2/19/24: Files for miles
On my first day at PhxArt, my site advisor Aspen showed me the archives of one particular exhibit at the museum from 1996 called Old Glory: The American Flag in Contemporary Art. This exhibit became quite infamous due to its controversial displays of the American Flag, like setting it on the ground for people to step on or hanging it out of a toilet. Visitors of the exhibit were encouraged to jot down their thoughts, which resulted in a wide variety of comments reflecting the larger scope of American politics in the 90s. I found this exhibit and the public’s reaction fascinating, and part of my project will now include organizing the files for the archives at PhxArt which I will begin doing in the coming weeks. I’m very excited to have found a project that examines the intersections of art, history, and politics.
I spent most of my week familiarizing myself with the exhibit, reading through its catalogue, visitor comments (I didn’t get through all of them; there are six huge binders filled with them), and New York Times articles covering the fuss it caused.
On Friday, I spent all day meandering around the museum. I visited the new Barbie exhibit, which I highly recommend for everyone to see. It displayed the very first Barbie doll released in 1959! I also visited the museum’s library where they keep copies of Vogue Magazine since it started back in 1892.
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