In preparation for one of our lessons we had been given tasks that we could do once we had arrived at the museum or we could have done some of the tasks beforehand – such as take note of 10 things that we had seen or smelt on the way to University during the week.
One of my individual tasks was to find an artwork that showed noise – at first I was unsure what to look for or what would have been the right thing to find. However once going round the gallery and actually looking at paintings and imagining the fictional stories behind them and the context they were set , the picture began to come alive and I could imagine the “noise” coming from it. One piece of artwork that stood out to me was one by Liz Kay (2009) I am a Woman – on the description next to the picture she had described women being like ‘circus performers’. The reason why I think the picture spoke noise was not only because there were clearly instruments on the collage but also the thought of the housewife juggling tasks such as making breakfast with the television on in the background creates a loud chaotic atmosphere in my mind.
I think it was interesting that this piece was done by a woman and how she feels being a mother and a housewife seems, like a routine that is performed daily. Although the picture had bold bright colours, it seems appears to be negative in the sense that a woman is contracted to a performance everyday and had to endure the same daily routines and chores.
By doing this task it meant that I engaged more with the artwork in the museum and actually stood and read things in-depth and researched the background of some of the pieces – something I definitely would not have done if I was just going to a museum for a social or casual aspect. This then branched a few ideas that me and my group started to explore about the fact that people just stand and look at pieces of artwork in the museum for a couples of minutes and then move onto the next, not really engaging and asking questions about the piece or wondering the context and reasons for them to be there. So we found it would be interesting to create a piece that people actually stand and question why it is there and its message or importance in doing so instead of just accepting something that has been chosen by a curator.
Fig 1 – I am a Woman – Liz Kay (2009)