Afterthoughts on "Old & New Masters from Antwerp" at the National Museum
It was in my plan to catch the exhibition all along. But there were always things going on and I had pushed it back several times. Yesterday, I managed to see it, finally.
I planned to do a one-hour tour. It would have been just right, if not for the fact that I was confronted with a horde of noisy students as I entered the hall. Just my luck. It took a full 15 minutes before the teenagers shipped out.
The general feel I gathered of the whole set up was not excellent, but it was alright. Although I strove hard to see a coherent theme or structure for the various 'rooms', it was hard to understand the curator's motivations and objectives. I do not claim to be knowledgeable in modern art, but the least I can do is to have a general feel and appreciation of certain types of installation and sculpture.
There is one piece of work which provoked an unexpected reaction on my part. It was the installation piece "Flanders Field" by Berlinde de Bruyckere. The anti-war theme was quite vivid: images of horse in various 'death poses', victims of violence they had no part in creating.
I knew about the work from various medium prior to the visit. So, I was quite looking forward to seeing it. Stepping into the room where the piece was installed, I was disappointed. Disappointed that I did not get that visual impact I had hoped for. Disappointed that I could not feel the violence in the image. Giving myself some time to contemplate the work, it got more frustrating by the minute. I consoled myself by deferring to the exhibition interactive guide and found the page where the write up on the piece was.
Everything became clear. This was the image shown in its original setting in Antwerp:
Revelation:
1. The clutter of the other work took away the on-lookers attention.
2. The absence of the strong florescent lights took away the impact of the horror and violence of the image.
3. The round room of the original set gave the impression of space and expanse and further enhanced the isolation of the scene.
Three simple but critical elements to the work. Gone. Lost with the way it was presented at NSM. It was annoying. It was callous. It was ... (yes... simply "...").
The strong feelings stem from the fact that I do like the piece. The curating is just not doing it justice.
It was a good thing that after that initial annoyance, how happy I was to discover another installation piece that I liked. Quoting from the guide:
"
Vaast Colson's "Helena's Sculpture". A series of 12 portraits of the daughter of German artist Martin Kippenberger, these paintings were sold to Antwerp's Museum of Contemporary Art on the condition that they remain packed together as a whole.
The crate is only fully opened once a year on August 24, Helena's birthday, and even then, the paintings are never unstacked.
"
Interesting piece. Very, very nice.
And I must also mention this quaint piece of work:
David Claerbout's Untitled (Carl and Julie).
This is a black and white projection of a still image of a man facing a girl at a table. When you approach the image, motion detection suddenly changes the still image into a moving picture, and the man gestures to the girl indicating your presence. She turns her head to look at you.
A "living picture".
This line comes to mind: 是人在看畫，還是畫在看人？
I planned to do a one-hour tour. It would have been just right, if not for the fact that I was confronted with a horde of noisy students as I entered the hall. Just my luck. It took a full 15 minutes before the teenagers shipped out.
The general feel I gathered of the whole set up was not excellent, but it was alright. Although I strove hard to see a coherent theme or structure for the various 'rooms', it was hard to understand the curator's motivations and objectives. I do not claim to be knowledgeable in modern art, but the least I can do is to have a general feel and appreciation of certain types of installation and sculpture.
There is one piece of work which provoked an unexpected reaction on my part. It was the installation piece "Flanders Field" by Berlinde de Bruyckere. The anti-war theme was quite vivid: images of horse in various 'death poses', victims of violence they had no part in creating.
I knew about the work from various medium prior to the visit. So, I was quite looking forward to seeing it. Stepping into the room where the piece was installed, I was disappointed. Disappointed that I did not get that visual impact I had hoped for. Disappointed that I could not feel the violence in the image. Giving myself some time to contemplate the work, it got more frustrating by the minute. I consoled myself by deferring to the exhibition interactive guide and found the page where the write up on the piece was.
Everything became clear. This was the image shown in its original setting in Antwerp:
Revelation:
1. The clutter of the other work took away the on-lookers attention.
2. The absence of the strong florescent lights took away the impact of the horror and violence of the image.
3. The round room of the original set gave the impression of space and expanse and further enhanced the isolation of the scene.
Three simple but critical elements to the work. Gone. Lost with the way it was presented at NSM. It was annoying. It was callous. It was ... (yes... simply "...").
The strong feelings stem from the fact that I do like the piece. The curating is just not doing it justice.
It was a good thing that after that initial annoyance, how happy I was to discover another installation piece that I liked. Quoting from the guide:
"
Vaast Colson's "Helena's Sculpture". A series of 12 portraits of the daughter of German artist Martin Kippenberger, these paintings were sold to Antwerp's Museum of Contemporary Art on the condition that they remain packed together as a whole.
The crate is only fully opened once a year on August 24, Helena's birthday, and even then, the paintings are never unstacked.
"
Interesting piece. Very, very nice.
And I must also mention this quaint piece of work:
David Claerbout's Untitled (Carl and Julie).
This is a black and white projection of a still image of a man facing a girl at a table. When you approach the image, motion detection suddenly changes the still image into a moving picture, and the man gestures to the girl indicating your presence. She turns her head to look at you.
A "living picture".
This line comes to mind: 是人在看畫，還是畫在看人？
Comments
Good piece.
Karen