Abundance

For a little while I've been making paintings that contain an overwhelming amount of information. At least I've been attempting to achieve doing so.

As I've been curating I see spaces differently now. Namely museums and galleries.
I observe them with different eyes and new ways of looking that I didn't have before. It's something I've developed that I didn't really expect to gain from these experiences at 17 Cox and elsewhere.

In our thesis shows at BFA, you never go light on representing yourself with fellow classmates. Bordering on overwhelming and being crowded, everyone hangs as much as possible.

Is hanging minimally a way of the past? Walking through the ICA I realized there is an abundance there. Rooms crammed with photos, and especially in "For the Record" it is especially noticeable. In "For the Record" you are challenged from one station to the next. I say station and not art piece because that is how it comes across. "Time to listen to a recording, oh time to watch a video, now interact with this sculpture, etc." Each one expects a different type of interaction every few feet.
Are attention spans in such a place today that we really need an overwhelming amount of information all the time?

In the last year I've heard of breathing room... but is it even a factor anymore?

It seems the general public needs rooms to be packed to be content. Or it's more welcoming?
Perhaps abundance helps deteriorate some of that stigma of art being on a pedestal.

Or maybe the level of discontent in today's world just needs higher levels of distraction. So much insecurity and need to find answers or the right paths to travel.