September 4th, 2013
Napoleon Bonaparte once said, "A picture's worth a thousand words." Art, in all of its forms, is theoretically something that everyone can enjoy - a favorite painting, poem, song, or sculpture can resonate in a way that moves us. Yet, what if you are an individual with a visual impairment in a museum of paintings without any Braille descriptions? Or what if you are hard of hearing but are at a poetry reading with no interpreter? To some, a thousand words can be the art of the mind-they can be seen, heard, or spoken in order to make an impact.
RCPD Director Michael Hudson reiterated, "All too often art and art museums are equated to a 'don't touch' and therefore a 'don't experience' limitation for those who are blind or visually impaired."
With a large demographic of the population that can be excluded from a variety of art forms, a group of artists known as The Diatribe took on the challenge of changing how art can be accessed.
These Grand Rapids natives' passion to expand the limits of accessibility to art inspired them to create their own exhibit at ArtPrize, the world's largest public art competition. While hosting ArtPrize, the city of Grand Rapids becomes home to a diverse collection of independent artist's work from 45 states and 47 countries. These masterpieces decorate the city attracting hundreds of thousands of viewers to the mitten state.
This innovative group, The Diatribe, felt that ArtPrize was far too important of an event to still be inaccessible to some very large demographics. They set out to change this through their spoken word and in particular their exhibit, The Word of Mouth.
When asked to describe who they are, the group shares:
"We are poets
and visionaries
and victors
and fathers
and failers
and revelers
and revealers
and singers
and storytellers
and sages
and searchers
and searching...
...this fall, join us, and let's see what we find together."
According to one group member, Marcel Price, this fall they look forward to "opening eyes, ears, and hands" to their art and city. These artists have engaged in poetry or "spoken word" for varying amounts of time and they decided to collaboratively use their passion and skills to create the most accessible exhibit that they possibly can.
Their piece will feature live portions of their poetry, along with videos, Braille text, murals, and visual art pertaining to sight, speech, or hearing. The videos will feature sign language and/or captions of the group's spoken word.
When faced with the challenge of making an entirely accessible exhibit, one of the collaborators, Mitch Burns, turned to the MSU RCPD when doing research. After a meeting, RCPD was left in awe of the work that these artists were doing and was ecstatic to be able to help them through the captioning and building tactile and Braille elements of their work and spreading the word about their exhibit.
Hudson praised The Diatribe, saying "This project is exciting because it breaks from the tradition where art and art museums are largely inaccessible and effectively avoided by persons who are blind, visually impaired, deaf or hard of hearing."
Words are the crux of this group's ArtPrize piece, and according to Price, "this is not about 'who can paint the biggest mural'...it is about art, who can appreciate it, who it affects, and about the power and versatility of words as an art form.
"People who do not get to experience a painting, a sculpture, or even hear a joke...or who felt like ArtPrize 'was not for them' now get to feel/see something that everyone can take in."
The group hopes that through their work, others in the art community will see that with so many art forms there is always someone who can be "left out", and this needs to change. One of the most effective ways it can change is through the power of words.
Price said, "[If ArtPrize is] truly to be the biggest art competition in the world then it should have the biggest demographic of people who can experience it", and the versatility of art should reflect the versatility of people.
Visit their website and check out their captioned video (with Sign Language) to see their Word of Mouth. As Price says, "sharing this video is word of mouth at its finest." You can also find information about the artists and about ArtPrize on their Facebook page. The biggest way you can help them spread their words and share in their art is by ATTENDING ArtPrize and VOTING on site for their exhibit. ArtPrize runs September 18-October 6, 2013 and The Diatribe's shows will be Mondays and Wednesdays from 5-8 pm.
It is the hope of these incredible visionaries and the hope of RCPD that people who experience this exhibit will be inspired to create accessible art forms for everyone. The best way to spread the message of this great project is through the genre that these artists touch lives and effect change with every day: the word of mouth.
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