Black Friday: At the Carnegie Museum

A work of conceptual art: Mel Bochner's "Measurement: Plant (Palm) 1969."

Today we enjoyed several hours in the Carnegie Museum, where we particularly looked at the Renaissance art, the Impressionists, and quite a few rooms of modern art. The work titled "Measurement..." is made of black tape on a white wall. According to the documentation, this work exists "only as a set of directions when not on display." When it's time to display it, the directions are applied to the "architectural features of the display space."

Read it for yourself!

Besides seeing the works from the museum's very impressive permanent collections, we enjoyed two special exhibits:

Thornton Dial, detail from "The Soul of the Tiger," 1991.
Shown in the "20/20" exhibit.

• "20/20: The Studio Museum in Harlem and Carnegie Museum of Art" which is at the museum from July 22 to December 31, 2017, described thus: "Conceived at a tumultuous and deeply divided moment in our nation’s history, 20/20 offers a metaphoric picture of America by mapping the many ways in which artists respond to the social and political conditions that shape our lives. Featuring a diverse array of makers, including many artists of color, the exhibition’s thematic sections consider our democratic ideals, histories of labor and economy, the social and physical landscapes of our country, spiritual introspection, and forms of resistance." (link)

• "William Henry Fox Talbot and the Promise of Photography" on view from November 18, 2017 to February 11, 2018. This exhibit shows 30 works from one of the inventors of photography. Talbot invented the process of producing multiple prints from a photographic negative. We were amused that he seemed to know every possible use for photography that still exists today. He made household inventories, photos of his kids, selfies (see the photo at right), nature and landscape photos, artistic photos, and more. (link)