[posted at artforum/talkback 2003.03.05 16:23]
PUMPKIN ART
The public opening of the Jonathan Borofsky exhibit at the Philadelphia
Museum of Art was 6 October 1984. A picture of Borofsky with numbers all
over his face was on the cover of THE PHILADELPHIA SUNDAY INQUIRER MAGAZINE
the same day. Thus informed I went to the exhibition that afternoon and
found it magnificent, and that was before I became a part of it.
After a number of 'standard' galleries displaying Borofsky's works, the
exhibition culminated in a very large, double height room within which
Borofsky manifest an installation. There were selected works all over the
place, photocopies calling for nuclear disarmament all over the floor, and
even a ping-pong table with a sign inviting museum visitors to play.
An old woman was sitting on the only chair in the room, a metal folding
chair next to a folding work table that looked as though Borofsky had simply
left them there after he was finished. I waited for the woman to get up so I
could sit there and observe all the reactions of 'shock' exhibited by all
the other exhibition visitors.
After sitting there for a few minutes, another older woman came up to me and
asked, "You're the artist, aren't you?" I told her I wasn't, but she wasn't
convinced. "Well, you're dressed the same as that figure of the artist up
there hanging from the ceiling." It is true that both I and the figure of
Borofsky "flying" over the room were wearing blue jeans and a red sweater. I
was also wearing my beloved John Deere cap, however. Suddenly, I got an
idea.
On the table next to me was a pumpkin and a roll of masking tape. I started
tearing off pieces of the tape and started giving the pumpkin eyes, a nose,
and a mouth. Then I gave the pumpkin crazy hair standing on end with longer
pieces of tape. A crowd started to gather around. "Are you part of the
exhibit?" "I am now." Other questions were also entertained. Then a big
bouncer of a museum guard came up and asked, "Were you told to do that?!?" I
crossed my eyes and answered, "He made me do it." Then the guard's look
changed from perplexed to angry, so I stood up and whispered to the guard
that I did not intent to cause any trouble, and I will gladly leave the
exhibit if he escorts me out. The guard obliged and told me I could stay in
the rest of the museum, but "Please don't touch anything."
http://www.museumpeace.com/temp/19841006.jpg
When I returned to the Borofsky exhibit toward the end of its run the
pumpkin and the roll of tape were no longer there.
PUMPKIN ART
The public opening of the Jonathan Borofsky exhibit at the Philadelphia
Museum of Art was 6 October 1984. A picture of Borofsky with numbers all
over his face was on the cover of THE PHILADELPHIA SUNDAY INQUIRER MAGAZINE
the same day. Thus informed I went to the exhibition that afternoon and
found it magnificent, and that was before I became a part of it.
After a number of 'standard' galleries displaying Borofsky's works, the
exhibition culminated in a very large, double height room within which
Borofsky manifest an installation. There were selected works all over the
place, photocopies calling for nuclear disarmament all over the floor, and
even a ping-pong table with a sign inviting museum visitors to play.
An old woman was sitting on the only chair in the room, a metal folding
chair next to a folding work table that looked as though Borofsky had simply
left them there after he was finished. I waited for the woman to get up so I
could sit there and observe all the reactions of 'shock' exhibited by all
the other exhibition visitors.
After sitting there for a few minutes, another older woman came up to me and
asked, "You're the artist, aren't you?" I told her I wasn't, but she wasn't
convinced. "Well, you're dressed the same as that figure of the artist up
there hanging from the ceiling." It is true that both I and the figure of
Borofsky "flying" over the room were wearing blue jeans and a red sweater. I
was also wearing my beloved John Deere cap, however. Suddenly, I got an
idea.
On the table next to me was a pumpkin and a roll of masking tape. I started
tearing off pieces of the tape and started giving the pumpkin eyes, a nose,
and a mouth. Then I gave the pumpkin crazy hair standing on end with longer
pieces of tape. A crowd started to gather around. "Are you part of the
exhibit?" "I am now." Other questions were also entertained. Then a big
bouncer of a museum guard came up and asked, "Were you told to do that?!?" I
crossed my eyes and answered, "He made me do it." Then the guard's look
changed from perplexed to angry, so I stood up and whispered to the guard
that I did not intent to cause any trouble, and I will gladly leave the
exhibit if he escorts me out. The guard obliged and told me I could stay in
the rest of the museum, but "Please don't touch anything."
http://www.museumpeace.com/temp/19841006.jpg
When I returned to the Borofsky exhibit toward the end of its run the
pumpkin and the roll of tape were no longer there.