As I’ve visited the MCA in the years that I’ve lived in Chicago, I’ve grown to appreciate more and more the timeliness and relevance of their exhibits and programming. It feels like they accomplish much, and are able to foster meaningful ties with the city as a whole, regardless of their size. The exhibit To The Racy Brink is a culmination of the museum’s work and its ties to the community.
The exhibit kicks of the institutions 50th anniversary, and it highlights the museum’s role in championing contemporary artists and their work. The museum’s archives are the core source of material, which is what immediately drew me to it. Artist interviews, exhibition posters and catalogs, photographic documentation, and visitor feedback cards paint a vivid picture of contemporary art at the museum over the years. Newspaper clippings were also on display, full of puns and often bewilderment at the art itself. The presentation of the archival material doesn’t present a universally rosy picture of how shows and works were received, rather that they had impact, caused reactions, and often pushed visitors to see things differently. As one of the television commercials for the MCA boldly declares: “I don’t get it, but I like it!”
Archives and library staff were kind enough to give staff from our department a tour of their office and storage space, as well as the exhibit itself. It was beneficial comparing and contrasting our institutions, as new perspectives can aid in reflection and change. They were able to provide some really interesting insight about the development of the exhibit, and how it encouraged greater institutional understanding of the importance of the work in their department.
As we move forward with work in our institutional photographic archives, it was invaluable to experience and learn more about a celebration of another museum’s past through its archives. We’ve already begun brainstorming ways of making our materials more accessible, hopefully we can organize a similar experience one day - be it a publication, digital portal, or physical exhibit.
