Essay

ArtsPiece: Place and the Wonderments of

Wonder

The Wonderments of WonderWonder

A Tour of the Renwick Gallery's WONDER exhibit

A visual tour of the Wonder exhibit

I came across a really interesting critical review of an exhibit at the Renwick Gallery (http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/archive/2015/wonder/) in Washington, DC that was on view during the summer of 2016. Some of you might be traveling in the DC area during summer and, if so, you might want to visit the city to take in some of the many different museums and monuments. The Renwick is just one of dozens of interesting places that have numerous enticements to stop and spend some time.

The Wonder exhibit marked the reopening of the Renwick Gallery after a two-year closure for renovations. In celebration, the entire gallery was transformed into an "immersive" gallery for Wonder, which featured the work of nine contemporary artists. The artists include Chakaia Booker, Tara Donovan, Maya Lin, John Grade, and John Grade, were permitted to "takeover" different galleries to create "site- specific installations inspired by the Renwick." The Gallery became, in effect, a "larger-than-life work of art." Source: http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/archive/2015/wonder/ (http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/archive/2015/wonder/)

Maya Lin (http://www.mayalin.com/) is, perhaps, the most well known artist whose work was featured in the exhibit and many of you might be familiar with her as the designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memoria (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_Veterans_Memorial) l. Lin is an architect, designer, and

Memoria (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_Veterans_Memorial) l. Lin is an architect, designer, and sculptor known widely for her landscape art. Since the design of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (while she was a student at Yale University), Lin has firmly established herself as a noted designer of art that explores the interconnections of space and people and the significance of space to people. Her landscape art frequently addresses the emotions that people feel and assign to particular spaces. The video below is a short interview conducted with the artist about her work for the Wonder exhibit.

Maya Lin Interview for WONDER at the Renwick Gallery

Maya Lin interview for the Wonder exhibit.

The excerpt below provides a general introduction to the exhibit and is taken from an article NPR (http://www.npr.org/) news:

When you were a little kid, everyday objects could be amazing — twigs, bugs, old tires, there was potential in everything. And it's that sense of awe that the Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery is trying to recapture in its new show, Wonder (http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/archive/2015/wonder/) .

In the Renwick's newly renovated gallery in Washington, D.C., nine artists were each given free rein over a space to create inspiring installations. Tara Donovan used hundreds of thousands of index cards to create a mountain range. Gabriel Dawe made a rainbow out of some 60 miles of colored thread. Patrick Dougherty turned sticks into giant, swirling nests.

In the Renwick's newly renovated gallery in Washington, D.C., nine artists were each given free rein over a space to create inspiring installations. Tara Donovan used hundreds of thousands of index cards to create a mountain range. Gabriel Dawe made a rainbow out of some 60 miles of colored thread. Patrick Dougherty turned sticks into giant, swirling nests.

You can read the complete article here: http://www.npr.org/2015/11/13/455751386/this-art-exhibit- makes-you-wonder-and-thats-the-whole-point (http://www.npr.org/2015/11/13/455751386/this-art- exhibit-makes-you-wonder-and-thats-the-whole-point) .

You may have thought you used mountains of index cards while working on school research papers, but

You may have thought you used mountains of index cards while working on school research papers, but (in the image below), artist Tara Donovan (http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/artist- tara-donovan-turns-index-cards-towering-looming-spires-180957053/?no-ist) shows us what mountains of index cards actually look like in her installation for the "Wonder" exhibit.

Donovan

Ron Blunt/Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Donovan is well known for her use of everyday and often disposable objects in her art. The artist creates works and installations that transform how we see objects like the index cards (above) but also mundane things like paper cups, straws, and (even) toys like Slinkys. The videos below provides us glimpses into the artist's thinking and processes.

KETC | Living St. Louis | Tara Donovan

KETC, LIVING ST. LOUIS Producer Jim Kirchherr meets Tara Donovan during her visit to the St. Louis Art Museum

Tara Donovan Interview: Sculpting Everyday Materials

Tara Donovan Interview: Sculpting Everyday Materials