College Dreams, Tattooed Ambition, Artistic Endeavors.: "Water" Exhibit, Zimmerli Museum, 9/10/10

     I felt the "Water" exhibition at the Zimmerli Art Museum was very strong in illustrating the various forms, mediums, and interpretations the element of water can have to artists and viewers. It was evident that the curator knew the importance of incorporating different mediums and ideas of the theme in the show, including: paintings, sculpture pieces, photography, and video art. The exhibit draws from different time periods as well, and was very successful in terms of the audience encouraging its audience to view the medium in new ways. An example of thinking about this element in a different way is evidenced by the piece "Condensation Cube" by Hans Haacke, in which water is exhibited as a scientific process in which water condensation turns into dew that hangs on the top of the cube's surface. As the show's curator previously stated, the exhibition is "not simply a show about works on a paper or paintings on a wall."
     Within this show, water is interpreted in a number of ways; not only as an element that is often used in its liquid state, but more so as something that all humans depend on as a part of their life source. Water is something that connects the entire world because all life forms depend on it in some capacity.
     I feel that there is enough space between each of the works, but that the video pieces are spaced too far apart from one another. The way that the curator thought of different titles for certain rooms, such as "Women in the Waves, Men in Boats", which steamed from the ironic pairing of these types of images, worked well to connect certain works from different artists and different time periods.
     The curator's intention of drawing the viewer into other rooms of the show with certain works was not successful because they did not lead me in a certain direction toward any particular pieces. The curator and artists' intentions matched up well because both of their ultimate goals were to illustrate water as a work of art in various ways, which include various ways of depicting water itself. The importance of water as a life source, as well as the role it plays historically and geographically lends itself to the diversity and appeal of the overall exhibition.

     From the "Water" show, I chose to curate the video piece, "Ablutions" by Bill Viola, the series of photographs by Phyllis Galembo, "Amazing Grace" by Wangechi Mutu, and "Amelia & Hope, Accabonac Harbor 2003" by Robin Schwartz. I picked these four works because each of them display a human body within a body of water. More specifically, the piece "Amazing Grace" and Galembo's photographs illustrate an ethnic and spiritual connection an individual may have to water. Galembo's photographs illustrate people of Haitian descent "paying tribute to the Virgin Mary"* by immersing their bodies in a sacred waterfall, and in the "Amazing Grace" video, the song being sung by the narrarator is a historical gospel hymn that can be heard in many African-American churches.
     If I had to curate this show, I would place the videos in close proximity to each other, perhaps a wall apart. Additionally, I would place the photographs along the same wall next to each other being that they are of the same medium and each depict individuals in bodies of water and evoke a sense of serenity to the viewer. None of these pieces would be installed too far from each other being that they share very similar themes.

*Exhibition information card, Zimmerli Art Museum.