They're descending already. No, not the aliens--- the crowds. As the
Carnegie International opened to the public on Saturday, May 3rd, visitors poured in---to explore the the mammoth, multiple-roomed cave made of tape and packing materials (a must-see!), to view the video projected on the exterior walls of the museum, to marvel at the draping beaded and threaded beeswax (shown in photo below, don't miss it).
And all the while the visitors were challenged to think about these questions: "Are we alone in the universe? Do aliens exist? Or are we, ourselves, the strangers in our own worlds?" (Tip: Consider crawling into the cave, shoes off, to think about it all.)
The
55th Carnegie International seeks to answer these questions through the exhibition of contemporary artists from around the world. And for the first time in its 112-year history, the International has a title: "
Life on Mars.""The visual universe is paramount, and the museum wants to be a gateway to the visual universe," says Richard Armstrong, director of the
Carnegie Museum of Art. With pieces from 40 emerging and established artists from 17 countries, this year's International aims to bring a global, yet individual perspective, to what it means to be human in the world today.
Armstrong emphasizes the international component of the museum's general collection and the International in particular. "We have a sustained demonstration to our commitment to showing different perspectives. The International is on view for more than 1,500 hours," he says. "We want to encourage people to do things differently. We can
show you what's going on in Barcelona, but it's up to you to change." He calls the International, which is held every three years, the museum's "pacemaker" – the thing that drives it and keeps it healthy. One reason why: The Carnegie builds its permanent collection in part through works shown at the International.
Bringing the World to PittsburghAndrew Carnegie conceived the International in the late 1800s as a way to establish and reinvigorate the museum's collection. Essentially, says Armstrong, "The museum opened without a collection. The International is an opportunity to come into close contact with a whole variety of younger – and older – contemporary artists and to purchase from them. The International has a long lasting effect on the temperament of the collection."
The first exhibition brought the acquisition of Winslow Homer's
The Wreck (1896) and James A. McNeill
Whistler's Arrangement in Black: Portrait of Señor Pablo de Sarasate (1884), the first Whistler painting to be acquired by an American museum. More than 100 years later, at least 300 works have entered the Carnegie's permanent collection through the Internationals, including pieces by Mary Cassatt, Willem de Kooning, Edward Hopper, John Singer Sargent, and Pittsburgh native Andy Warhol.
As the oldest exhibition of international contemporary art in North America and the second oldest in the world, the International holds a unique place in the art world. It's also the only show of its kind to be located inside of a museum. Other exhibitions are usually held in warehouses or constructed spaces. Having the International in the
museum is an effort "to locate it inside a historical continuum," Armstrong explains.
…and Pittsburgh to the WorldRunning from May 3, 2008 through January 11, 2009, this year's exhibition will be two and a half times longer than those in the recent past. "We consciously made the show stay up for a longer period of time, opening in the summer [rather than the fall], so people can come and experience this great, beautiful city at its greenest height," says Armstrong.
This, he says, has a two-part intangible effect. For one thing, visitors to Pittsburgh come away with a heightened sense of place and appreciation for the region. In addition, it opens locals' eyes to the great art and international perspective available in their own backyard. The International attracts visitors from all across the region, the country, and the world. During the last International in 2004 and 2005, nearly 149,000 people came through the museum. Attendance is projected to reach 250,000 this year.
Interactive and ExperimentalArmstrong notes that there is a strong effort to make the International seem like an ongoing part of culture itself. A variety of events are planned around the International, including educational programs, lectures, gallery talks, performances, and even a monthly book club. Armstrong notes that Curator Douglas Fogle has convinced the artists to be involved, something which Armstrong good-naturedly calls "the proper and interesting way to exploit the artists."
Opportunities to engage people in the experience of the International are everywhere, from artist Doug Aitken's movie that will be projected on the front and rear facades of the museum, to the
website which gives people an opportunity
to get involved through blogging. Armstrong says that these components give the show an experimental approach that he hopes will draw people in and invite them to share their own thoughts and feedback. "This show will be extremely extroverted," he says.
In his Curator's Statement, Fogle explains that the artists in the exhibition forego any universal answers to the question of what it means to be human. Instead, he writes, they "investigate particular aspects of the human condition….The question, 'Is there life on Mars?' is a rhetorical one…. Rather than a literal search for extraterrestrial intelligence, this question might be seen as a metaphorical quest to explore what it means to be human in this radically unmoored world."
While Pittsburgh is fortunate to have many venues where local artists can show their work, says Armstrong, the Carnegie is committed to bringing an international perspective to the city. And with this International, the perspective is about as "universal" as it can get.
Go and see for yourself. You must experience it and once is not enough.
Jennifer McGuiggan, a freelance writer and editor, is the owner of
The Word Cellar . Editor Tracy Certo contributed in a small way to this article after visiting during the media preview.
Captions:
Doug Aitken American, b. 1968 Migration (still), 2008 4-projection outdoor
video installation, dimensions variable. Courtesy 303 Gallery,
New York; Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zürich; Victoria Miro Gallery, London; and
Regen Projects, Los Angeles
Barry McGee American, b. 1966 Untitled,
2008 (detail) mixed media, dimensions variable. Courtesy the artist; Deitch Projects, New
York; and Stuart Shave/Modern Art, London.
Commissioned by 2008 Carnegie International, Carnegie Museum of
Art, Pittsburgh
Douglas Fogle, courtesy CMoA
Ranjani Shettar Indian, b. 1977 Just
a bit more, 2006, hand-molded beeswax, pigments, and thread dyed in tea, 432
x 288 x 144 in. (1097.3 x 731.5 x 365.8 cm).
Courtesy of the artist and Talwar Gallery, New York/New Delhi