What would you include?

I'm prepping for my Object Out Loud: Arman and Nick Cave tours at the KMA:   public tours and stroller tours.  The latter are designed for caregivers with children under 18 months old.  The museum opens up early on a designated Friday once a month for these tours; the second in the "series" is happening this Friday.

Why do I call it a series?  Well, there's a chance that someone returns a second time.  Maybe because they like the exhibition.  Maybe because they want to get out of the house for adult conversation.  Whatever the reason, there are usually three stroller tours per exhibition and I have to be prepared to lead three different, but complete, tours, so that the material is fresh for any repeat visitor, but still captures the exhibition for someone who only comes once.  It's a challenge I enjoy.

The first stroller tour was about identity.  The identity of the artists themselves.  The identity of the visitors.  For example, you can see the influences of their respective identities in what the artists have created.

Arman (among other things):
  -- an immigrant
  -- a French-American artist
  -- an activist making statements about materialism post-WWII
  -- a music lover

Nick Cave (among other things):
  -- a black man in America
  -- an artist whose start was in fashion and design
  -- a "messenger" focusing on civic responsibility
  -- an artist pondering the past, and new future, of objects

And here's a fun thing to consider: if you had to use objects to identify who you are, what would you choose?  What objects do you think help to celebrate and capture some or all of the aspects of who you are?   Here's how Arman and Cave have shared some of their self-reflection -- and statement making -- through their art.

Arman, Robot Portrait of Arman, 1992
In exhibition

Nick Cave, Hustle Coat, 2017
In exhibition