Whose Space? Our Space!
An unusual rotation is taking place in the Museum Store, one that re-imagines space and meaning, collaboration and inspiration, politics and culture. It all sounds rather weighty and intellectual, but in fact is the start of a really good time culminating in our next MATCHA on Thursday, July 26. Thanks to Space Bi, Bay Area artists will be Taking Up Space.
Space Bi functions as an artist’s collective and unauthorized contemporary art space within the museum, serving up sharp institutional and cultural critique. Exhibitions are fleeting, recorded only on their website, and occasionally involve purposeful running amok on the Museum’s front steps (full disclosure: this writer collaborated on a project with Space Bi, and is completely biased toward the general brilliance of the artists involved).
Online galleries are all well and good, but what if you’re craving something a little more tangible? You’ll want to be here for the next MATCHA curated by Space Bi’s Director/Unpaid Intern, Imin Yeh, featuring a “gallery” of mini solos in the Museum Store’s windows. Word on the street is there may even be a docent tour of the installation.
We take our mission in the Museum Store fairly seriously, extending the gallery experience and drawing connections. Yes, you can buy cool stuff to take home as a reminder of your visit, but you’re also going to learn something, find the work of a new artist, and hopefully be rewarded with a complete experience. Space Bi’s project offers another facet of collaboration, keeping true to Phantoms of Asia‘s promise to bring something truly new to the Asian Art Museum.
If you can’t wait until July 26th to see what this artist-made intervention looks like, drop by—Space Bi artists may be taking over the entire museum for one night only, but they already have pride of place in the Museum Store. Vinyl has been installed, the art has been merchandised, and conversations are happening. Lines will be blurred, erased, redrawn. Purchasing art makes the buyer complicit in the plot.
