Art behind art

 

What makes a great exhibition? What a strange question, you may say, great art does. But what if I’ll ask you to name a couple more things? Then large collection, good light, spacious halls and informational resources would be listed. Yes, you can look at The Mona Lisa standing in a crowd, being pushed from all the sides and blinded by flashes, you’ll probably see her quite close if you’re lucky – but will you be able to enjoy? I don’t think so.

So, the gem of art needs a good frame. This frame consists of proper placing of art objects, choosing the light that would show all their beauty but wouldn’t bring any damage, providing media materials, even setting up the right temperature! A whole team of invisible helpers: architects, designers, multimedia specialists, works hard to reveal the art at its best to the world. Their fresh ideas and professionalism change our vision of the most common, almost boring things, like food, objects from the past or things that are so ethereal that we rarely find time to think of them.

Yulia Alushina is a founder of a design bureau Museum Architect in St. Petersburg, Russia. Within her first ten years in museum design she worked on three large projects: The Third Battlefield of Russia, media exposition about the history of Smolny Institute and Museum of Armored Vehicles.

The Third Battlefield of Russia is a part of a large historical complex in Prokhorovka, Russia, built in memory of the great tank battle in 1943 when several thousand Soviet and German soldiers were killed. Despite the lack of funding, Yulia was able to show different edges of the bitter story of The Second World War, from the peaceful interiors of early 1940-ies to the days of Nazi occupation. The exposition tells not only about the combats, but also about the Soviet women who sacrificed so much in the name of the victory. They supported the soldiers with letters full of love and courage, they worked in fields and at the factories, and they served as nurses, radio operators, pilots and snipers.

Smolny Institute of Noble Maidens was a finishing school for young women established in XVIII century in St. Petersburg, Russia. Nowadays this type of educational institutions is often criticized because of the program focused on morality, languages, etiquette and housekeeping. However, that was the first institute for women not only in Russia, but in the whole Europe. Both noble and common girls could study there, there were opportunities of free and paid education.  Catherine the Great was a fan of progressive ideas of French and English philosophers and wanted to bring up a new generation of intellectual people with high moral standards. Smolny Institute was the first of more than 30 institutions for women opened across Russia by the XIX century.

Yulia Alushina created a small but elegant exposition illustrating the modest and sublime atmosphere of this place.

Museum of Armored Vehicles tells a story of military machinery from chariots to modern tanks. Yulia made the whole museum project herself. She brought new multimedia tools to the topics of war and history: animated tank model, 3D video, animated shadows and synchronized audio guide. The museum is going to add even more media, for example, animated floor for children. Besides the models of armored vehicles visitors can see a detailed model of the famous Soviet heavy machinery production facility Uralmash that produced legendary T-34 tanks and assault guns. Yulia says that the main goal was to make the museum interesting for the younger generations.

Bring your art out of closet and put it on display...where?

The last several months have been a truly dark time. But there is a tiny light spot in it – a lot of people got more time for their hobbies, or works they always wanted to finish, or some even got inspired by these macabre - but unique conditions. And by the moment some artists may have quite a nice set of works and believe that they deserve to be displayed.

Of course, MoMA, The Met and Whitney are great places for an exhibition, but maybe you don’t feel confident enough to contact them, or negotiating in English is a challenge for you, or you see art just as your hobby – don’t worry, there still are ways for you. 

How about a local library since they're reopened? They are very likely to be delighted to have your works! Prepare some portfolio – make pictures of your works or bring a couple of them with you. Also be ready to introduce yourself. Prepare a short, but saturated "marketing pitch". Think of including the following:

1) You name and where you live - to highlight that you're a part of the neighborhood 

2) What kind of art you do - painting, sculpture, literature, pottery etc. Keep in mind that libraries can't host any kind of group meetings now, so they can put your poem on the wall but you can't do public readings

3) Why your works are important for the community. Maybe they reflect your experience, maybe they're portraying the life in your neighborhood, maybe they were inspired by something related to Brooklyn. What knowledge or experience does it reflect? What's the story behind your works? And - the most important - who are your works for? Who can be interested or benefit from them?

Don’t make your presentation too long – librarians are busy and they may not be able to listen to you all day long. 5-7 minutes is enough for the introduction. Also, keep in mind that the library supervisor may be out of office and you may need to come next day.

A library is not a place where you can make money. You can display your works for free and neither you, nor the library will get any profit from it. But you’ll have the audience! To make sure that you’ll get maximum attention check several libraries nearby – some of them may be much busier than the others.

If your works contain nudity or violence, a library is not the best place for it. But it doesn’t mean that they’re doomed to stay in your closet. Check various neighborhood institutions: bars, stores, community centers, even yoga studios! Find something corresponding with your aesthetics and don’t be shy. Follow the same logic – portfolio and a brief, but energetic and persuasive self-presentation.

So, no matter if you are a young artist finding his or her way in New York or you’re just a community member who wants to share his/her emotions and experience, there are easy ways to be seen and heard. Yes, a library or a pub may seem less appealing than a fancy gallery, but it’s a great place for your first step. And you know, big art experts borrow books too.