Unlocking Paris / Paris qui s’ouvre
The exhibition Unlocking Paris is a combination of work completed by art studio and art history students who visited Paris for four weeks during the summer of 2002. Professor Lou Marcus, who traveled with the students, planned and organized housing, group excursions, and the many other events that the students partook in during their stay.
Professor Ryan Berg taught the art studio course Unlocking Paris, which was designed to allow the students to discover Paris through the derive, meaning to wander, rather than merely visit typical tourist attractions. The course requirements included interviewing Parisians, excursions in the city as well as outside, and collecting found objects in order to create collage work that represented the individual’s "shape" of Paris. Since studio space was not available in Paris, many students were forced to work outside of their usual medium. Even though the artwork made while in Paris was mainly in collage form, the students were given the opportunity to experiment with different mediums, including the use of performance art, to express themselves. They were also able to complete artwork after returning home, which enabled many students to use studios to create art within their medium of focus.
` The art history course Mapping the Modern was taught by Professor Ann Albritton. The course focused on the development of modern art in Paris, and allowed students to explore the origins of modern art from the mid-nineteenth century into the twentieth. Tours of museums, galleries, parks, and major monuments encouraged students to discover how the milieu and culture of Paris shaped modern art. Students were assigned readings which furthered their knowledge art, and also were required to complete an analytical journal with responses to the readings, the city, and the art. At the end of the stay, art history students were required to conduct a 45-minute tour of a section of Paris, which encouraged them to explore areas beyond which they saw as a group. As a final project students also were required to submit a 6-10 page paper after returning home.
The exhibition Unlocking Paris is not merely art made about a vacation to Paris or what living in Paris may be like; it is work that comes from the experience of living four weeks in a foreign city, one which many of the students did not speak the language. The work represents each individual’s experience, "their" Paris, and what the journey meant to them. Inspiration was drawn not only from the artwork that was seen, but also from the city itself, the culture, the countryside, and the Parisians. Although every student saw most of the same parts of the city, same sights, and museums, the experience developed into an important and individual meaning for each person.
Jasmine Schermerhorn
Paris Program 2002