In the middle of a street, a man in a black business suit is dances around a floral-patterned armchair. He eventually lifts the chair up to carry it on his back and begins to stagger along. The scene changes and the man now carries five big blue cases along a river. When he finally gets to the destination, he opens the suitcases and takes a horn and a bicycle out of them. The story ends with him playing the horn on the bicycle.
This nine minute video is titled Arranging Suitcases (2012) by artist Avery McQuaid Nelson Lawrence. It is just one of the artworks collected for the national traveling exhibition Baggage Claims currently on display at DePauw University.
As a part of the DePauw Arts Fest 2018 with this year’s theme of “Art and Horizons,” Baggage Claims can “speak to multiple disciplines across campus and create a space for discussion on issues regarding population mobility and the ‘baggage’ we all carry with us throughout our daily lives,” Alexandra Chamberlain, assistant curator of exhibitions and education, explained.
Different artists’ works produced within each unique background in different parts of the world make sense together under the title of “baggage.” This not only refers to the mobility of global culture and the history and identity that people carry over but also refers to the concerns regarding immigration that dominates today’s debate and policy around the world.
“We found the exhibit provoking and disturbing, by which I mean that it both confirmed and challenged our ideas and feelings about subjectivity. A primary way it did so was through its contexts of imperialism and colonialism,” said Derek Ford, an assistant professor of Education Studies and director of the Peace and Conflict Studies Program. He, together with his students, visited the exhibition to ponder over how every human being is made up through language and norms as well as observe course themes in the artworks.
Junior Fumika Daimon takes Philosophy and Alternative Educational Spaces with Ford and visited the exhibit. According to her, the students talk in the class about “distribution of senses,” a hierarchy among senses. In connection with this course topic, Daimon found it “interesting that the gallery only focuses on our sight and hearing among five senses,” which she thinks tells you about how much we assume that sight is important and sensible enough to fully appreciate an artwork.
This exhibition will be on display until Dec. 9 at the Richard E. Peeler Art Center. Individuals can observe the artworks during its open hours, Monday-Friday 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. and Saturday 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Gallery staff are available to discuss the work with guidance to better understand the pieces of “baggage.” On Nov. 1, Avery Lawrence will give a talk about his work at the exhibition from 5 p.m. in the Peeler Art Center auditorium.
The DePauw Artsfest 2018 itself will continue until Nov. 4 and present various outstanding artists and their works with the hopes of extending views and curiosities.
