Honors Senior English students traveled to the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MoCA) in North Adams, MA on Thursday, September 6, where they applied the aesthetic theory they have been studying.
Throughout the opening weeks of the school year, the two sections of EN490Y Honors Senior English have read literary theory and criticism in order to deepen their ability to interpret art and literature.
Mass MoCA features large-scale visual art and performing arts pieces by contemporary artists, including permanent installations by Laurie Anderson, Anselm Kiefer, James Turell, and Sol LeWitt.
Dr. Katie Fleishman, head of the English department, led 26 students through the exhibits. Each student chose a piece that inspired them, sat with it, and wrote observations about the work over the course of an hour and a half. The activity was partly inspired by the work of Dr. Jennifer Roberts, an art historian who emphasizes the power of patience and “immersive attention.”
Charlotte Wood ’25 examined “The Couple” by Louise Bourgeois, a metal sculpture of two interlocked people that hangs from the ceiling. She said, “Forty minutes in, I noticed their bodies were made out of a different material than the rest of the sculpture, something I wouldn’t have noticed with a quick glance. I also started noticing the way the windows reflect onto the metal.”
Ellis Chung ’25 observed an animated storyboard from Laurie Anderson’s short film “Heart of a Dog.” The piece has 36 frames of what look like identical shots. “I chose this piece to see what I could glean from something so seemingly simple,” said Chung.
In the upcoming weeks, students will write “decelerated” observation papers that incorporate their discoveries about the art pieces. Dr. Fleishman said, “The goal of this assignment is to learn something through slow and deliberate examination.”
Chung said, “With the notes we took from the experiences viewing the art, we’re going to write about our impressions, using the knowledge that we gained over the past few weeks from the thinkers that we’ve read.”
