things are well under way with the newest project from mica's exhibition development seminar: beyond the compass, beyond the square. something that could not have been anticipated: all the controversy surrounding the enclosing of mt. vernon place, the exhibition site, with 7 foot tall gold chain link fence as art. reading the conversation on local blogs, the baltimore sun website, and the artists website (goldchainlinkfence.com) has been fascinating.
i'm on the fence (pun coincidental) about this one. i'm for an art that shakes things up and changes perceptions. but i'm also for art that makes a positive impact. and this is temporary. years from now, baltimore will maybe remember the hype, and this mica kid will probably be showing in a chelsea gallery. he's getting what he wanted. (except for, i would assume, the being called hitler or getting spit at part.) imagine, though, if he had decided to max out his credit card on improving another area park. could it still be art?
meanwhile, adjacent to this mt. vernon installation in the walters, there is a true display of inspiring community art as part of the maps exhibition and larger baltimore festival of maps. a project called "maps on purpose" (done with a community art based baltimore organization called "art art on purpose.") asked different communities to become engaged in a process of mapping their communities. the result is a special exhibition in a small gallery space that showcases the neighborhood creations, changing every 4 to 5 days to fit all of the places and pieces in. the best part for me was seeing a definition of community art in a gallery space. that was exactly what 100+ community artists were struggling to pinpoint throughout the whole community arts convening. and there it was in wall text, the essence of it all, joseph beuy's philosophy, "everyone an artist."
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