SUBJECT MATTERS
Spend an evening with art and ideas
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Offered in conjunction with Curriculum / Collection at UMMA |
Subject Matters is like an internet rabbit hole happening live, at an art museum.
This popular event series invites you to have the same kind of fun exploration of ideas and connections in person that you love scrolling through online.
If you’d watch a video with any of these titles, Subject Matters is an event you don’t want to miss:
- The Disturbing and Dangerous Ways Art Helped Build European Empires
- The Metaphysical Questions ‘Weird Art’ Is Helping Us Answer
- This Art Is Too Big (And Too Small) To Be Made By Humans
For each session, you’ll join a guest U-M professor or curator and UMMA curator Dave Choberka for an evening of intriguing exploration, sparks of curiosity, and a new kind of social learning with art. For 90 minutes, you’ll dive deep into a topic you had no idea could be so interesting, and leave thinking “who knew I loved learning about [insert subject matter here]!"
PAST SUBJECTS
SUBJECT MATTER: BRANDING
Don’t Let Disney Hear This, But The Real Owner Of Minnie Mouse Is… All Of Us*
Much like art, an advertisement’s meaning is not produced by its creators, but by the consumers who have to make sense of it. Because of cultural and subcultural differences, audiences might find meanings that vary widely from one another and from what the marketers intended. Ross School of Business faculty member Marcus Collins joins UMMA’s Dave Choberka for a discussion on meaning making and shared culture.
*this is not legal advice
Sir Eduardo Paolozzi, Inside Down Under... What are the building blocks of structuralism?, 1965-1970, photolithograph on paper, 14 15/16 in x 10 in (38 cm x 25.4 cm), Gift of Professor Diane M. Kirkpatrick
SUBJECT MATTER: PREDICTING THE FUTURE
Why Do We All Draw The Same Line Into The Future?
When asked to draw a line that represents progress, almost everyone makes the same line that extends from the lower left to the upper right – Why? Images of subjects that represent technological change, such as cities, railroads, and factories, repeatedly use this same diagonal to visually represent stories of progress. UMMA’s Dave Choberka will be joined by Cameron Gibelyou, a lecturer in applied liberal arts, to discuss why humans are so obsessed with diagonal lines and what it can tell us about our interpretations of the future.
Installation image of Curriculum / Collection installation of Predicting the Future student drawings.
SUBJECT MATTER: CLAY AS SOFT POWER
This Pottery Changed The Course of Global History — Seriously
Shigaraki ware ceramics transformed the American public’s image of Japan, helping the country shift its identity from World War II enemy to Cold War ally to global cultural change maker. Join UMMA curators Natsu Oyobe and Dave Choberka for an exploration of Shigaraki ware’s earthy tones, rough clay surfaces, and global intrigue.
Installation image of Clay as Soft Power by UMMA Staff
SUBJECT MATTER: THE WATER CYCLE
The Not-So-Hidden Ways Water Impacts History, Culture, Our Bodies, and Our Homes
It’s the most powerful force on Earth, and a pretty powerful tool for art as well. Join UMMA’s Associate Curator of Photography on an exploration of how water shapes communities and how artists are working to tell those stories.
LaToya Ruby Frazier, Shea brushing Zion's teeth with bottled water in her bathroom, 2016-2017, gelatin silver print on paper, 45 ½ in x 35 ½ in x 21 ½ in (115.57 cm x 90.17 cm x 54.61 cm), Museum purchase made possible by the University of Michigan Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and the Director's Acquisition Committee, 2019
SUBJECT MATTER: FRENCH STUDIES
Et Après? Survival, Scars, Guilt, Redemption, and Recovery in Literature and Art
Deep dive into the world of possibilities that all start from a seemingly simple question after tumultuous events: What happens next? Guest Faculty member David Caron (Romance Languages and Literatures, Women’s and Gender Studies) will guide you through this exploration of hope, promise, and the je ne sais quoi.
Joan Snyder, Art and the Nature of Grief, 1992, monoprint on paper, 38 7/8 x 25 13/16 in. (98.7 x 65.5 cm);41 5/16 x 28 5/16 in. (104.78 x 71.76 cm), Museum purchase made possible by the Jean Paul Slusser Memorial Fund
SUBJECT MATTER: HOW TO THINK
How Photography and Image Processing Offers a Window Into the Human Creative Process Too
When light hits photo-sensitive paper it creates a chemical reaction. Is that so different from the chemical reaction happening in our brains when we make and create? Maybe not. Guest Faculty member Ray Wetzel (Residential College) will explore this idea using photography in UMMA’s collection.
Meghann Riepenhoff at work creating Waters of the Americas: EPA ID NYD980592497, Eastman Kodak’s Emissions B (Confluence of the Genesee River and Lake Ontario, Rochester, NY, 03.12.2022), Courtesy the artist and Yossi Milo Gallery © Meghann Riepenh
We’d love to see you at all the Subject Matters sessions! Keep your eyes open for new Subject Matters sessions in upcoming semesters.
Subject Matters is offered in collaboration with the UM faculty who worked with UMMA to curate installations in Curriculum / Collection for use by their university classes. Together, we are bringing the UMMA classroom experience to you. You’ll learn about the subject matter, about art, and you’ll have loads of fun doing it. We hope to see you there.
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