Fowler Museum

"Dancer"

For my last event visit I decided to stay close to home and visit the Making Strange exhibit at the Fowler Museum that I have seen so many advertisements about on campus. When I first got there the museum was very quiet and I soon realized I was the only visitor! It was nice to explore its entirety on my own and not feel like I had to rush from piece to piece to accommodate other observers.

The actual Making Strange exhibit was a bit jarring on first entry. It was dimly lit with many oddly dressed mannequins around and a man’s voice was playing in the back corner in a sort of eerie tone. Mannequins have always scared me a little bit but after looking at a few of them I began to understand Vivan Sundaram’s intentions with Gagawaka. Her structural garments made of recycled material were stunning and very Avant guard. I quickly moved on to Postmortem because it seemed the more scientific of the two exhibits.

"Second Spine"

The Postmortem portion of the exhibit was comprised of many different mannequins, tailor dummies, anatomical models, and wooden props. The way each structure was put together was a bit crude and represented the human body in a bit more disquieting way than a typical mannequin. One piece of a dancer combined a mannequin, clothing from Gagawaka, and an anatomical breast in a way that was quite disturbing. It showed the rawness of humans when you peel back their layers.

My favorite piece was a simple dressform combined with the spine of a skeleton model. To me it felt as though it was exposing a more human, emotional center of something or someone who was very closed off. This piece is most definitely about discovering something below the surface and getting to know someone on a deeper level.

"Large and Small Shelf Objects"

Sundaram’s integration of different types of anatomical models together was quite beautiful. He combined hands with skulls and spines and recreated parts of the human form with other parts of the body. The manipulation of anatomical models in this exhibit is masterful and immediately connects the viewers to the art, because it is almost a representation of themselves. Overall I don't think it was the most scientific exhibit I have seen, but I enjoyed the pieces very much.

Me in the Center Court Yard of Fowler