Icky nominations out -- VOTE for the UIMA!

The annual Cultural Corridor Innovative Excellence Awards, AKA the "Ickys," are coming up on Jan. 26, and the nominations are out. The UI Museum of Art is up for awards in "Visual Arts Programming" for VOOM PORTRAITS Robert Wilson, the record-breaking contemporary art exhibition of high-definition video portraits housed at the Museum about a year ago. (Click here to read past blog entries on VOOM.) And our lecture by guest artist Daniel Heyman, whose work is on display at the Old Capitol Museum, is up for the "Reaching Out Collaborative Award," which goes to an organization that partners with non-ICCA members for an event.

If you're a voting body, keep us in mind!

-- Maggie Anderson, UIMA Marketing and Media Manager

CSPS VOOM attendance

Just got word on the final tally for attendance over at CSPS: 2,310 people visited the galleries during VOOM. That brings the exhibition's total attendance to 18,192 between the two venues. Pretty darn good! Mel Andringa, producing director for CSPS, adds, "The average daily attendance at the CSPS galleries during the VOOM exhibit was more than double the attendance for any previous show."

Thanks for coming out, everyone.

Deinstallation

VOOM closed Sunday, and everyone here at the Museum is really sad to see it go. When I came to work on Monday morning, half the screens were already packed away! Tuesday the crew went to CSPS in Cedar Rapids to take down their portraits, and then back to the UIMA to finish up a couple things, and then they loaded up the trucks and took the T.V. screens away Wednesday. Isn't it funny how something that took months of planning and detailed outlining to execute properly can be dismantled in mere days?

I'm amazed at how attached I got to seeing Steve Buscemi, Johnny Depp and the others every day after just two months. Even though I didn't look at the entire show every day, it was vaguely reassuring knowing that it was essentially at my fingertips if I wanted to see it. I never did get to sit through the entire Winona Ryder portrait at once; now I'll probably never see it all.

It was wonderful to see the Museum so busy during the run of VOOM. The final tally for attendance came in at 15,882. This closing week alone 3,515 people in to see the show, with 1,143 coming in on Sunday! Quite a week! We hope seeing the Museum transformed gave a little spice to our regular attenders' visits and made those of you who were new curious about what usually hangs on those walls. Be sure to come visit us again to check it out!

-- Maggie Anderson, UIMA Marketing and Media Manager

This VOOM visitor took some cool photos...

There are a couple more on this blog. And remember -- VOOM closes March 30, THIS SUNDAY! Don't miss your chance to see the show!

'It must be nice to disappear...'

This week, a musing on a favorite VOOM portrait by Museum Marketing Manager Maggie Anderson. (A.k.a. me, your blog editor!)

It’s tough to choose a favorite VOOM portrait when I like so many of them for so many different reasons. I like William Pope L., the performance artist-turned-surrealist-Humpty Dumpty with a little Lambchops-like companion that sings “Mary had a little — me!” for it’s sheer absurdity. I like Kool, the snowy owl, for successfully transforming the Museum’s sculpture court, an expansive, echoy space that all too often dwarfs its contents, into a transcendent aviary. I like Johnny Depp — posed as Dada master Marcel Duchamp dressed as his female alter-ego Rrose Sélavy as photographed by Surrealist photographer Man Ray and set to poetry by T.S. Eliot — for its myriad historical layers. The list goes on.

But one portrait does continue to stick out in my mind. This portrait sits contently, tucked away in a corner, waiting patiently while viewers get their celebrity fix with Brad Pitt and Salma Hayek. It waits while ears are drawn to the militant music of Samson, the skunk, or the lively calypso beat of Celine the Briard Dog. This portrait is JT Leroy, a kimono-clad, sunglassed, blond-mop-topped figure leisurely slouched in front of an eggplant-colored backdrop. And while this sitter might not have the star power (I’m guessing most of you have never heard of Leroy) or cutesy appeal of some of the portraits, what Leroy does have is, in my opinion, far better: a really great story.

The first thing you should know about JT Leroy is that there is no JT Leroy. The name is a fake, a pseudonym adopted by American writer Laura Albert. Albert had written for several years under that pen name before using it to publish her first novel, Sarah, in 1999. As readers made connections between the novel’s tale of a 12-year-old boy enduring prostitution and sexual abuse and Leroy’s own, strikingly similar, history, the author’s popularity skyrocketed. Leroy began making public appearances — but, claiming shyness, he always appeared wearing a disguise: blond wig, hat, and sunglasses.

It was very difficult to tell if he was really a he underneath it all. Which was convenient, because he really wasn’t.

In October 2005, the news broke that JT Leroy was actually Laura Albert. And then in January 2006 it was confirmed that the bewigged public figure of JT Leroy wasn’t even Albert; it was her friend Savannah Knoop.

Countless media outlets had been fooled. It was a great literary hoax — or was it? The counterargument ran that Albert was just doing want innumerable authors before her had done: publishing fictional work under a pseudonym. No scandalous fakery there.

But the difficulty seems to arise from the author’s decision to create a faux-persona to go long with her pseudonym, thus creating the opening for many to assume — which they happily did — that her fictional work was autobiographical. Whether you buy that argument and find Albert guilty (and I don’t, particularly in light of recent deceptions that involve authors lying in memoirs, which, unlike fiction, actually do claim to have a basis in reality) the courts did. In June 2007, the writer lost a lawsuit brought by Antidote International Films, which had purchased the rights to Sarah before the Leroy myth was debunked.

Thus the story of JT Leroy is the embodiment of an oxymoron. In it, Albert played both the deceiver and the victim. Her story was a lie and the truth. And the affair rings of the predictable gullibility of the public and the refreshing confrontation of said bodies’ lust for a good true-life story.

And Wilson’s portrait of JT Leroy, shot in 2006, encapsulates perfectly the binary nature of the thing. It’s at once a portrait of a fake — of an author who not only created a literary pseudonym but also physical one — and a genuine article, one of the most convincing characters we’ve seen in a long while. It's simultaneously an illusionary glimpse into a life of a persona, and a very real success of an artwork.

It helps that the portrait is gorgeous. The diagonal posture of the slumped sitter draws the eye into the work, and Wilson's trademark lighting masterfully lights Leroy’s pouting lips and kimono.
This powerful visual is enhanced by Wilson’s chosen sound accompaniment, the Lou Reed song “Vanishing Act.” The thoughtful, delicate rendition of the tune begins “It must be nice to disappear / to have a vanishing act / to always be looking forward / and never be looking back.”

The sunglasses, the slouch, the song — it makes me think of 1960s drug haze, but the good kind, the kind where (or so the movies tell me) senses are heightened, colors are more beautiful, and a person is so incredibly relaxed she might just melt right off the screen.

In addition to being visually pleasing, I think JT Leroy represents one of Wilson’s most successful embodiments of what he’s trying to achieve with his video portraits. It confronts the idea of reality, invokes both historical perspective and a personal story, reflects on the cult of celebrity and pop culture’s pervasiveness, and it makes you question the very purpose of a portrait. All those things are seen to some degree in the other portraits, but they come through here with clarity.

Looking at that androgynous, slumped figure, we have no idea what physical body we’re seeing. Is it Savannah Knoop? Laura Albert? Someone new? One could come away annoyed by the haze surrounding the sitter’s identity in JT Leroy. Or, one could revel in this chance to choose it.

VOOM sets UIMA attendance record

Link to University News Services release online here and text below.
University of Iowa News Release

March 13, 2008

High-def video portraits attract recording-breaking attendances at Museum of Art

Attendance for the current University of Iowa Museum of Art (UIMA) exhibition, "VOOM PORTRAITS Robert Wilson," is on pace to become the best-attended contemporary art exhibition in the museum's history. The show has also set a gallery attendance record at CSPS, a nonprofit arts center in Cedar Rapids, which has four portraits on display.

"VOOM," which opened Feb. 2 and runs through March 30, just completed UIMA's biggest weekend in seven years -- 1,090 people visited the museum Saturday and Sunday -- for a total of 8,126 show visitors in just five weeks. At CSPS, total visitor count to date sits at 1,134, for an exhibition total of 9,260.

"'VOOM PORTRAITS' won't run as long as some of the museum's previous 'blockbuster' exhibitions, such as 'Victorian Fairy Painting' or 'Lure of the West,' but we expect it to challenge their figures by the end of its run," UIMA director Howard Collinson said. "It will certainly be in our top five exhibitions overall for attendance."

"Victorian Fairy Painting," an exhibition organized by the UIMA in conjunction with the Royal Academy of Arts in London, ran from Feb. 28 to May 24, 1998, and drew approximately 25,000 visitors. "Lure of the West," an exhibition of works from the Smithsonian American Art Museum that ran from Jan. 20 to March 18, 2001, drew about 21,400 people. "Lure of the West" also holds the weekend attendance record of 1,938 people on May 17-18, 2001.

Several factors make this large attendance number exciting for the UIMA, Collinson said. First, near record February snowfalls -- the second highest on record, according to the National Weather Service -- led to two weather-related closings of the museum and made travel difficult for many. Yet, resilient visitors trooped through the mess. In addition, weekend attendance continues to rise from week to week, reflecting what Collinson called the show's "word-of-mouth appeal." Finally, "VOOM" occupies all but two of the UIMA's 11 galleries -- or about 22,000 of 26,000 square feet of exhibition space -- making attendance records a more accurate reflection of the show's appeal.

"If they came to the museum during these past eight weeks, they were almost certainly coming for 'VOOM,'" Collinson said.

"VOOM PORTRAITS," an exhibition of high-definition video portraits by epochal avant-garde artist Robert Wilson, was commissioned and produced by VOOM HD Networks, a high-definition television company. The portraits of 33 people and animals, including celebrities like Johnny Depp, Princess Caroline of Monaco, Salma Hayek and Mikhail Baryshnikov, require more than 50 screens and are accompanied by original musical scores.

Most of the portraits are on display throughout the galleries of the UIMA, with a smaller number of portraits at CSPS, 1103 Third St. SE in Cedar Rapids. The exhibition is open to the public free of charge in both venues.

More information on the exhibition can be found at http://www.uiowa.edu/uima/voom/voom.shtml.

"VOOM PORTRAITS Robert Wilson" is presented in Iowa with support from Nancy and Craig Willis, Doug and Linda Paul, Rockwell Collins, Margaret C. Clancy, hotelVetro and conference center, Moengroup, Reference Audio Video Experts, Gazette Publications and KCRG TV.

The UI Museum of Art is located at 150 North Riverside Drive in Iowa City. Regularly scheduled museum hours are noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday; and noon to 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday. Admission is free. See: http://www.uiowa.edu/uima.

CSPS, located at 1103 Third St. SE in Cedar Rapids, is open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Information on CSPS/Legion Arts is available at http://www.legionarts.org/index.htm.

For UI arts information and calendar updates, visit http://www.uiowa.edu/artsiowa. To receive UI arts news by e-mail, go to http://list.uiowa.edu/archives/acr-news.html, click the link "Join or leave the list (or change settings)" and follow the instructions.

PHOTOS from "VOOM PORTRAITS" are available from the Museum of Art. To request photos for publication, contact Maggie Anderson, 319-335-1731, margaret-anderson@uiowa.edu.

STORY SOURCE: University of Iowa Arts Center Relations, 300 Plaza Centre One, Suite 351, Iowa City, IA 52242-2500

MEDIA CONTACTS: Maggie Anderson, Museum of Art, 319-335-1731, margaret-anderson@uiowa.edu; Peter Alexander, Arts Center Relations, 319-384-0072 (office), 319-541-2846 (cell), peter-alexander@uiowa.edu

Another Blog on VOOM

Just a heads up to another happy visitor to the show. Read about it here. And make sure you stop by...just two more weeks before the show closes!

Staff Favorites: Director of Education Dale Fisher on Steve Buscemi's Portrait and Why Clean Jokes Aren't Funny

Interpretation of any kind about art is a tricky thing: Where is the boundary between looking at the work of art and when you are revealing glimpses into your own head or heart? The works I respond to in the exhibition of VOOM PORTRAITS are not the obvious “hey look, it’s so-and so” images, but rather the works that seem to be exploring universal themes and appear to be making an uneasy accommodation of seemingly-irreconcilable opposites in one image.

Take the Steve Buscemi portrait, which is the most intriguing work in the exhibition as far as I am concerned. It must be that confrontational side of beef and the “oh that’s gross” factor that is grabbing me! But wait, the slab of meat isn’t exactly jarring to me. After all, Damien Hirst is a current hot commodity in the art world, and he often displays inanimate, dead things. Francis Bacon painted sides of beef surrounding screaming Popes, Chaim Soutine painted sides of beef… and so did Rembrandt. Wait, I have seen this idea before. Obviously, Wilson’s portrait has some art-historical precedents. So, why isn’t an art historical read on the work satisfying? Because it is incomplete.

Where should I look next to get to the reason I find this work so darn engaging? Oh, maybe it is the artists’ choice of media? Not really. Just doesn’t interest me too much. The videos are beautiful, and I am sure high-def has something to do with that, but I don’t really care enough to even be interested in finding out “how?” That must not be it…

Let me look at the work again. Ok, there’s a still figure in front of a table with a side of beef. The beef is colored a bloody red, the table is pristine polished steel, and the floor is surgically-clean rather than kill-floor messy. The background is cool and well-lit. The draperies form strong vertical elements of light and color. As a matter of fact, the only other splash of color besides the meat is the blood on Buscemi’s apron. If the subject has art-historical precedents, maybe this random-looking painterly gesture is commenting on 20^th-Century Abstract Expressionist works.
Wait. Is that what the artist intended, or is it my imagination? Would Wilson want me to be thinking of him in painterly terms? Is there a difference between light and color that comes from a camera and the same visual effect that comes from a tube of paint? Do I have to decide this now?! OK, since I am considering a work of art, I will use the language of the discipline and come to terms with using formal terms. But how satisfying is it going to be to describe what is very evident in looking at the work? Not so much.

Wait! If I look at art history to see if Wilson is making an homage to other artists AND consider why the portraits are different from paintings AND look at how Wilson has used form, I might get a better, more complete set of information to make some kind of interpretation of the work, make some sense out of it for myself.

Well, let’s see if that works. The Buscemi portrait appears to be about the incongruous juxtaposition of the dead meat with the deadpan face of Buscemi’s character. Death as symbolized by the meat happens, and it will happen to each of us, but still there’s an innate darkly comic attitude towards it---and people laugh at what is taboo or uncomfortable. It is why clean jokes are unfunny and you laugh when you see someone slip on a banana peel. Or is that only the way I see it?

Photos from VOOM opening

If you weren't here, we've got a peek at the scene inside the Museum for the Feb. 1 VOOM PORTRAITS Robert Wilson opening.

Everyone, including UI President Sally Mason (above left) and Marc Moen (below left) and Bobby Jett (below right) enjoyed delicious food. The Moen Group/Hotel Vetro was a Bronze Sponsor of the VOOM PORTRAITS exhibition.Dessert!
Jack Piper of Atlas World Grill (left) and Alan Swanson (right), both a part of the Museum's Members Council, got the chance to chat with Robert Wilson (center) . Wilson with VOOM PORTRAITS Gold Sponsors Nancy and Craig Willis. Nancy Willis is the chair of the UIMA Advisory Committee.
Wilson meets UI President Sally Mason. Alan Swanson is in the middle.President Mason introduced Wilson with a few words about why the arts are important at the UI. Wilson spoke briefly about his time at the UI in the 1970s and his work on the VOOM PORTRAITS. Noah Khoshbin, Robert Wilson's producer and artistic collaborator, laughs at a joke.
Museum Director Howard Collinson chats with Dick Summerwill. Museum Director of Education Dale Fisher (right) with Gene Savin (left) and Susan Enzle (center). Finally, when the galleries opened at 8 p.m., everyone got their first glimpse at the exhibition.The show is up through March 30. Don't miss your chance to see it at the UI Museum of Art!

Follow up note from Mel Andringa

Here's a peek at a note Mel Andringa, the Producing Director of CSPS, sent to his friends who couldn't make it to the opening for VOOM.

A couple weeks ago, Bob Wilson came to Eastern Iowa to give a talk and attend the opening of an exhibition of his VOOM Video Portraits at the University of Iowa, Museum of Art in Iowa City and at CSPS in Cedar Rapids.

He flew in from Warsaw, Poland on Wednesday evening and came straight to CSPS to oversee the installation of his work here. Although his producer/collaborator Noah Khoshbin, Matthew Shattuck of VOOM, and Joe Conway, had been laying out the show for several weeks and Noah had even flown to Europe to discuss the plan, there were some last minute changes that kept us busy all day Thursday darkening the galleries, and reinforcing walls to support the 200lb HD plasma video screens (65” diagonal.) Once we’d covered all the windows with lightweight plywood there were lots of light leaks and it’s a good thing the lights are off because the place is kept dark by miles of gaffers tape.

On Thursday evening, Bob gave a lecture with slides at EC Mabie Theater, where in 1970 Deafman Glance was first presented. The place was nearly full of students, teachers and the general public. RW didn’t disappoint and gave a nearly 2 hour-long master class in stage presence for actors; directing and writing tips for theater professionals; and anecdotes for the rest of us. He showed PowerPoint slides of his early productions and drew diagrams of them on an easel, paying particular attention to his Iowa connections. Reporters were there from the Des Moines Register and the Wall Street Journal, so you can probably get a critical view of the performance.

The next day, he returned to Cedar Rapids to have a “Conversation” with one of the directors of Legion Arts (Mel Andringa.) I tried to keep the conversation focused on Bob’s visual art, but it was quite as wide-ranging as Bob’s multidisciplinary interests. Sue Sheehy another ‘Byrd’ from the old days was in the audience and nicely chimed in her own two-bits when the subject turned to the time when Bob had a company of collaborators in New York. About 120 people attended and we received many compliments on the format and content of the discussion. (I fretted for days with the stage picture, two chairs like in ‘Stalin’, a tree stump for ‘Civil Wars’, and especially the lighting, as we all know Bob is impossible to match in that realm.)

A reception followed with wine and cheese and grapes, and Bob seemed genuinely impressed with the interests expressed about his work by our ‘Average Joe’ audience. There’s not much pretense at CSPS, and although the work was challenging to some it wasn’t intimidating and clear opinions were expressed. Two grown men who had been apes in ‘Deafman’ as children told Bob how that experience has been critical to their understanding of the potential of art. One mother wrote me the next day complaining that she was disappointed on behalf of her 14 year-old, with the number of works on display at CSPS, and Bob’s ‘monotone’ delivery. We went back and forth about what role her expectations played in her disappointment, and I think we came to understand each other’s positions without prejudice.

Then it was downstream again for an incredible buffet dinner with salmon, chicken and coconut ginger sauce, mushroom ragout on polenta, caviar and designer potato chips. Bob said a few words to the Museum’s donors about how when he first went to Paris the press thought that he was from Iowa because his press materials were full of references to his Iowa experience. As a result, he said he felt like the UI show was a homecoming. The installation in Iowa City has over 40 video screens and each one is given lots of space. Nearly the entire permanent collection has been put in storage for the duration and the lights are so low the fire marshal gave the installation extra attention. I have to say that it was very difficult to get an experience of the work at the opening with nearly 500 people attending. It’s hard to go through the exhibition with even one other person, as everyone’s attention span is different and the works don’t easily reward passing glances. They respond to study and patience, and they require a considerable investment of time. The guards must be challenged by the constant audio environment emanating from the pieces in the museum. I know there were times I missed the quiet respite from the outside world that the museum space usually provides. Those caveats aside, it’s a stunning, at times comic and moving show that is not to be missed.

Sue and John Herbert and I had the privilege of having Bob walk us through a few of the pieces and recount the story of their creation. By the end of the night, I was passing stories along to friends and people who wondered why I rated attention. Sue stayed the night at CSPS and the next day (Saturday, February 2nd) was her 67th birthday. But she couldn’t stay long as there was a snowstorm approaching and her sister who had generously driven two hours to pick her up wanted to get home before the worst of it. Pity, because no sooner did she get off than Bob showed up with a pot of pink azaleas for the birthday girl. We spent some time looking at a recent batch of jigsaw art in my studio and then he was off again.

Nearly 400 people came to CSPS in the first week of the exhibition, classes, audiences for music events and people who read about it in the paper saw the work and came away with an idea of the expanded boundaries portraiture in the 21st century may contain.

Mel Andringa
Producing Director
Legion Arts
1103 Third St SE
Cedar Rapids, IA 52401
319.364.1580

Noah Khoshbin on Princess Caroline

This week we have the pleasure to hear from Noah Khoshbin, Robert Wilson's producer and artistic collaborator. Noah has worked very closely with Robert Wilson on all of the VOOM PORTRAITS, and here he shares a story about Princess Caroline's portrait that demonstrates how this particular work is representative of Robert Wilson's artistic style and methods. To help you visualize the connections in his story, Noah has included frame stills from Rear Window and Princess Caroline's Voom Portrait, as well as a few of Robert Wilson's preparation sketches for the shoot.

As with almost all of his work, Robert Wilson’s approach to the creative treatment for the Voom Portraits is a synthesis of cultural histories and images. For instance, take the Princess Caroline Voom Portrait. The starting point for us with this portrait was her mother, Grace Kelly, and her mother's character Lisa Fremont, from the 1954 Alfred Hitchcock classic, Rear Window.

A pivotal moment in this influential film occurs when Lisa, discovering a substantial clue to a murder in the form of a missing wedding ring, signals that fact to her boyfriend, photographer/voyeur L.B. “Jeff” Jeffries, played by Jimmy Stewart.

With it's compact form, the lost ring as both a sign of the love lost between the husband and wife (in this case represented via a murder) and a sign of the future bond between Lisa and Jeff (the wedding ring) is pure Hitchcock. Does her pose as a seemingly guilty handcuffed trespasser in another's apartment give us Hitchcock's view of the constraints of relationships?

Wilson’s appropriation of this gesture and the synthesis with John Singer Sargent’s Madame X, (who as a society woman also has reflections in the Lisa Fremont character), and her eternal gesture bring together two forms of art and history in a powerful way.

The unfolding lighting sequences on Princess Caroline's hands/ring, the upper arm and face, or just her black silhouette seem at the same time classical and tribal, vacillating between a portrait and landscape, reflecting both Sergeant and Hitchcock. With the added Bernard Hermann sound score from Vertigo the result is seminal Wilson.

-- Noah Khoshbin, Producer, Voom Portraits

The Daily Iowan reviews VOOM

DI critic Louis Virtel reviews the exhibition. Pick up a copy of today's paper or check it out online.

VOOM in the Christian Science Monitor

If you came to the VOOM PORTRAITS exhibition opening Feb. 1 you might have been stopped by a man carrying a tiny, high-tech video camera. That was Kurt Lancaster, a writer/video expert with the Christian Science Monitor. Lancaster loves Wilson's work and flew in from Boston to interview Wilson and write a story about the VOOM PORTRAITS exhibition. Check out his story and web documentary here.

Web chatter on VOOM

The UIMA VOOM POTRAITS Robert Wilson exhibition is a hit on the blogs. Check out what people have been writing about the show, and then come out the the Museum to see it for yourself! http://sophiehouse.blogspot.com/2008/02/voom.html
http://cornucopiathehornofplenty.blogspot.com/2008/02/new-york-los-angeles-moscow-naples-and.html
http://performancecinema.blogspot.com/2008/02/robert-wilson.html

Here another interesting blog entry about Robert Wilson:
Review of the film Absolute Wilson

Des Moines Register article on VOOM PORTRAITS

We're the front page of the Iowa Life section of the Des Moines Register today! Check it out.

VOOM opening

If you missed the opening of VOOM PORTRAITS Robert Wilson this weekend at the UIMA and CSPS, you missed a number of fascinating events. Here's a run down of what's been going on:

* Thursday afternoon, Robert Wilson did interviews with members of the press. Look for articles in ArtScene, the Des Moines Register, and the Christian Science Monitor, as well as broadcasts on KCRG TV-9 and KGAN CBS-2 (with Cary J. Haun, the Iowa Traveler). Articles have already appeared in the Gazette, the Iowa City Press-Citizen, the Daily Iowan, and on CorridorBuzz.com. Thanks also to Joe Jennison, executive director of the Iowa Cultural Corridor Alliance, for letting us guest blog on culturalcorridor.org, and for the shout out in last week's Corridor Business Journal.

* Thursday evening, Wilson performed at Mabie Theatre in the UI Theatre Building to a nearly full house of about 450 people. Though the performance was nearly two and a half hours long with a Q&A following, Wilson's stage presence kept the audience captivated. He began his performance by standing at the podium in silence for a long stretch of time, and later explained that as a performer, one must "make the audience come to you." It was truly a master class in stage presence, as well as a glimpse into Wilson's organizational methods for his artwork and theatrical direction. UITV taped the performance and will rebroadcast it, times TBD.

* Friday was another busy day at the Museum, with people in and out setting up for the opening event Friday night. That afternoon, a small crowd gathered for an intimate "Conversation" with Robert Wilson at CSPS in Cedar Rapids, and to see the four portraits on display (Robert Downey Jr., Lucinda Childs, Alan Cumming, and Byamba Ulambayar, the sumo wrestler). Mr. Wilson talked on stage with Legion Arts/CSPS Producing Director Mel Andringa, who worked with Wilson in the 1970s, and audience members were invited to ask questions.

* Nearly 500 people came to the Museum Friday evening for the VOOM PORTRAITS special opening event. At around 7:30, UI President Sally Mason introduced Mr. Wilson, who spoke briefly before the galleries opened at 8 p.m. The Museum bustled with activity as small groups gathered before each portrait, with a large group gathering to eat in the Sculpture Court beneath 11 Snow Owl portraits. It was a great evening -- Thanks to everyone who came out!

* Saturday the exhibition opened to the public, and nearly 300 people visited the Museum. About 200 more came on Sunday -- what a busy and exciting weekend! Many of those who visited Sunday heard Noah Khoshbin, Robert Wilson's producer and artistic collaborator, give a tour of the portraits and explain how they were made. A couple interesting facts I learned: The soundtrack for Marianne Faithfull's portraits sounds like a human choir of voices accompanied by crickets chirping, but in fact, the choir sound is produced by slowing the cricket chirps; The hunk of meat in Steve Buscemi's portraits is, in fact, a side of beef that they got from the butcher that day.

The Installation

First, we had to take down nearly all of the permanent collection. Most of the galleries looked like this:
Then the crew began painting walls, installing electronic equipment, and doing various other preparatory tasks to get ready for the portraits' arrival.
They even installed carpet in the North Gallery just for the exhibition. For the Winona Ryder projection, a special (and spendy) "screen goo" was applied to the wall. Finally, after months of preparation, on Friday, Jan. 25, the crates arrived.
The crew was pleased that they were on wheels. So easy to move!
The crates were placed in the galleries where we planned to install them.
A crew of installers from VOOM HD Networks and Robert Wilson arrived over the weekend of Jan. 25 and began getting the screens out of their boxes and onto the walls. Now, the galleries look something like this:
Be sure to stop by the Museum to see the full show -- it really looks fantastic!