Watt Hall Room 115
12pm
Guest presenter: Christopher James Alexander, architecture and design curator at the Getty Research Institute, talks about his job and the challenge of reaching a broader audience.
Christopher James Alexander is the Architecture and Design Curator of the Department of Architecture and Contemporary Art at the Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles. Since arriving at the Getty in 2004, he has co-curated the exhibitions Julius Shulman, Modernity and the Metropolis (October 2005); Julius Shulman’s Los Angeles hosted by the Los Angeles Central Public Library (October 2007), the Guadalajara International Book Fair (November 2009) and the ARCOmadrid International Contemporary Art Fair (February 2010); Bernard Rudofsky: What Would Intrigue Him Now? (July 2007), presented at the Canadian Center for Architecture, Montreal; the Getty’s installation of Lessons from Bernard Rudofsky (March 2008); and Daniel Libeskind's Line of Fire (October 2008). As the Co-Founder and Principal of A-SQUARED Consultants, Alexander curated and designed the exhibition, Shulman, Boffi, Colombo: Past Becomes Future (May 2007) for Boffi Los Angeles. He was also the grant recipient, urban designer, and project manager for the 2004 revitalization of the West Los Angeles Civic Center Plaza and Bandshell funded by the City of Los Angeles Department of Public Works. A practicing artist with a focus on drawing, sculpture, and ceramics, his work has been included in several student art exhibitions. Alexander earned an M.Arch degree from the University of California at Los Angeles and a B.A. in Fine Arts and Art History from The George Washington University, in Washington D.C.
The enduring message that I drew from Christopher Alexander's presentation was that the goal of an exhibition is to inspire and evoke conversation rather than impose an idea in a lecturing fashion.
ReplyDeleteChristopher James Alexander gave us an informative and well-delivered presentation about the intention of the curatorial process: Curating is about provocation and creating a dialogue between the curatorial subject and the viewer. MUSEUMS ARE SAFE PLACES FOR UNSAFE IDEAS.
ReplyDeleteThe lecture of Christopher James Alexander gave me another new comprehension of exhibition. The influence from an exhibition is more likely to be a drop of ink spreading out in the water. The influence is a kind of process.
ReplyDeleteCurating is about connecting with the audience, evoking thought and making a memorable experience for the viewer and Christopher's lecture really relayed these points.
ReplyDeleteFrom hearing Christopher Alexander's lecture, I understand that almost anything can be exhibit, but the challenge lies in the curator and the team in realizing the idea, in turn helping the visitors provoke new thoughts on the subject matter.
ReplyDeleteI found Christopher J. Alexander's exhibit on Bernard Rudofsky to be particularly inspiring, certainly because of the breadth of Rudofsky’s work and the way Alexander created a non-traditional exhibition environment as a way to share more of the spirit of the man. Appreciated his approach.
ReplyDeleteBRAVO! Christopher James Alexander is a bold, confident visionary! It's about time the Ghetty grew some edge!
ReplyDeleteGoing into the presentation not really knowing what a curator actually does, Christopher Alexander really gave me a good understanding of the position and how creative the job can really be.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't quite sure what to expect from the lecture however Christopher Alexander i was happy to find that the material appealed to me and ultimately made the idea of curating and exhibiting shows interesting to myself (specifically the Bernard Rudofsky exhibit). The way he and the exhibition designer went after changing the exhibition area and creating a space that would capture the audience really intrigued me and got me thinking about exhibition design. Overall I liked his approach to the job as well as his enthusiasm for each project being relayed to the audience in an approach that best represented its own character.
ReplyDeleteChristopher James Alexander was inspiring, concise and honest. I was particularly intrigued with his exhibition on Bernard Rudofsky's life work. Teaching us that the most important thing about an exhibition is making it speak to the spirit of the work shown and to provoke people to think in different ways.
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