Week 1 Retrospective

Upon entering the fourth floor of the Hirshhorn Museum, home to all administrative offices, library, and conference rooms, I was met by five beautifully framed, spaced, and vivid images from Michael Barney’s most recent work, Drawing Restraint 9. Many know Barney as “Mr. Björk” for his relationship to the quirky Icelandic songstress (they have a daughter, Isadora, together), but within the art world, he is regarded as one of the most eminent and important artists of the past 20 years. Known for his experimental pieces that focus on intense imagery, thought-provoking subject matter, and expansive theatricality, Barney has created a following of teenage hipsters, aspiring college art students, twentysomething bohemians and modern art snobs. I made a remark to my supervisor in regards to the arresting photo stills on the wall, and she replied to tell me that I would have the special chance to attend an exclusive lecture Barney was giving on Wednesday. Disbelief, incredible anticipation and excitement met me in a rush as soon as I heard this—I, someone who knew him only peripherally from his film output (although, these are among his most critically acclaimed pieces) would have the astonishing chance to attend the Hirshhorn’s renowned Meet the Artist Matthew Barney lecture. This was only the beginning of a first day that I never expected and one that didn’t fail to overwhelm and excite me throughout the entire time.
We spent the first couple hours discussing logistics, impending projects, hours, and basically slowly helping me acclimate to the office. I received a whirlwind tour of everything behind the scenes at the Hirshhorn, from the copy room to the storage area for the majority of the Museum’s collection not on view. I met most of the small fifty person staff, and promptly forgot their names within minutes of meeting them. My supervisor, Gabriel, and I then headed off to lunch and spent the time discussing family history and views on the role of Marketing in the commercial world. I felt quite comfortable around Gabriel from the beginning—her enthusiasm and fervor was palpable, and I soon found myself feeding off of her energy.
Upon returning to the office, Gabriel whisked off to a meeting and I was left with my first job as an intern at the Hirshhorn Museum—I was sent off to familiarize myself with the Museum’s collection. Descending to the third floor, I exited the elevator and walked into a large, open room that housed Alexander Calder sculpture, structuralist paintings from the 1930’s, and cardstock relief art. To say I was overwhelmed with this first task is quite an understatement; rather, I had no idea where to begin. My tools at analyzing, understanding, and evaluating modern and contemporary art were incredibly dull and not very useful—instead, I was forced to rely on simply taking in the color schemes, textures, lines, artistic mechanisms, and all around general characteristics of each piece. Because I couldn’t yet really associate clout to too many names that I passed, I relied on how each piece made me feel. I had to rely on my visceral reaction to these works to begin building a relationship with the Museum’s collection. I did not yet know that Clyfford Still’s usage of texture, paint levels, and color was meant to respond to Nietzsche philosophy and thereby evoke a sense of primal symbolism. Even so, I was mesmerized by the sheer power and beauty of the collection.
One of the biggest tasks for this coming semester is going to be acquiring, building and understanding the contemporary art and aesthetic vernacular. Coming into this experience with little background in modern and contemporary works, everyday represents a new opportunity to learn a little bit more about art, current artists, exhibitions, art history, fashion, marketing, public sentiment, and human emotion. Part of my homework for my internship at the Hirshhorn has been reading art and fashion magazines, such as ARTnews, Art in America, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Interior Design, and the New Yorker. I’ve read pieces on the influx of floral prints in spring lines, upscale couture, gallery openings, reviews of recent exhibitions, the chic nature of certain types of handbags, the Iraqi War, medical ethics, Henry Moore sculpture, art policy, and Ian McEwan’s latest work of fiction. I’ve been asked to read Peter Plagen’s recent editorial on the lack of authentic art criticism in current mass media. I’ve poured over pages separated by Dior, Calvin Klein, Marc Jacobs and Valentino ads, rife with gorgeous photography, breathtaking models, and awe-inspiring fashion collections. I’m slowly developing my vocabulary, and I couldn’t be having more fun doing it.
I’ve certainly had my share of menial, low-level intern-quality jobs to do over the past week. I’ve become quite close to the copy machine, and I’m learning the intricacies of the phone system. I’m responsible for updating and maintaining the Hirshhorn’s MySpace page (http://www.myspace.com/hirshhornmuseum), and I enter in all the contact information from the cards signing people up for the Hirshhorn’s online newsletter. But these tasks do not seem as daunting and tedious because they are interspersed with events like the Matthew Barney lecture, gallery visits, art history research, reading books on upcoming exhibitions, talking to co-workers, or spending time listening to archived podcasts from previous lectures. I’ve thrown myself head first into the contemporary art world, and it is a thrilling place to be. Gabriel and I have a really massive and important presentation to give to the Board of Trustees on Tuesday, so tomorrow will be a 12 hour day, full of scanning images, cropping, rearranging, and finalizing a full-color, full text and bound 30-40 page formal book presentation of the past half-year’s press. I can’t believe that I’m already working on things of such import, but I am glad I can simply be of service. There is an energy at the Hirshhorn which is utterly infectious—I’ve never felt as compelled by art and its implications before, and I am invigorated by a desire to wake up in the morning and head off to work. I think it’s going to be a really wonderful semester.