transfers from Blackboard : 5

Further thoughts on guiding questions, prior to Wednesday’s meeting
Sue Clarke

It’s feeling too ambitious basically! Liz Ellis’s points about the staffing and health & safety issues are spot on. We’d realised we had to consider these things (see notes from 28/02), but looking at them in detail, the plan has quite a few problems.

I think we could maybe narrow down our question to:
Is sight intrinsic to the experience and enjoyment of art?
Can we set up an exhibition that allows for a more intimate experience of art than is usually experienced in a gallery/museum space? (This presupposes we’re going to use a gallery/museum space – not a sitting room, etc. Think we have decided on this?)

That would move us away from several previous exhibitions that have emphasised the tactile, and the hands-on, interactive experiences aimed at families and children.

But, are we able to include artwork that can be appreciated by smell / taste / sound?? The ‘touch’ idea keeps bringing to mind handle-able items, but we’re thinking of things you can sit on? slide down? walk on, or inside? Maybe it is about the sense of touch, but more about a whole body experience?

I’m not convinced by our ‘drawing on’ idea, and perhaps not our ‘removing items’ idea, although some sort of freebies/catalogue/postcard seems appropriate – just not removing any of the artwork itself. But then who’s to say the freebies/ catalogue/postcard isn’t a work of art in itself?!