There's an article called "Inside the Market" that asks a series of questions to various art advisors and looks very interesting and also very different from the articles and reviews I've written about in previous journal entries. I've also come across an article called "Measuring the Universe", which is an interview with artist Roman Ondak. I'm going to do another flip through, but I think I will be coming back to this interview to read it and then write about it because the photograph on the first page of the article is very intriguing.
Roman Ondak, Measuring the Universe, 2007And I've come back to the interview with Roman Ondak, a Slovakian artist who lives and works in Bratislava. The image above is a photograph of Ondak's performance piece, Measuring the Universe, that was shown at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2007. Ondak reveals in the interview that the performance began with the very first measurement and that it concluded when the last visitor was measured. The interviewer, Klaus Biesenbach, states that MoMA had Measuring the Universe for twelve weeks and sees anywhere from 5,000 to 20,000 visitors each day, each of whom may be measured and become part of Ondak's piece. This prompts Ondak to talk about the various cultural and architectural influences on Measuring the Universe. For example, this piece showed for the same amount of time at the MoMA in New York and at the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, but Ondak believes that each space had factors working in its favor in different ways. Whereas the room in the museum in Munich was four times larger than the room in the MoMA, the MoMA was more likely to see more visitors because of its location in New York City. The various factors that influence how many people see Measuring the Universe and get measured affect the performance aspect of the piece.
Ondak goes on to discuss the fact that he takes the tradition of recording children's heights on the wall into a public event. He calls the exhibition room "a container of the 'here and now'", and believes that this piece reveals the existence of "an invisible potential to transform the presence of people into a physical object." Clearly, this work relies heavily on viewer participation, which seems to be a theme across his art, especially when considering Measuring the Universe (2007) in relation to More Silent Than Ever (2006), an empty gallery with a label on the wall saying that there was a hidden eavesdropping device in the gallery. No one, except for Ondak himself, knows whether or not there really was an eavesdropping device in the gallery, but he says that the act of expecting and wondering about the presence of the eavesdropping device is already indicative of participation.
Roman Ondak, More Silent Than Ever, 2006
I can imagine being in that gallery, perhaps by myself or perhaps among a crowd of many people. And whether we'd like to admit it or not, we'd all be thinking about the words coming from our mouths, and what is "okay" to say. However, if we end up speaking or choose to remain silent, we are all influenced by the piece and participating in line with the influence. It's very interesting to think about.
The interviewer, Biesenbach, goes on to discuss several other works by Ondak, and concludes with Teaching to Walk (2002), a piece in which a mother brings her one-year-old child into the gallery and teaches him how to walk, how to make his first steps. Ondak made this work with the concepts of intimacy and unpredictability in mind. The instant in which a child takes his or her first steps is a very intimate moment, yet simultaneously a very unpredictable moment because of the child's age. This notion of unpredictability clearly creates an impact on the aspect of performance in the piece.
Roman Ondak, Teaching to Walk, 2002
Ondak goes on to discuss the fact that he takes the tradition of recording children's heights on the wall into a public event. He calls the exhibition room "a container of the 'here and now'", and believes that this piece reveals the existence of "an invisible potential to transform the presence of people into a physical object." Clearly, this work relies heavily on viewer participation, which seems to be a theme across his art, especially when considering Measuring the Universe (2007) in relation to More Silent Than Ever (2006), an empty gallery with a label on the wall saying that there was a hidden eavesdropping device in the gallery. No one, except for Ondak himself, knows whether or not there really was an eavesdropping device in the gallery, but he says that the act of expecting and wondering about the presence of the eavesdropping device is already indicative of participation.
Roman Ondak, More Silent Than Ever, 2006I can imagine being in that gallery, perhaps by myself or perhaps among a crowd of many people. And whether we'd like to admit it or not, we'd all be thinking about the words coming from our mouths, and what is "okay" to say. However, if we end up speaking or choose to remain silent, we are all influenced by the piece and participating in line with the influence. It's very interesting to think about.
The interviewer, Biesenbach, goes on to discuss several other works by Ondak, and concludes with Teaching to Walk (2002), a piece in which a mother brings her one-year-old child into the gallery and teaches him how to walk, how to make his first steps. Ondak made this work with the concepts of intimacy and unpredictability in mind. The instant in which a child takes his or her first steps is a very intimate moment, yet simultaneously a very unpredictable moment because of the child's age. This notion of unpredictability clearly creates an impact on the aspect of performance in the piece.
Roman Ondak, Teaching to Walk, 2002Overall, I've very much enjoyed reading this interview and considering the aspect of performance and viewer participation in contemporary art. Hopefully someday I'll be able to see an exhibit of Ondak's work and be measured on his work, Measuring the Universe, becoming part of the art itself.
Biesenbach, Klaus. "Measuring the Universe [Interview with Roman Ondak]." Flash Art 62 (2009): 78-81.
Biesenbach, Klaus. "Measuring the Universe [Interview with Roman Ondak]." Flash Art 62 (2009): 78-81.
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