Shock + Art: Ruminations of demediation in the gallery

-dog tied to the wall/ animal rights activists
-mao ze dong by Shep Fairey
-Gorilla Girls-not enough women artists in the museum

Working as an Education Intern at the Boston Institute of Contemporary Art has given me incredible opportunities this summer. This week I had the chance to sit in on Generation O: THe National Convening of Teens in the Arts. It has been an incredible chance to hear from leading institutions in art education and teens that work at arts councils at contemporary art museums. One of the topics they talked about was controversy in art: how can controversy be discussed in a safe manner? How can teens be engaged, but not threatened? I wanted to weigh in with some of my own thoughts on the issue.

In a nutshell, what I learned is that teen art programs are first and foremost concerned with free expression and safe space. The programs (like the Teen Arts Council at the Walker Art Center and the ICA/ Boston) want to be teen-driven, with the administrator only stepping in as the liaison between the museum employees and the teens. When controversy comes in to light (either through student produced artwork or artwork on view at the museum), everything is about deep discussion and safety of the space. Personally, I am curious about methods in promoting and instilling safety in a space, and how to balance individual respect vs. respect for the general group.

What I learned from the discussion and hearing from such administrators as Witt Siasoco and Rosanna Flouty of the Boston ICA is that, when controversy enters the programs (may it be an art class, a tour, or a teen arts council meeting) the administrator or facilitator becomes the crisis manager. Everything becomes about mediation; the goal of mediation being to take shocking art and have deep, mature discussions about the controversy. The administrator is in charge of mediating between the art and the teens. This raises an interesting question for me: is there a danger in only dealing with controversy through mediation? Is there a threat to the authenticity of the experience once the administrator steps in and “explains” how to look at the art, why it looks that way, what the artist thought, etc. The teens may be diverse, and their opinions on the controversy of the art may be diverse, but the mediation becomes singular, fueled by the administrator and the curators and the museum administration’s way of promoting and selling their artwork.

Mediation taints the experience of the artwork, in my opinion. It makes the museum space into a system, with artwork being “sold” to you by the institution with its particular branding and curatorial slant. Maybe too harsh? Maybe too dark? Let’s break it down to the basic questions, and what it means for teen programs and art education at museums.

The question is, can you foster a healthy, productive environment with controversial or shocking artwork and viewers without mediation? Can understanding and acceptance of art being self-sought by the viewer or the teens, or do they need an administrator to hold their hand? Just speaking in terms of teen art history or studio art programs affiliated with museums, what are methods to encourage the teens to investigate their own explanations and opinions of how the controversial artwork is productive and healthy to think about, without the mediation of the facilitator?

Potential thoughts/ solutions I have:
1. Meeting with the artist themselves, talking with them, putting a face on the artwork
2. Have students lead tours and do research on particular controversial art pieces without any administrator or mediator’s help
3. Administrators introducing students to artwork, and instead of explaining the point of the piece, having students create a dialogue on their own. Administrators can point out certain points in the art, but they don’t give explanations. They open up the conversation, instead of creating a singular conclusion
4. Students do writing exercise as if they are writing a letter to the artist, asking why they made this controversial piece/ what they would have done differently.

I’m sure I will think of more. I’m going to explore possible solutions and create some diagrams as well of the hierarchy and circles of communication and safety within a museum institution.