the explorer packs. I liked that there was a guide to give context to the activity but at the same time, I felt that having the paper was a bit restrictive and cumbersome. About halfway through, I just started to play around with the materials inside the pack instead of focusing solely on completing the handout. The hands-on part was particularly enjoyable with the clay and the wire. I also think the materials are very kid-friendly. Overall, I think that the explorer packs will be successful and they're a great way to interest kids in the museum. Plus, I'm looking forward to seeing how the animal adventure themed sets turn out!

-Natalie

Photos: 1) My interpretation of the prompt under Line "Create an outline of an artwork using the materials provided in your explorer pack." (for some reason it's coming up sideways...I don't know what's going on) 2) The little birdie that I made from the clay.

i really like the idea of the upside down A at the beginning of "ask me"

i'm not sure that a hashtag is necessary. i think we're thinking too hard about that idea. how many parents are really going to instagram their kids based on a hashtag they saw off the back of a shirt? it seems a little bit unlikely to me

in terms of colors, i think we should talk about that more before we make a decision

i'm having a hard time finding a customized colored t shirt under $15 online. and it'll cost more to put the logo