MACRO Fall 2010
MACRO via Reggio Emilia
October 26, 2010 - February 6, 2011
www.en.macro.roma.museum


By Monet McCord

Unlike its sister museum, it appears that MACRO in via Reggio Emilia does not have a unifying theme for the works of art currently on display.  The museum hosts a number of shows that as part of the museum’s Fall 2010 show.  There are various works by various artists with no available curator or mediator at the time of the visit.  However, there are handouts at some art pieces that provide a review/interpretation by the curator.   For example, “Roommates/ Coinquilini” by artists Carola Bonfili and Luana Perilli curated by Ilaria Gianni and Gabriele Gaspari respectively. 

The museum is located in a residential neighborhood with a few shops and stores near by.  It only stands out from the other buildings because it had a huge banner outside in the center that says “MACRO”.  The façade of the building is ancient Rome in décor but once entered, the spectator is then transformed into the twenty-first century and possibly beyond.  Most of the museum is glass, including the elevator walls, which allows the viewer to some art on the walls as they travel up and down the museum to see the exhibitions.  Although there is no direct theme coined by the museum for the different shows, it appears that they were all created for the space in which they were to be placed inside of this museum.

The main hall of the museum is the first work of art encountered by the spectator, which was created by Nicola Carrino specifically for this space.  It is stated that this art piece was created to welcome the visitor into the museum.  It was not until I received a map of the museum that I realized that this work was on display; I originally thought it was just a part of the museum normal decoration.  This was accomplished because the artist did design it specifically for this location, so it was not like most art that is just placed in a museum and viewed; it was created in this space.  The concept of creating works for specific location adds a new and different perspective to art.  The viewer does not have to wonder about its original context or where it was meant to be, the art work in these cases were meant to be viewed exactly where they were created, inside of this museum.

Nico Vascellari was able to capture the spectator’s attention with his artwork “Blonde” that can be seen on the curved walls of the museums, near the staircase.  Normally spectators just go in and out of rooms to view works of art, but now as they are transferring from one room to another or floor-to-floor they also encounter art.  Again, not art that appears to be just placed inside of a museum but art that is apart of the museum.

I am not sure if this museum originally had a theater type room, but the works created by Carola Bonifili and Luana Perilli were a perfect fit to compliment each other in this space.  As the viewer walks into this theater space they can choose to go the left or the right and before entering the theater they have access to the “backstage” of the video production of the film that is to be viewed.  But after careful analysis the viewer realizes that all the video screens do not come together or individually to play the film that is being seen on the screen in the room.  The many television screens with abstracted views of everyday actions and objects are a work of their own by Bonifili titled “Kipplelake”.  After stepping out of the “video production” room the viewer realizes that they were actually under the staircase, which could have been used to view the film on the screen, which is another work of art by artist Luana Perilli.  The film title is “The Man of the Season (in loving memory of loving memories).”  The spectator may try and find some connection between the two art works but it appears that the film and television screen shots are only connected through the space in which they were placed.

When I first entered the museum and looked for the map of the museum and exhibition I was looking for a theme that connected the works of art.  All I got was instead was “MACRO, Fall 2010 Exhibition”.  This lead me to believe that it would just be random works placed inside of random rooms at the museum.  After walking through the museum, one can conclude that some of art was created for a certain location in the museum, while others were placed where they complemented the space.  By not having a known theme that is threaded through all the works, the museum itself is acting as contemporary art; allowing the viewer to finish the work and include his or her own interpretation and ideas, not always being told what the artist wanted the spectator to receive from the art work.  In this way the museum does have a theme for the works of art on display; function of space with an underlying tone of the freedom viewing, that is allowing the spectator to interpret and complete the works of art themselves.