Museum Visitors Make Their Own Art at the New "GO FOR IT! The Golden Ratio" Exhibition at McAllen International Museum
Mysterious black rectangles seem to rearrange themselves into different
sculptural shapes throughout the day at the McAllen International Museum.
Who is moving them? Not some internationally renowned artist but Museum visitors themselves.
"We believe that everyone who comes through the door is creative," says John Mueller, Executive Director of the Museum, "and we want them to have a place, not only to look at art, but to exercise their own creativity."
This unusual and innovative exhibit is entitled GO FOR IT! The Golden
Ratio, and consists of many black rectangles of different sizes -- and one red rectangle -- arranged on the floor of the Museum's main gallery.
Visitors are invited to create their own sculptural installations, large or
small, from the objects. If they like what they make, for a small fee they
can have a Polaroid photo taken of their creation to share with their
family and friends.
Whatever the visitor makes remains until another visitor or family takes
the sculpture apart and makes a new one. A sign by the exhibit says: "Take some objects. Do something with them. Do something with them again."
"This is a lot of fun," says Mueller, who came up with this unique idea of
interactive art, "and the many fantastic shapes that visitors are creating
demonstrates that many people can make art."
The black rectangular shapes are constructed according to a mathematical proportion known as the "Golden Ratio" or "Divine Proportion," a formula found in the growth patterns of nature and utilized for thousands of years in architecture such as the Parthenon and by artists such as Leonardo da Vinci.
The exhibit is complemented by a series of geometric prints and paintings from the Museum's collection. The GO FOR IT! do-it-yourself exhibit will only be up for two weeks, when an exhibition of watercolors is scheduled.
The public response has been so positive, we may just move the GO FOR IT! exhibit to another part of the Museum," said Mueller.
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