Display Explanation:
After opening a slim blue door with a tinge of yellow along the edges, guest will enter into a long narrow hallway. The length of this hallway is to demonstrate a long drawn out timeline. The narrowness of this hallway will make the guest feel as if they are almost trapped within the lengthy timeline, exactly how the woman in the paintings feels about her relationship. The guest will step onto a moving walkway that carries them very slowly from beginning to end. The excessively slow speed can give guest a chance to view the art while also representing how long it can really take to find your way out of a draining relationship. The first painting would be Blue Nude by Picasso, followed by Adam and Eve by Chagall, and lastly Blue Nude by Matisse. The paintings will be about 10 feet apart, to reinforce the idea of the longevity of the timeline. The walls would be painted black, to show guest how alone somebody would feel in an undesirable relationship. There would be six lights, each painting would have one below and one above. The exit would be a slightly wider door and would be painted fully blue.
Installation Note:
The focal point of this installation is how one person in a relationship can be giving there all but receiving nothing from there partner. This seemingly parasitic relationship can be draining for the person who gives their time, energy, and love. As guest walk through this installation, I urge them to think of a timeline and make the connections based on the women’s experience previous to, during, and after the relationship. In first painting in the hallway, Blue Nude by Picasso, we see a woman who has mostly a blue pigmentation, with a slight bit of yellow on her shoulder. The yellow pigmentation looks as if it is pulling her as to get a better look of her more desirable features. This can be interpreted as the male’s gaze. It is already beginning to drain her of her original color. This can be more clearly seen in the second painting, Adam and Eve by Chagall. In this painting, the blue color look as if it is being pulled from the women and given to the man. Their connection at the ribs and the heart in the bottom right can be a representation of their relationship. Although they are in a relationship, it does not mean that they are happy. The previously mentioned heart is half drained on the right side, and every circle in the background is also incomplete on the right side. These simplistic design choices show how unfulfilled the women on the right side of the painting is. The blue and yellow pigmentation, like what we saw in Blue Nude by Picasso, is shown again here. The blue is being drained from the women and given to the man, representing how she is giving her all for her partner. Our final piece, Blue Nude by Matisse, brings back the blue but lacks the yellow. She is fully showing her body in this, and there is no man present. There is no man present to steal her blue pigmentation from her or to judge her desirable body parts. She is finally free from the burden of the male gaze.
Chagall, Marc. Adam and Ève (study). 1911-12.
,_gouache,_watercolor,_ink_wash,_pen_and_ink_and_collage_on_paper,_21_x_17.5_cm.jpg){kind=link}
Accessed 8 Feb. 2022.
Matisse, Henri, Blue Nude. 1907,
Blue Nude Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Matisse#/media/File:Matisse_Souvenir_de_Biskra.jpg
Accessed 8 Feb. 2022.
Picasso, Pablo, Blue Nude. 1902
https://www.pablopicasso.org/blue-nude.jsp
Assessed 13 Feb. 2022