Artist Lisa Hoke installed a site-specific work of art over the course of ten days for the exhibition 0 to 60: The Experience of Time through Contemporary Art.

Every day in our Museum, docents help visitors look closely at art. But how do they help someone with vision loss or blindness to look closely at those objects? Elizabeth Kahn, an NCMA docent, has worked with people who have vision loss. Museum Educator Diana Phillips asked her to tell about one of the methods she uses on her tours.

DP: What is audio description?

EK: Audio description is a technique designed to help people who are blind or have low vision to visualize the setting and action of stage performances, exhibits,and other arts and entertainment events. Audio description programs exist worldwide, and the prerecorded version known as “descriptive video” can be heard accompanying selected programs on television and specially formatted DVDs of films.

DP: How do you provide audio description for someone with vision loss who wants to look at a work of art?

EK: For the visual arts and exhibitions, specially trained describers begin by stating exactly “what is there” in a painting, sculpture installation, or display. The information is given in a very precise and organized way.

DP: How is that information different from what you might find on a gallery label?

EK: Audio description does not interpret the meaning of a work of art; nor does it give information about historical background, the artist’s life, or symbolism.

DP: So it just focuses on what is physically present?

EK: Yes, and for people who are blind, this description levels the playing field for a discussion of the meaning of the image. For people who have low vision, the description defines aspects of the image that may be unclear.

DP: Is there a difference between what a listener might hear in an audio description and what they might hear on an audio guide or cell phone tour?

EK: An audio guide program usually assumes that the listener sees the image discussed. On the other hand, audio description assumes that the listener cannot see the image or sees it imperfectly. If both were available, I would recommend that a visitor who has impaired vision listen to the audio description first, followed by the audio guide discussion.

Listen to Elizabeth Kahn’s audio description of the Jacob Lawrence painting Forward:

Download audio file (Forward-AD.mp3)

You can also hear a reading of the gallery label, which offers more interpretive information about the work of art:

Download audio file (Forward-label.mp3)

Installing Stressed World from The North Carolina Museum of Art on Vimeo.

The installation of the largest wall sculpture in the exhibition is a delicate affair. The process was captured over three days.

ncartmuseum.org/elanatsui

BW: What intrigued you about doing a documentary video of the North Carolina Museum of Art’s Rodin collection?

AH: The fact that there were so many new angles. The relationship with a Rodin collector and benefactor to the Museum. Curator David Steel tending and nurturing this collection. Architect Thomas Phifer and director Larry Wheeler working with landscape architect Walt Havener and planning director Dan Gottlieb to develop a new home for the permanent collection. I’m a native to Raleigh and grew up at the Museum. It’s been fascinating to watch the NCMA evolve over time.

BW: The video also provides a glimpse behind the scenes at the thoughtful work being done by conservators, registrars, exhibition designers, and art handlers to bring the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Court and Garden to life.

AH: Yes, the back story is compelling, but you may not know to ask about it if you aren’t familiar with the workings of an art museum.

BW: The video also documents a moment in time. We’ll never have The Three Shades arriving on a truck and being transported through West Building and out into the Rodin Garden again. It’s nice to have that moment captured permanently.

AH: And the permanence of these gifts to the state of North Carolina makes the story so relevant. The Rodin collection is here to stay. North Carolinians can visit the museum 50 years from now and wonder how these sculptures came to Raleigh—and the video answers some of those questions. That’s why the iPad app is so important, too. It’s another vehicle for sharing information about art with a very global public (at this writing, people in 38 countries, including the Netherlands, China, Russia, New Zealand, the Czech Republic, and Kuwait, just to name a few, have downloaded the free iPad app).

BW: Do you have a favorite moment in the video?

AH: I like watching people get excited about what they do, whether they’re a farmer, a surgeon, or in this case a curator or a conservator. The look on people’s faces when those crates full of Rodins came off the art delivery trucks was a special moment. Another moment was getting to sit down and talk with Iris Cantor about how passionate she and her husband were about building this collection.

BW: Yes, one of my favorite moments is Iris Cantor telling the story of her late husband Bernie first seeing The Hand of God as a marble sculpture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and how that sparked what he called his “magnificent obsession.” AH: What I love about directing and producing documentaries is how everything relates back to people. Art doesn’t exist in a vacuum; it takes an artist and a viewer responding to that artist. The building didn’t put itself up. The collection didn’t form itself. There are teams of people working to make all of those things happen. As a documentary filmmaker I can bring all of those elements together and help people understand and appreciate the art in a new way. Hopefully we’ve created pathways into the Museum and the art that weren’t there before.

BW: Are there challenges to capturing bronzes on film?

AH: NCMA photographers Karen Malinofski and Christopher Ciccone did a great job working with a variety of sizes, textures, and nooks and crannies within the collection, and it shows. The light in the new building made my job easier. It bathes the bronzes in light in a special way.

BW: I know you spent a whole lot of time at the Museum while it was being built and after the art was in place. There’s a thoughtfulness to your approach that is made visible in the video. The sculptures and the people whose story we tell are very lovingly filmed.

AH: The only way that you can show someone looking comfortable on camera is to spend a lot of time with them and develop a trusting relationship between the camera and that person. Maybe that’s true of art and the camera as well?! Everyone involved was so passionate about what they do, and I hope that comes out.

BW: For technical people who might be interested, what kind of cameras are you using?

AH: The still photos that the staff took were done with a medium-sized camera to capture high-resolution stills for the book and the app. For the filming we used digital single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras because the resolution is high and they’re small and easy to maneuver in and out of tight spaces. You have to be careful about what you’re bumping into at the Museum! We needed to keep the gear and the crew to a minimum but still come up with great visuals. We did use a dolly in the gallery space. We didn’t set up track because of the oak floor, but we used a “doorway” dolly and tried to light each piece to make it look on video like it does to the human eye as a visitor in this unique, naturally-lit setting.

BW: The video is an interweaving of facets of the story, which gives you multiple entry points into the works of Auguste Rodin depending on what you’re interested in.

AH: You can enter the story through one door and find out there are lots of other rooms to discover.

BW: Which reminds me of the multiple entry points into our permanent collection in West Building. You can literally come upon the Rodin sculptures by strolling through the garden, or come in through the front entryway and follow a passageway of classical sculptures toward the Rodin gallery.

AH: To continue the metaphor, both the building and the video give you places to stop and ponder, and places to move through more quickly, opportunities to make new connections between art and nature, and see relationships between art. Hopefully we’ve captured the sense of discovery that is inherent in a visit to the Rodin collection at the North Carolina Museum of Art.

Barbara Wiedemann is Associate Director of Publications at the North Carolina Museum of Art. Art Howard is the owner of ARTWORK, Inc., a multimedia production company specializing in video, stills, and stock.

Rockwell’s work reminds us of a time when families gathered around the dinner table or piled into the car (a car without a DVD player) for family vacations, a time when kids found ways to amuse themselves that didn’t involve sitting in front of a computer or a television. An age when many families found themselves out on their front porches in search of a cool breeze and a good story, as they entertained themselves with what was happening in the neighborhood.

Rockwell’s nostalgic works will put you in just the right frame of mind to enjoy a little time on our Front Porch. We have created a porch inside the Museum, complete with rocking chairs and a shady yard. Stop by for a game of checkers with a friend or just a little girl talk under the trees. The Front Porch is the perfect spot to linger and share your thoughts and impressions about Rockwell’s work. This gathering spot also hosts storytellers and musicians throughout the American Chronicles exhibition.

But not to worry; we haven’t totally left the 21^st century behind. Your view from the porch includes a screen with photographs of porches submitted by people across the state, and Caption This, a project that lets visitors submit captions for select works from three exhibitions. Do stop by!

Thanks again to David Mueller for the soundtrack (from the Heads on Sticks EP, Oak City Version.)

Installing Ogromna from The North Carolina Museum of Art on Vimeo.

NCMA: New Home from The North Carolina Museum of Art on Vimeo.

Special thanks to David Mueller, who kindly gave permission to use a track from the Heads on Sticks EP, Oak City Version. (Hat tip, New Raleigh.)

Note: That the name of the band fits the subject matter perfectly is just lovely serendipity.

(Here’s a direct link to the video.)

• Capturing the Essence: Barbara Wiedemann introduces the Museum’s new visual identity with a provocative and playful post.
• Cleaning Sargent: An unplanned visit to the Conservation Lab + a casual chat with a conservator + a couple snaps + a video = a really popular post. (This was a bit of an experiment in how quickly a post can come together, and it worked. I’m thinking we might need more of these in 2010.)
• Andrew Wyeth, 1917-2009: Personal stories make art and artists come alive in new ways. John’s remembrance of Andrew Wyeth did just that.
• The Thing in the Window: Curators have long-term relationships with objects in the permanent collection. Some works of art take you through mazes of hidden stories, enigmatic histories, shifting interpretation and attribution–mysteries abound. In this post, John points out a curious detail in a painting that continues to haunt him.
• The Bain Project:  In this post, I spoke with two artists on staff about their involvement in an innovative art installation/exhibition in Raleigh. We discuss the profound effect that architecture and artists’ spaces can have on the perception of art–a hot topic around here with the opening of our new building this spring.