Namita Gupta Wiggers (Lecture Response)

Quotation

"Step away from the white cube."

Namita Gupta Wiggers used this quote to describe her intention when approaching "curation." When choreographing an exhibit, Wiggers attempts to showcase the work as well as engage the audience as strategically as possible, and sometimes, this means stepping away from the typical white box gallery structure. Wiggers has takes an interesting approach when addressing retrospectives as well as interactive exhibitions. The effects of these exhibitions often extend past the boundaries of the museum in which they are showcased.


3 Words

Engage
Involve
Innovate


About Namita Gupta Wiggers

One of the things I found out that I did not already know before the lecture this afternoon involves Wiggers personally as well as the profession of curating. Wiggers spoke of an exhibit she curated displaying influential American craft. Instead of taking the typical chronological approach, Wiggers approached the exhibit from a more personal point of view, she said, because she could not necessarily relate to that "norm", being an immigrant to the country herself. Therefore, Wiggers choreographed the exhibition around a multicultural theme to showcase the work according to a viewpoint she can envision personally. I was not aware of the extent of personalization a curator could have, especially in terms of something which seems so easy to place into a chronological structure. I was pleasantly surprised at the level of creativity this profession involves in general, because it was not something I had been lectured on before today.


Answers to Questions

1) My first question involved the profession of curating, and some of the ups and downs of the industry. Wiggers definitely answered this question throughout the lecture. For example, she said, "The power of museums is in making academic conversations available to the community." I think this is the major reason to want to curate in the first place. Wiggers did comment many times about the limits of curating, because of traditions which have been put in place and difficult to break from. However, it seems, from her lecture, Wiggers is breaking those traditions and replacing them with a more innovative approach to connecting the audience with great art.

2) My second question was a little more vague and not something Wiggers necessarily covered. However, she placed a lot of emphasis on looking at the way people are learning in contemporary culture. Apprenticeships are being replaced with youtube tutorials and fine art is being sold through online communities. These types of media are really important for a curator to know about and utilize when deciding how to connect people with art.


Compelling Piece

I thought the most compelling exhibit Wiggers spoke about curating in her lecture was "Transference," by Andy Paiko and Ethan Rose. Her approach to curating this work was by "asking the questions we are trying to ask" for each exhibition. These preconceived questions determined the arrangement of the exhibition, which was, in fact, a success. The piece involved inverted glass bowls hung from a wall with an attached musical appendage, controlled by computers in the wall. The result was literally, a musical composition.