LACMA – Giana Medina, Week 1
Dear Diary,
07/05/2022: LACMA has to be the coolest place on Earth. Everyday I come into work, I am met with the famous Urban Lights. Did you know that Urban Lights is the most popular place to take photos in ALL of Los Angeles? Seriously, search up the location on instagram--it's crazy! I see hordes of people at the Urban Lights everyday--whether they are Los Angeles locals or tourists, the Urban Lights are loved by all.
07/06/2022: My self-taught coding skills (although extremely basic) have become my life saver this week. One of the tasks I have been assigned as an intern in the Education and Public Programs is a daunting one--updating the Docent Website. My job is to transport information from the Google Drive (THOUSANDS of documents) onto the website, making information easily accessible for the Docents who will use the website to guide their tours in the future. It is a tiring process but extremely rewarding; the docents appreciate what I am doing and I am picking up a new skill while I am at it. I hope to finish the website before the end of my internship!
Impression of the Alexander McQueen Exhibit:
07/07/2022 and 07/11/2022: On these days, I got the opportunity to explore some of the exhibitions at LACMA! The first one I visited was the Alexander McQueen exhibition that focused on displaying art as its fabric counterpart: fashion. As a self proclaimed fashionista, it was exciting seeing the work of Alexander McQueen—a revered fashion icon—at LACMA. I was not only excited to personally see this exhibit myself, I was excited for the general public to view it as well; high fashion clothing is notoriously inaccessible. Runways are located in European countries and are dedicated for invite-only, wealthy audiences, while the cost of the clothing items themselves include the high price of notoriety on their tags. Considering this, historically underrepresented black and brown populations in Los Angeles do not have access to high end clothing. LACMA, however, closes the gap between high fashion and the general public by exhibiting Alexander McQueen’s work for the public. However, there were some issues. Given that Alexander McQueen was a caucasian male, the subject of some of his designs can be perceived as controversial. For example, on display in McQueen’s exhibition was his version of a traditional Korean dress. This can be problematic when we consider the nature of the fashion industry, and how the lines of appreciation and appropriation are often blurred when money is involved. Shouldn’t traditional garments be depicted in their intended, cultural form, and worn by their respective audiences? These are viewpoints that need to be considered in the fashion industry, and viewpoints that we touched on during Washington Week.
This is my favorite piece from the exhibition (the dress only)!
Impressions of the Barbara Krueger Exhibit:
I enjoyed the gallery pictured below the most; I personally related to it as a woman. The composition of this gallery was very engaging and confrontational; it forced the viewer to reconcile with the fact that women have been historically undermined by men. The implementation of life-sized linear perspective on the floor and walls immerse the viewer into the gallery, drawing them towards and confronting them with the looking glass.
Matt (another intern) and I exploring the exhibition
Impressions of the Portable Universe Exhibit:
The Portable Universe Exhibit which showcased art from Indigenous Colombians. I liked that LACMA brought what would be considered inaccessible to LA County: artifacts from Indigenous Colombia. The exhibit was very informative and cool to experience; one does not often get the opportunity to learn about and view ancient, ritualistic Colombian objects. While perusing through the exhibit, I enjoyed drawing comparisons between Indigenous Colombian artifacts and the objects of other cultures. For example, ancient Mayans and Indigenous Colombians created statues that revolved around fertility and various phallic symbols. Also, it was cool seeing how masks were utilized by both Ancient Africans and Indigenous Colombians in funerary practices. However, The method and purpose of acquiring Indigenous Colombian is ironic; the objects are exhibited to make the culture of Indigenous Colombians more accessible to Los Angeles County, while the objects themselves are inaccessible to the cultural group they were “loaned” from. To add context, during an era of political strife and guerrilla warfare in Colombia, Indigenous Colombian artifacts were stolen from the tribes they belonged to and sold to 3rd party figures by corrupt Colombian officials. LACMA acquired these objects that were loaned from the 3rd party who “owns” them in a European sense, while they culturally belong to Indigenous Colombians. Indigenous Colombians agreed to let the museum keep the artifacts as long as they were exhibited and cared for in a way that respected their culture, but once the exhibit is finished, can cultural/ritualistic items be properly respected from storage? These are questions that frequently popped up in conversation during Washington Week, and is interesting seeing the issue of repatriation at play first hand.
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