Ground Control launches examination of Life on Mars

What's Happening:

Last Week!
Life on Mars ends Jan. 11.

HELP US!!
Take a small Life on Mars web site survey and help us answer the big questions about direction for our future web-based projects.

Attack Theatre: Remainder, Phase Two
Thurs., Jan. 8
Attack Theatre dancers return to Carnegie Museum of Art for Phase Two of Remainder, a 10-month process/performance inspired by Life on Mars.

Daily film screenings of Sharon Lockhart's Pine Flat in Carnegie Museum of Art Theater
2:00 p.m. daily
Additional screening Thursdays at 5:00 p.m.
Free with Museum admission
Running time: 138 min.
schedule is subject to change

Life on Mars High School Audience Engagement Project

11|24|08 ZG Permalink 0 Comments 0 Trackbacks

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: What has legs draped in yarn, arms wrapped in tin foil, duct tape hanging like hair tendrils from its temples, and hobbles around in a tattered cardboard box?

Yes, you guessed it: A couple of art students, inspired by Life on Mars.

Teenagers from the Pittsburgh region gathered at the Carnegie Museum of Art on November 20 for “Ground Control” – a night of art- and music-making, food and fun, hosted by the museum’s Zero Gravity interns, a group of high school students who spend their Thursday evenings debating the significance of contemporary art, life, Barack Obama, and also the really important stuff, like M.I.A. versus Brittney Spears versus … why does everyone feel the need to dress alike to feel accepted? (Seriously, why do they?)

The evening’s centerpiece activity was “Project Runway on Mars.” Based on the hit reality TV show, the museum’s version offered teens a chance to make wearable designs as interpretations of works of art in Life on Mars, and then showcase their new fashions in the museum’s main foyer. They perused the galleries, writing down their observations and opinions, sketched out possible designs and spent an hour in the Children’s Studios creating their own outfits with both traditional and non-traditional materials. (Think: Tempera paints and googly eyes -- charcoal pencils and feathers.) Teens spray-painted T-shirts a la Barry McGee; they bound themselves with ornate fabrics in response to Matthew Monahan; stitched together their own renderings of Mike Kelly’s darkly lit “Kandor” series; and, of course, built their wearable cardboard homes with Thomas Hirshhorn’s hugely popular “cavemanman” in mind.

These outfits might not conform to PPS dress code, but then again, many of the works in Life on Mars equally challenge our notions of what art “should” look like, and, ultimately, what life in our contemporary world “is supposed to” mean. And who better than teenagers to question our assumptions and conventions? After all, high school is a rite of passage that can sometimes feel like an extra-terrestrial, maybe even out-of-body, experience -- kind of like life on Mars.

So, now, stop me if you’ve heard this one: What has brilliant insights, mad talents, and could probably rebuild Rome with a roll of plastic wrap and a bottle super glue?

Yes, you guessed it: Zero Gravity museum interns, who examine the world through the lens of contemporary art.

Add a comment

To comment, please enter your name (or a pen-name to remain anonymous) and an email address. Enter your web site address if you wish. To ensure the enjoyment of most visitors, we may remove comments that include advertising, offensive language, or personal attacks.

Want to contribute an article? Sign-up/Sign-in to blog on Soundings: Your Views on Life on Mars.

TrackBacks:

Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Ground Control launches examination of Life on Mars.

TrackBack URL for this entry: http://blog.cmoa.org/mt-tb.cgi/1320

life on
mars

55th Carnegie International
5.3.08-1.11.09

Featured Artists

Audio/Video Library

What's Happening:

Visit Us At:

Signals Tags:

Soundings Tags:

Schools & Teachers Tags:

Zero Gravity Tags:

Life on Mars High School Audience Engagement Project