Walker Field Trip

Rather than focus on one piece that I particularly enjoyed at the Walker, I decided to go with one entire collection. This was called Benches & Binoculars. The entire room was filled floor to ceiling with framed works. This, I learned, was the traditional way of displaying art in a museum. For this collection, they have put together a group of works that they have displayed here since the museum opened in 1879 to remind us that everything, at one time, was contemporary art. There is such variety in the subjects and styles and sizes of these 75+ pieces that it was almost too much to take in. Just like looking at a complex collage, every time I went back in to look, I noticed something new.
Besides talking about the walls, I would like to spend some time discussing what was between them--the benches. Having a place to sit in a gallery encourages the viewers to sit, to observe the room for a longer time than one would when just slowly walking through. The binoculars invite the viewers to observe and explore the works even closer and to spend even more time with them. Something else that I noticed was the color chosen for the carpet in the room and the benches. I was told by a staff member that normally, that room has a cement floor like the rest of the museum, but for this special exhibit, a deep purple carpet was chosen to cover the cement. I can't help but wonder why purple? I did some research on the color purple and discovered that it is well-liked among creative and eccentric people. Also, when surrounded with purple, it is said that you will have peace of mind and be very calm. Perhaps that was the goal in choosing purple--to calm the eccentric minds that most often visit art museums such as this. Or maybe there was another reason, I cannot be sure. Some other words I found that are associated with the color purple (among many others) are: power, luxury, wisdom, independence, creativity, mystery, magic, ambition, purpose, and uplifting.
I really enjoyed this exhibition. (I revisited the room several times!) I like the walls being FULL and being surrounded with so many different pieces. Even though some works went unnoticed at first, I feel that for me, this is a more successful way to display works. It is much more interesting and the room had a calm, peaceful feel (perhaps that was partly because of the purple floor and furniture). I truly WANTED to spend more time here, which is a feeling I don't usually get in a gallery that displays one or two works on boring, stark walls. This was a pleasant change.