Bauhaus 100 + Living In a Museum
WDCB’s Gary Zidek catches up with artist Claudia Weber during her first week living in the Elmhurst Art Museum’s McCormick House. Plus, museum executive director John McKinnon talks about the arrival of the new traveling exhibit, THE WHOLE WORLD A BAUHAUS.
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“The more I thought about it, I felt like the house is very sculptural, so I don’t want to add art sculptures in that sense, because I felt like it becomes too much. So what do I bring? At some point it clicked, and I thought I should bring myself, I should bring life into this house, meaning, I live here” - Artist Claudia Weber talking about the origins of her idea to live in the McCormick House at the Elmhurst Art Museum.
Claudia Weber inside the McCormick House
Germany’s Bauhaus school was only open 14 years, but its influence on art, design and architecture is still very evident today. The Elmhurst Art Museum is joining the global celebration of the Bauhaus’ centennial anniversary by welcoming the traveling exhibition, THE WHOLE WORLD A BAUHAUS, as well as presenting some very interesting contemporary programming.
Exhibition catalogue
Curated by Boris Friedwald, THE WHOLE WORLD A BAUHAUS explores the enduring influences that emerged from the German school.
Kurt Schmidt, Construction for fireworks, from the Stage Workshop, 1923, lithograph. Reproduction 2017 Photo credit: Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen
Marianne Ahlfeld- Heymann (attributed), exercise from the class“pictorial form theory” by Paul Klee, 1923 –24, drawings. Photo credit : A. Körner, bildhübsche Fotografie, Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen
Marcel Breuer, Chair B5, 1926. Photo credit: A. Körner, bildhübsche Fotografie, Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen
Divided into eight chapters, THE WHOLE WORLD A BAUHAUS will be on display at the Elmhurst Art Museum April 20, 2019.
Hannes Meyer, (editor), “study at the bauhaus!” bauhaus, journal for design, 2 / 3, 1928. Photo credit : A. Körner, bildhübsche Fotografie, Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen
The Elmhurst Art Museum is complimenting the comprehensive exhibit with two contemporary site specific installations inside the McCormick House.
Chicago-based artist Claudia Weber will be living in one part of the McCormick House, which is now part of the Elmhurst Art Museum, for two months. During her time, Weber is interested in exploring what happens to life when it’s put on display.
Claudia Weber checking messages inside her home for the next two months
The initial proposal was for Weber to create a site-specific exhibit that would go on display in the McCormick House, but that idea evolved into something else. And Weber came up with the idea of residing at the museum and engaging with visitors in different ways.
There were some logistics that needed to be figured out, for example the McCormick House doesn’t have a working bathroom in its current state. A week into her stay, Weber says she’s learning and adapting to the challenges that come with living in a museum.
One of Weber’s living areas inside the McCormick House
Weber has access to the Elmhurst Art Museum’s bathroom and breakroom kitchen. She heads to the nearby YMCA to take showers in the morning. Her “bedroom” is modest, but functional.
Claudia Weber’s bed and desk inside the McCormick House.
Weber will be presenting different programming insider her wing of the McCormick during her time there. But she says there will also be improvisational elements to her exhibit, and it will evolve over time. Weber is inviting visitors to engage with her while they’re at the Elmhurst Art Museum. Weber even developed an interactive game for visitors to play when they visit.
Claudia Weber’s card game “Exquisite Corpse”
