FREEDOM
Just Another
Word For...
Long-Bin Chen
Gonkar Gyatso
Ran Hwang
Ang Tsherin Sherpa
Roger Shimomura
PLUS! Xu Bing
INTERACTIVES BY
We the People of Kidspace at MASS MoCA—
in order to form a more perfect union between
art and everyday life, insure domestic tranquility,
provide for the common defense against a lack
of creativity and optimism, promote the general
welfare that all people can make art, and secure
the blessings of liberty and freedom of expression
for all — do ordain and establish this commitment
to our visitors. Signed MASS MoCA, 2013.
What does the word “freedom” mean to you? It
may mean that people can read, speak, eat, act,
play, and do whatever they choose. Perhaps it is
about living in a community or country that does
not intrude in your life. According to Vietnamese
Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, “freedom
is not given to us by anyone; we have to cultivate
it ourselves. It is a daily practice... No one can
prevent you from being aware of each step you take
or each breath in and breath out.” Through your
time in Kidspace, combined with your personal
experiences, we hope you will walk away with a
deeper understanding of the concept of freedom
and how its many meanings can be expressed
visually by working artists, and you.
Freedom: Just Another Word for… is Kidspace @ MASS MoCA’s contribution to this year’s threemuseum (The Clark, Williams College Museum of Art, and MASS MoCA) project—Words & Images—
exploring the contexts in which words are used, how artists visually express their meanings, and the
different kinds of words that may be associated with visual images. Look for other Words & Images
projects at the Clark and Williams College Museum of Art.
ABOUT
THIS
GUIDE
THIS GUIDE OFFERS
A TRAIL THROUGH
THE EXHIBITION
TO HELP ALL
VISITORS* EXPAND
THEIR DEFINITIONS
OF FREEDOM.
IT INCLUDES
4 STEPS
At the end of this guide you will
find a glossary with art terms
and a thesaurus with other
terms for the word freedom.
* KIDSPACE:
IT’S NOT JUST FOR KIDS!
1
LOOK
question and discuss the
art and artists
2
PROCESS
contemplate the concept
3
CREATE
make your own expression
4
REFLECT
share what you learned
Gallery
activities
!!!
Checklist
Scrabble tiles
What words would you use to describe
the works of art?
Meditation cushions
Take a seat among the art to contemplate.
ArtBar
Create your own “word of art”.
Xu Bing interactives
Try your hand at making your own
Xu Bing-inspired symbols.
“Freedom of Expression” wall
Add a drawing or words to our group art project.
PRE-REFLECT
Before experiencing
the exhibition, draw
or describe below a
symbol of ‘freedom’.
!
K
O
O
L
ANG
TSHERIN
SHERPA
Tibetan painter Ang Tsherin Sherpa
creates pop art using the Tibetan
art form of the thangka—a
traditional painting on silk, often with
embroidery, that usually depicts a
Buddhist deity. Sherpa offers both
humor and political commentary by
having the figures in his work appear
silly or mischievous. Sherpa grew up
in Kathmandu, Nepal, where at age
12 he began studying the method of
making thangkas with his father, who
was a master of the practice.
Shambhala, 2013. Gouache, acrylic and gold leaf on paper.
!
K
O
O
L
S
N
O
I
T
S
E
QU
1. What is your immediate
reaction to seeing a Buddha in
a silly pose?
ROGER
SHIMOMURA
2. Why do you think the artist
wanted to show an important
figure in this light?
3. Do the images express your idea
of freedom? If so, how?
4. What other words would you
use to describe the work?
USE THE SCRABBLE TILES NEXT TO AN
ARTWORK TO SPELL OUT YOUR WORD.
S
N
O
I
T
S
E
QU
Roger Shimomura’s work may
seem familiar to you because of
his use of well-known iconography
such as cartoon characters to
create self-portraits of himself
battling for freedom. Born in 1939
in Seattle, Washington, Shimomura
and his family were placed in an
internment camp for Japanese
Americans during World War II
for two years of his childhood.
He has since gone on to become
a distinguished professor at the
University of Kansas at Lawrence
and a successful artist with work in
numerous museums.
American Baby, 2012. Acrylic on canvas.
1. Why does the artist show himself
as a cartoon character?
2. Do the images express your idea of
freedom? If so, how?
3. What other words would you use to
describe the work?
Freedom (Tibetan)
རང་ དབང་
USE THE SCRABBLE TILES NEXT TO AN
ARTWORK TO SPELL OUT YOUR WORD.
Freedom (english)
Freedom
Dreaming of Joy
!
K
O
O
L
Feel free to enter the cage
and play with the buttons
on the floor, placing them
gently in between the
pins that make up the
bird. Pay close attention to
the sounds and your own
movements.
gonkar
gyatso
Known for creating colorful Buddha
images filled with stickers and paper
collage from sources around the
world, Tibetan-born artist Gonkar
Gyatso questions politics, religion,
and identity. The artist has lived in
many different nations to find safety
and opportunities, and tells his own
story—and the stories of places he’s
lived—through collage materials
layered on the surface of sculptures.
Interested in starting a dialogue,
Gyatso says his figure’s missing head
can be interpreted as a metaphor for
the conflict between Tibet and China,
“like a group of people hitting their
heads against a wall because they are
getting nowhere”.
Ambivalent Faith, 2013. Resins sculpture with mixed media.
Courtesy of the artist and Steven Beyer.
Korean-born installation artist Ran Hwang
has become widely respected for her
enormous depictions of birds and cherry
blossom trees, created entirely out of
buttons and pins. Hwang spends numerous
hours sorting and installing the small bits
used to make up her large pieces, with this
attention to—and repetition of—movement
becoming her way of meditation.
Dreaming of Joy, 2008. Buttons, pins, panels of wood canvas, steel bars.
S
N
O
I
T
S
QUE
1. What other reasons could
there be for the artist leaving
the head off?
!
K
O
O
L
2. Like Sherpa and Shimomura,
Gyatso uses symbols from
popular culture. In what way
do these images add to your
impression of the figure?
3. Does the sculpture express your
idea of freedom? If so, how?
4. What other words would you
use to describe the work?
USE THE SCRABBLE TILES NEXT TO AN
ARTWORK TO SPELL OUT YOUR WORD.
S
N
O
I
T
S
E
QU
1. What do the birds mean in
the two Hwang works?
ran
hwang
2. Why do you think the artist
chose to use buttons instead
of another material?
3. Do the images express your
idea of freedom? If so, how?
4. What other words would you
use to describe the work?
Freedom (Tibetan)
རང་ དབང་
Freedom (KOREAN)
Jayu
USE THE SCRABBLE TILES NEXT TO AN
ARTWORK TO SPELL OUT YOUR WORD.
!
K
O
O
L
long-bin
chen
Much of Chinese artist Xu Bing’s artwork (more of which you can see in MASS
MoCA’s Building 5) plays with appearance and reality: here, his calligraphy at
first appears to us to be Chinese, but, upon closer observation, it is English
words imitating traditional Chinese calligraphy style. This system makes an
Eastern practice more accessible to a Western audience. The inspiration for this
comes from an event in Xu Bing’s childhood, when the Chinese government was
simplifying written language so that more people would be able to read.
Square Word Calligraphy, 2003. Installation image of Background Story, 2012. Photo: Art Evans.
Long-Bin Chen of Taiwan creates
stunning sculptures made from recycled
books and magazines to take on the look
of stone. His sculpture depicts Damoh,
a bodhidharma, the Buddhist monk
who is credited with establishing Zen.
According to legend, Damoh meditated
sitting motionless for nine years facing
the wall of a cave.
Damoh, 2012. Magazines. Courtesy of the artist and the
Frederieke Taylor Gallery.
S
N
O
I
T
S
E
QU
1. How do the sculpture’s materials add to
the idea that Damoh sat motionless?
2. What is the importance of Damoh facing away
from the world?
3. Does the image express your idea of freedom?
If so, how?
4. What other words would you use to describe
the work?
Freedom (Mandarin)
Zì yóu 自由
USE THE SCRABBLE TILES NEXT TO AN ARTWORK
TO SPELL OUT YOUR WORD.
LOOK!
XU
BING
visit building 5
Freedom
(universal)
S
N
O
I
T
S
QUE
1. How does the ability to read
give you freedom?
2. At the calligraphy desks in
Kidspace, twry writing your own
calligraphy letters and words.
How free did you feel when using
the ink and paintbrushes?
3. At the lightbox in Kidspace: Add
to the lightbox drawing using
found and natural materials.
4. Do these activities express your
idea of freedom? If so, how?
Process! Process!
Now that you have
explored the work on
view, take a moment to
process your experience.
We suggest that you sit on
a meditation cushion; you
can sit for as long as you
want (but we recommend
not 9 years like Damoh.)
Before you visit our ArtBar for
Pay attention to your own
breathing in and out. As Zen
Buddhist Thich Nhat Hanh said:
Freedom is not given to us by
anyone; we have to cultivate it
ourselves. It is a daily practice...
No one can prevent you from
being aware of each step you take
or each breath in and breath out.
Send loving-kindness and freedom to yourself and others using this
Metta Mediation practice developed by author and meditation teacher
Sharon Salzberg. (“Metta” is the Pali word for loving-kindness.) You are
welcome to say the words aloud, or repeat them silently to yourself.
Send to yourself
May I
May I
May I
May I
be
be
be
be
happy.
safe.
healthy.
free.
Send to someone you love
May you
May you
May you
May you
be
be
be
be
happy.
safe.
healthy.
free.
Send to a person with
Send to all beings living
whom you have difficulty in the world
May you
May you
May you
May you
be
be
be
be
happy.
safe.
healthy.
free.
May all living
May all living
May all living
May all living
beings
beings
beings
beings
be
be
be
be
happy.
safe.
healthy.
free.
!
E
T
A
E
CR E!
CREATE!
CREAT
a project, take one more spin
through the exhibition. This time,
pay particular attention to the
materials used by the artists.
You will have the opportunity
to create your interpretation of
the word “freedom”. Consider
which materials would make
your statement clear and what
you might want to say about
freedom in your work. Draw a
sketch below.
!
T
C
E
L
F
E
R
!
T
C
E
L
REF
Art Terms
Collage
Metaphor
a type of artwork made by
assembling different pieces, often
layers of newspapers, photographs,
colored paper, and drawings
Iconography
• Take a moment to talk to your friends about your
ideas about freedom and art.
• Visit MASS MOCA’s main galleries with an eye towards
the topics of freedom, words, and symbols.
• Write a note to your future self (10-15 years from
now) with your wishes for a freer, more peaceful life.
!!!
GLOSSARY
image or symbol in a work of art
the comparison of one thing to
another that is like it in some way;
for example, when talking about
a junky car, you might call it a
“bucket of bolts”
Sculpture
a 3-dimensional form of visual art
Pop Art
a form of art including images from
pop culture
Installation Art
Self-Portrait
a work of art portraying the artist
who made it
a 3-dimensional piece of art meant
Thangka
to transform a space
A traditional form of Tibetan
painting, often embroidered on
silk, featuring a figure of a deity
!!!
THESAURUS
other words for freedom
Liberty • Independence • Latitude
choice • power • autonomy
openness • nonconformity
Public Hours
Summer hours
(July 1–Sept 2)
11am–6pm with art-making
every day
School-year hours
11am–5pm every day
except Tuesdays;
art-making on weekends
and school holidays
Kidspace
@ MASS MoCA is a
child-centered art
gallery and handson studio that
presents exhibitions
and educational
experiences in
collaboration with
leading artists,
primarily for the
public schools
in North Adams
and the northern
Berkshires.
Kidspace @ MASS MoCA
1040 MASS MoCA Way
North Adams, MA 01247
413.664.4481 x8131
www.kidspace.massmoca.org
Major season support for Kidspace @ MASS
MoCA is provided by the National Endowment
for the Arts, Anne R. Avis and Gregory M. Avis
Fund, the Massachusetts Cultural Council,
and an anonymous donor. Additional funding
is provided by the Brownrigg Charitable
Trust, Milton and Dorothy Sarnoff Raymond
Foundation, and Alice Shaver Foundation, all
in memory of Lynn Laitman; Holly Swett; the
Berkshire Bank Foundation–Legacy Region;
and Price Chopper’s Golub Foundation.
Laura Thompson, Ed.D., Director of Education
+ Kidspace, curated Freedom with free-flowing
assistance from Leigh Dale, Kidspace Senior
Intern; Shannon Toye, Kidspace Education
and After School Programs Coordinator; and
Rachel Heisler, Education Coordinator.
cover: Roger Shimomura, Astro Boy, 2004.
Acrylic on canvas.