Long-Bin Chen Gonkar Gyatso Ran HwangAng Tsherin Sherpa Roger Shimomura

PLUS!

FREEDOMJust Another Word For...

INTERACTIVES BY Xu Bing

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.

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.

Freedom: Just Another Word for… is Kidspace @ MASS MoCA’s contribution to this year’s three-museum (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.

THIS GUIDE OFFERS A TRAIL THROUGH THE EXHIBITION TO HELP ALL VISITORS* EXPAND THEIR DEFINITIONS OF FREEDOM.

IT INCLUDES 4 STEPSAt 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!

4REFLECT

share what you learned

ABOUT THIS GUIDE

1LOOK

question and discuss the art and artists

2PROCESS

contemplate the concept

3CREATE

make your own expression

Gallery activities

Checklist

Scrabble tilesWhat words would you use to describe the works of art?

Meditation cushionsTake a seat among the art to contemplate.

ArtBarCreate your own “word of art”.

Xu Bing interactivesTry your hand at making your own Xu Bing-inspired symbols.

“Freedom of Expression” wallAdd a drawing or words to our group art project.

!!!

PRE-REFLECTBefore experiencing

the exhibition, draw

or describe below a

symbol of ‘freedom’.

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.

ANG TSHERIN SHERPA

LOOK!

QUESTIONS

1. What is your immediate reaction to seeing a Buddha in a silly pose?

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.

Freedom (Tibetan)རང་ དབང་

ROGER SHIMOMURA

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.

ROGER SHIMOMURA

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?

use the scrabble tiles next to an artwork to spell out your word.

QUESTIONS

Freedom (english)Freedom

LOOK!

gonkargyatso

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.

gonkargyatso

QUESTIONS

1. What other reasons could there be for the artist leaving the head off?

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.

Freedom (Tibetan)རང་ དབང་

LOOK!

Freedom (KOREAN)

Jayu

ranhwang

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.

ranhwang

1. What do the birds mean in the two Hwang works?

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?

use the scrabble tiles next to an artwork to spell out your word.

QUESTIONS

Dreaming of JoyFeel 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.

LOOK!

LOOK!

long-binchen

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.

long-binchen

QUESTIONS1. 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? use the scrabble tiles next to an artwork to spell out your word.

Freedom (Mandarin)

Zì yóu 自由

LOOK!

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.

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?

QUESTIONS

XU BINGXU BINGvisit building 5

Freedom (universal)

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.)

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 to yourselfMay I be happy. May I be safe. May I be healthy. May I be free.

Send to a person with whom you have difficultyMay you be happy. May you be safe. May you be healthy. May you be free.

Process!Process!

Send to someone you loveMay you be happy. May you be safe. May you be healthy. May you be free. Send to all beings living in the worldMay all living beings be happy. May all living beings be safe. May all living beings be healthy. May all living beings be free.

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.

Before you visit our ArtBar for

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.

CREATE!

CREATE!

CREATE!

REFLECT!

• 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.

REFLECT!

GLOSSARYArt Terms

Collagea type of artwork made by

assembling different pieces, often

layers of newspapers, photographs,

colored paper, and drawings

Iconography

image or symbol in a work of art

Pop Arta form of art including images from

pop culture

Installation Arta 3-dimensional piece of art meant

to transform a space

Metaphorthe 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”

Sculpturea 3-dimensional form of visual art

Self-Portraita work of art portraying the artist

who made it

ThangkaA traditional form of Tibetan

painting, often embroidered on

silk, featuring a figure of a deity

!!! THESAURUSother words for freedom

Liberty • Independence • Latitude choice • power • autonomy

openness • nonconformity

!!!

Public HoursSummer hours (July 1–Sept 2)11am–6pm with art-making every day

School-year hours11am–5pm every day except Tuesdays;art-making on weekends and school holidays

Kidspace @ MASS MoCA 1040 MASS MoCA Way North Adams, MA 01247 413.664.4481 x8131www.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.

Kidspace @ MASS MoCA is a child-centered art gallery and hands-on studio that presents exhibitions and educational experiences in collaboration with leading artists, primarily for the public schools in North Adams and the northern Berkshires.