Even the curtain of hanging beads. Which I am not sure was connected to this exhibit, can not be gone through in a chair on your own. Need two hands to go forward oh and i need two hands to split this curtain thing. That’s math is not adding up. Which of course means that there were several galleries I couldn’t go in to without begging someone to help me. How patronizing! Is there even someone who works here in a chair? Cause if not you need someone to tell you how your shows are discriminatory. Thoughtlessness is not an excuse.

In one of the small alcoves there was a bookshelf with a cabinet of art books that had supposedly been shipped to a gallery in Japan and were subsequently censored by Japanese customs. I slid open the glass thinking, clearly, I can peruse the books with the altered images. We noticed later that at one point, there had been a balsa wood jam in the sliding door track, but someone else had broken it, the door was off track, and I was able to easily slide it open.

A small elderly guard tried to detain me, by yelling, “YOU STAY HERE!” while I had no clue what happened, (At first I thought it was a joke- part of the exhibit, labeled appropriately enough, “Challenging Authority” or something similar. He then called his supervisor to communicate with me. I explained to the supervisor what had happened. He told me that it was very confusing, they should have a sign there, and bid me to enjoy the rest of the gallery. I apologized for having “altered” the items.

I’m not a crazy and know in all other cases that you just don’t touch the art! I think, in this instance, it was either short sighted of the artist to put his open example on top of the shelf, where you had to get right up to it to view, and to make the cabinet seem accessible, or it was an error for the gallery to put this particular work in the participatory exhibit.

Naomi