Lyn Bishop : Sharing Secrets

On Friday night (March 21st, 2008) the exhibit How Fast Your World Is Changing opened at Ampersand International Arts, 1001 Tennessee Street, in San Francisco. The opening reception was a lively event showcasing the work of Harrell Fletcher, Christine Hill, Hope Hilton, Jessica James Lansdon, Jennifer Delos Reyes and Markuz Wernli-Saito.

In contrast to most of the gallery openings I’ve been to lately, this exhibit featured work that directly requested the viewers to take an active role in the work. It was less about gazing and more about participating, and as such, blurred the boundaries of a traditional art viewing experience. Curator Lori Gordon sets up opportunities that intentionally deviate from the viewers expected experience.

Of all the interesting work presented, there were three pieces that I found myself continuing to think about: Hope Hilton’s project Walk with Me, Jennifer Delos Reyes’s piece Choral Society (for Lori Gordon), and Markus Wernli-Saito’s project Returning the Negatives. Each one of these works asked me to engage in the experience in an almost invasive way, allowing me a participatory role in the outcome.

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In my husband’s hometown of Kyoto, Japan, there are many places to enjoy contemporary art around the ancient capital. However, tucked quietly on a side street on the east side of Tetsugaku-no-Michi (Philosophers’ Path) sits the lovely Honen-in, it’s temple halls set back into the the woods surrounded by it’s carefully raked gardens and moss covered thatched San-mon gate.

Honen-in is an unlikely place to view art, and as such, presents the viewer with a surprising contemplative space to see a wide range of exhibits. Two of it’s halls offer rotating exhibitions, usually a week in length, that present art that ranges from the traditional to the contemporary. Many artists have exhibited their work in this space, including my colleagues Janet Echelman and Markuz Wernli.
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