crumpled paper

neuberger museum of art elevator!

I took my class to the Neuberger Museum of Art the other day for a tour of the permanent collection given by one of their wonderful docents.  After, they were on their own to walk through the special exhibit titled Living with Art: Collecting Contemporary In Metro New York.  This exhibit is pretty cool because it is all works of art that are owned by people in the area where we live.  By giving us a glimpse of their personal collections, we almost become voyeurs as we look at what is usually displayed and viewed within the privacy of their own homes.

When we got back to the classroom, one of the students noted of a very contemporary piece, "we don't understand why crumpled paper is art".  This sparked a long, but good conversation with the students about "what and why art is art".  The art in question, was indeed a crumpled up piece of legal paper, inside a plexiglas box, on a white piece of wood.  I mentioned to my students that often times when I see work by an artist that I like, or creates curiosity, or causes me to question, or even arouses dislike, I often write the artist's name down, and later research the artist for more information.  Of course a photograph of the art would be helpful as well, but many museums, including the Neu, do not allow photo taking.  

Artist/Work I googled:
Martin Creed - British artist born 1968
Work of art on view art on view at the Neu - 
Work No. 652: A Sheet of paper crumpled into a ball, 2007

The MOMA has one that is very similar...That is where I got the image below.

work no. 301: a sheet of paper crumpled into a ball

For more information on Martin Creed, check out his website....He's a pretty cool guy, with lots going on.  Crumpled paper is just the start :)