MFAH exhibit plays on emotions

Shadow Monsters, on display at the Houston Museum of Fine Arts through November 1, is one of the most successful exhibits I’ve seen in a long time.   

Artist Philip Worthington developed the exhibit, which allows individuals passing by to fully participate in a game in which their oversized shadow is projected digitally onto a large blank wall along with a few extra appendages that include teeth, tongues, eyes and fins to their projected image.

The best participation came from kids (who absolutely loved it), but adults clearly had fun as well. Anyone participating found a way to create ghosts, monsters and other mythical figures from their own projection and then use those mythical creations to interact with each other. It was imagination run amok and everyone involved seemed to be having a great time as the wall showed oversized images of monsters, ghosts and altered human figures jumping and reaching for one another.

That was the key to the success of the exhibit: interaction with the audience. In an age when too much art involves a passive response from the viewer, this one required participation…. and the use of imagination. The exhibit also undermined the notion that art is somehow staid or boring.

In an interview on the MFAH website,  Worthington described briefly the idea behind the project: “Looking back to my own childhood, I remembered the feeling of casting huge shapes in the light of my father’s slide projector, creating monsters and silly animals. I enjoy working with simple, intuitive things; playful feelings that touch us on a very basic level.”

Simple and fun. That’s what makes it a success. There is no universally accepted definition of art, but some of the most common questions that critics ask when thinking about it: Is it a reflection of our times? I would argue, yes. it is… Frivolous, perhaps, but in an age when mass shootings, refugee crises and war are daily themes, a museum is a great place of escape … and one which is much needed and overlooked.  Does it make us think differently about how we see ourselves? Absolutely, yes. and in a very literal way.

Will it hold public attention a year from now? What about a generation from now? I’m honestly not sure about this one. Maybe, yes…. maybe not. On the other hand, maybe that is the point of the exhibit: what we have is here and now. Use the moment to forget the outside world and savor the joy of the moment.