Shadow Monsters at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston.
The always glamorous Stacey Abbott accepted my invitation for an excursion to the Museum of Fine Arts Houston the other day which we would follow by a bite of lunch. Of course Hapsburg Splendor: Masterpieces from Vienna’s Imperial Collections is the main event this summer. But I also knew that there was an exhibit called Shadow Monsters of which, admittedly, I knew little about.
Shadow Monsters is an interactive art installation by artist Philip Worthington. When the museum visitor steps in front of the artist’s camera a digital version of a traditional shadow-puppet theater show is projected onto the walls, the human silhouette being recast into fantastical forms. Somehow vision-recognition software morphs visitors’ gestures with sound and animation.
I certainly remember making hand-puppets in the light against a blank wall growing up. Who didn’t? This concept is purportedly the inspiration of the London born but New York based artist.
And the vast Ludwig Mies van der Rohe designed Cullinan Hall, with its towering gallery walls, makes the perfect projection screen too. (Notice the scale in the photo at top, with the lady walking past.)
Stacey Abbott making Shadow Monsters with kids at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston.
This art installation was first debuted in London and received accolades for its active engagement of audiences.
Now back to our excursion, though I didn’t know exactly what Shadow Monsters was all about I did know two things: one, given Ms. Abbott’s attention span for art installations I told her that we were seeing Hapsburgs; and two, knowing the layout of the museum we’d pass right through Cullinan Hall to get our scheduled exhibition.
And as we passed the installation it indeed drew us both like moths to a flame. Stacey jumped right into one of the staging screens with a group of kids and began dancing and striking silly poses. Every time she touched the top of her fashionable headband the shape of her projected hair changed from tentacles to coral to anemone to a beaded crown and so on… She even had antennae that made her look like a Sea Monkey. We were both hysterical with laughter as I tried to snap a few photos.
Shadow Monsters at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston.
And then the kids brought her some props like hula-hoops and hats; circles, like hula-hoops transform into eyeballs on screen.
Enjoying Shadow Monsters did not take long then we were on to the Hapsburgs. And of course the installation is free with MFAH membership. The exhibit runs through September 20th, 2015. I would like to take my nephew—it’s a great thing for kids of all ages.
After immersing ourselves into the splendors of the Hapsburgs we did a twirl through the European galleries then had that lunch…