This September, Portland Art Museum hosted a unique event they called Shine a Light: A Night at the Museum, with the stated goal of blurring the boundary between art and life. A typical trip to any institution of art, PAM included, is typically a very structured experience. Visitors pay the admission cost, then quietly maneuver from room to room like zombies, their attention mechanically shifting from one piece of art to the next. Any communication is hushed and whispered so as not to disturb the aged artifacts of history that hang dominantly above.
Shine a Light changed all of that, at least for one night.
For this one night, the museum was ALIVE. The doors were thrown open, the courtyard was swarming. There was music, food, children running, and beer flowing. The air was electric as adults and children alike experienced the joy of breaking the rules of social engagement for one night. Even the guards seemed to have a hop in their step as the patrolled.
On the second floor, amidst the American collection, an animated group of strangers loudly debated the latest play in the customized card game, Apples to Apples: Art and Labor. Break-dancers invaded Schnitzer Court, filling the halls with Hip Hop rhythms. The Goodman Gallery showcased Varinthorn Christopher, who encouraged you to save an endangered language and learn to count in Mon, a language from lower Burma. Throughout the museum we noticed strange way-finding indicators and signs marking various stationery objects such as decorative vegetation. This was evidence of the mark of SCORE O, a project of the Columbia River Orienteering Club, that created a unique way to “navigate” the museum and explore. The Sculpture Garden was the center point with the most activity since it was a beautifully warm September night, and it housed the free beer. Brewers from Old Lompoc, Laurelwood and Lucky Lab had previously explored the museum and each had chosen one art piece as their source of inspiration for the recipe of their specialty brew, served up at Shine a Light to an eager public.
But my personal favorite part of the evening, was a series called Serenades: Musical Conversations Between Humans and Artwork. Serenades featured several Portland-based musicians who each composed an original piece of music centered around a piece of artwork of their choosing. The 15 minute Serenades were performed live in front of the artwork in various galleries throughout the night. I sat cross-legged on the floor of the art museum with 100 or so other curious strangers. I listened to the hollow, metallic, overlapping hymns of Honey Owens as she, also hunched on the floor, created a haunting melody beneath the Neoclassical painting that inspired it. Later, on the 4th floor, Joe Preston wove intricate electronic musical patterns in and around a large spherical sculpture. The sculpture consisted of many spheres of all sizes whose surface was made of circular metal structures. The spheres were all connecting and interlocking, cantilevered in every direction, yet balanced. As the 15 minute tonal maze meandered, I found myself becoming absorbed by the structure. I imagined it lifting up off the ground, hovering in mid-air. I imagined the spheres unhooking and dropping from their larger parent. Would they bounce?
For the first time, a trip to the art museum was a complete immersive, interactive and truly engaging experience.
