Lee Bontecou, Untitled (35), 1961, welded metal and canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of the Meadows Foundation, Incorporated, 1963.92.FA.
We spend a lot of time here in the Education Department thinking about works of art in our collection and how we can engage visitors with them in provocative, meaningful ways. The fun part comes when we go out into the galleries to talk to visitors about what they see and what artworks mean to them.
This past Tuesday afternoon, I spent some time in the Center for Creative Connections talking to a few visitors and one staffer about Lee Bontecou’s Untitled (35), an artwork in the new Encountering Space installation. Next to Untitled (35), we have a metaphor response wall where visitors can leave their thoughts about the artwork, in response to a few prompts. I asked visitors a variation of one of the prompts: What words or pictures come to mind when you look at the work of art? Below are their responses (look for visitors in the slideshow!).
It looks like a well, an endless well. It goes down deep in the ground, so deep you can’t see it. Not even a flashlight would help. If you keep imagining, the hole goes all the way down to space, you can see stars.
-Corinthia, 9 years-old
It looks like something’s in it.
-Kody, 4 years-old
It’s mysterious, and very intriguing.
-Brittany, Kody’s mom
Upon walking up, it looks like a carpet design coming out at you. Like it used to be flat, but it’s coming out at you. I thought it looked like a volcano, too.
-Victoria
From far away it looks like a stadium, but then I got closer, and it looks like a building. It reminds me of the movie Inception–how the buildings come apart.
-Ivan
It looks like it should be in the Nightmare Before Christmas.
-Jennifer
Readers, what words or pictures come to mind when you see this artwork?
Amy Copeland
Coordinator of Go van Gogh Outreach