The exhibition took place between June 5-15, 2000, in the State Museum of Fine Arts in
Chisinau. Visitors were invited to see the seven spaces that displayed the artists' work.
The works were arranged in such a way as to make visitors-guided by the texts posted on
walls-return to the first exhibition room and write down their thoughts on the exhibition.
Now, after the event has closed, we (the project organizers) have the opportunity to
ponder on the results of its first stage.
Fourteen artists who wanted a deeper involvement with the work of famous 20th-century
artists have written down the results of their research, with references and personal
conclusions. These texts were aimed at a better organization as well as at helping viewers
in their excursion through 20th-century art, which was reflected in the exhibited works.
At the museum entrance there was a can of red paint (Cinnabar, or Kinovari in Russian)
placed on a "pedestal." Next to the can of paint was placed the project's seal,
which had been applied to all the works exhibited there as well as to the texts on the
walls. In the latter case it was meant to point to viewers the itinerary from one piece to
the next and from one text to the following. Each visitor had to read the text explaining
the project, which was posted at the entrance of the following room.
The first exhibition room contained an imitation of an installation by Kabakov: All around
the room there were print-outs of Internet sites (with the URL addresses) and Xerox copies
from books; all this contained general information which formed the basis of the exhibited
works. In the middle of the room there was a table with six "Comment Books" with
pens tethered to them. Therein visitors were asked to describe the new information they
had accumulated by seeing the exhibition, to share their opinions about the exhibition,
and to ask questions that arose for them while going through the exhibition.
Depending on the part of the first room in which visitors started their navigation, they
could move on to other rooms, which were organized according to art gallery traditions.
Next to each piece there were written explanations from the author and exact references to
the piece's prototype.
After the closure of the exhibition, we have collected and analyzed all the comments left
behind by visitors. The results of this impromptu poll have helped us understand to what
degree the first project stage was successful and how we should organize the next one.
|
