The nooks and crannies of the Katzen Arts Museum that are not traditionally used for displaying artwork have been transformed into work sites for four artists.
Together, they make up independent curator Danielle O’Steen’s latest project, “Brink and Boundary,” which opened at the museum on April 5.
“I really wanted to bring attention to this building, and really, I wanted to explore the nooks and crannies that have been overlooked in the past,” O’Steen said. “And so we’ve managed to find ways to inject ourselves into these nooks and crannies.”
Halsey Burgund – “Hotel Dreamy,” medium: smartphone app interface
Halsey Burgund is a sound artist whose piece will surround the exterior and interior of the museum – but not physically. It is a soundscape activated by “Hotel Dreamy,” a smartphone app that features a large collection of recordings related to dreams.
“I think about it as infusing the entire building and wrapping the building in these dreams and these dream commentaries,” Burgund said.
The recordings consist of interviews with dream researchers, Burgund talking about his own dreams and dream recollections contributed by others. Students can submit recordings of dreams they’ve had or their thoughts on dreams through the app. Each recording is tagged to a particular location in or around the museum and can only be heard by audiences standing in that same location.
“The ultimate thing is when somebody experiences a piece of mine, and they’re so inspired and excited by it that they decide to leave some of themselves in it and become part of the piece,” Burgund said.
“Hotel Dreamy” is now available for free on the App Store for iOS devices.
Hasan Elahi – “Sky,” medium: pigment print
Hasan Elahi is an interdisciplinary media artist concerned with issues of migration, surveillance and transportation. His piece will be featured in the elevator of the museum, a space students typically move through without thinking twice.
“The image he’s putting in the elevator will really create this ominous, looming environment,” O’Steen said. “I think his image will really disrupt that space and it will make us hyper aware of what is going on in these everyday spaces we take for granted.”
Alberto Gaitán – Untitled, medium: sound, network, electronics, code
Alberto Gaitán is a sound artist whose piece occupies an emergency fire stairwell next to the Argo Tea café.
In 2004, Gaitán visited the Katzen Arts Museum while it was under construction. The museum’s director, Jack Rasmussen, walked him to the space where the stairwell was being built and told him to think of something he could do with the beautiful acoustics of the area. When O’Steen approached Gaitán about the project two years ago, it was “kismet,” he said.
Coincidentally, Kismet is the name of one of the programs Gaitán is using to collect data from visitors’ smartphones as they enter the stairwell. This data is then used to generate both high and low frequency sounds. Gaitán said this piece is a commentary on accessibility, as well as privacy and technology.
“That space is very pedestrian. Most literally you can only walk it…but it’s also a non-space. It really is not accessible most of the time,” Gaitán said. “In order to call attention to the fact that you’re in a space, sound has a unique way of doing that.”
Adam Good – Untitled (portraits), medium: blue stickers, text
Adam Good is an interdisciplinary artist whose piece builds off of the work of Félix González-Torres, an artist whose ‘Loverboy’ pieces use audience participation to deliver a message. Good remixes the language both González-Torres and his critics used to describe his work on small pale blue stickers, the same color used in the ‘Loverboy’ pieces. These stickers are arranged in various patterns on the wall around the museum’s lobby area.
“The words are sampled and remixed together to create new meanings,” Good said. “They are reimaginings of the conceptual space of his work by using the language that he’s used.”
By placing his work outside of the traditional space of the museum, Good said his piece is meant to manifest the idea of all of the conversation and language that surrounds the artistic experience.
“The beauty of Felix Gonzalez-Torres’ work is in its simplicity and its accessibility and to me, it’s very poignant and emotional,” Good said.
“Brink and Boundary” will be shown at the Katzen Arts Museum until August 17. The museum is hosting a gallery talk on the exhibit with O’Steen and all four artists on May 17 at 4 p.m.
