Experimental SCIENCE project brings people together in a museum

When Duncan Phillips established The Phillips Collection, he envisioned an intimate, accessible museum combined with an experimental art space that engaged the public with art.  Kudos to the Phillips' museum staff for restoring his vision with the Intersections series and other programs such as This Is Not That Café! 

When Duncan Phillips established The Phillips Collection, he envisioned an intimate, accessible museum combined with an experimental art space that engaged the public with art.  Kudos to the Phillips' museum staff for restoring his vision with the Intersections series and other programs such as This Is Not That Café! 

Duncan might have enjoyed "Art Is ______," a Pink Line Project that took place in the Café earlier this month. Art lovers and the merely curious gathered in the museum's café to think about art, to define art, and most importantly to talk to each other about art.  Led by Official Observers trained by the performance group WE ARE SCIENCE!, participants took the words of artists who are represented in the museum and remixed them into their own definitions.

Some observations that could not be captured by the video:

1.  Several people who attended the event who said it was their first ever visit to the Phillips Collection.

2.  The bewildered, leery, and contemptuous expressions of many who peeked into the Café with great uncertainty and ended up staying a while to talk about art with people they had never met before.

3.  Many excited participants who were encouraged for the first time, or rare time, to articulate their views about art.

Artist Rirkrit Tiravanija said that, "It is not what you see that is important but what takes place between people."  By this measure, the event was a huge success.

Though the night represented a successful interaction between people, I hope that many will return to the museum to really look at the art and experience it quietly for themselves as well as seek out additional information about the art and artists.  I completely agree with Blake Gopnik's recent pronouncement on the importance of spending time with art:

[Art] rewards slow, serious, long contemplation. It demands it. It barely pays off without it. That's why it's more crucial than ever that museums be extra careful not to provide yet another distraction from the wildly tough job of looking at art.

See still images from the event taken by Vincent Gallegos HERE.