Insistent Presence: Moving 'Exodus'

Host Gianofer Fields puts you in the middle of moving a work of art that is a centerpiece of the Insistent Presence exhibition: Exodus by Barthélémy Toguo, a work that comments on the movement of people throughout Africa. Listen for the hiss of the tire pump, the squeaky wheels, and the groans of the Chazen's freight elevator (which, it turns out, has a name).

Meet Me at the Chazen is a podcast about the the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Chazen Museum of Art, the largest collecting museum in the Big Ten. As we report what’s happening here, we'll also explore what it means to be an art museum at a public university and how art museums can help enrich and strengthen the communities they serve. Meet Me at the Chazen theme and incidental music is “Swinging at the Pluto Lounge,” composed and performed by Marvin Tate and friends, and is used with permission of the artists.

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Transcript

 Gianofer Fields  00:06
 Meet Me at the Chazen. I'm your host, Gianofer Fields. As the title suggests, our current exhibit, Insistent Presence: Contemporary African Art from the Chazen Collection, contains some work living in other galleries in the museum prior to being moved to the Roland Gallery for the exhibition. Exodus by Cameroonian artist Barthélémy Toguo resided in Gallery 13 at the Chazen until being carefully moved by our preparators to its current resting place in the exhibition. When I recorded this bit of audio, it was not my intention to produce a podcasts; I was really just being nosy. In my opinion, curiosity never supersedes the need for others to complete their task. So I tried to tie my questions in a way that did not disrupt their work. I also didn't address anybody by name during the recording. However, once the sculpture was secure, in this new temporary home, I did my due diligence.

John Berner  01:05
 My name is John Berner. I'm a preparator for the Chazen Museum of Art.
 
 Rosco Ford  01:09
 I am Rosco Ford; I'm a preparator with the Chazen Museum of Art.
 
 Kate Wanberg  01:14
 And I'm Kate Wanberg, the exhibition and collections project manager at the Chazen Museum of Art.
 
 Margaret Nagawa  01:19
 I am Margaret Nagawa; I'm the guest curator for Insistent Presence, the exhibition that’s coming up.

Gianofer Fields  01:25
 The following is part interview, part ASMR, and let's be real here, mostly nosiness.
 
 Gianofer Fields  01:41
 Somebody describe for me what this is, because I'm just so that we can give a visual like, what are we looking at what is this?
 
 Margaret Nagawa  01:57
 We have a Raleigh bicycle here, yellow in color, a nice warm yellow. And it's pulling a cart, a wooden cart that is filled with bandos wrapped in what is often called African print fabrics, or wax print fabrics. And underneath that, what is often called on the continent, China bags, because often they are manufactured in China, and people generally trade between Asian countries and Africa. And they load them up with goods to bring back from the trading. So, and it's all wrapped together or held in place by a rope. On the side of that is hanging a plastic kettle. Again, not to put on the fire, but just to carry water, and a broom, which you often find in markets is a very common item across the continent to sweep the compound outdoors. Yeah. So this is by Barthélémy Toguo, from Cameroon, and the title of the work Exodus.
 
 Rosco Ford  03:11
 And you're the right person to speak about it. Yeah.
 
 Margaret Nagawa  03:18
 I think you live with it, you show it! I would like to hear your perspective. This is so tactile and enticing. I want to hold it!
 
 Kate Wanberg  03:27
 Yeah, I think a lot of visitors want to touch this piece because it just, it looks so functional, right? All of the objects are things that visitors are familiar with in some way. And the prints are so vibrant in the fabric that they just want to reach out.
 
 Gianofer Fields  03:48
 So that to move this well, you have to take all the bundles and stuff off?
 
 Rosco Ford  03:54
 Well, we discussed that we talked about possibly doing that. But we ultimately decided that it seems like a lot of unnecessary work to be like pulling all of these just to kind of like transport it downstairs. You know, I think if we were shipping it, of course we'd move it to be safer than ...
 
 Gianofer Fields  04:14
 And then what's something like this, is this grouping the artist’s work in would you be changing the artist's work if you took it apart and re-grouped it?
 
 John Berner  04:24
 So it was delivered in pieces. And we had to put it together based on like a few photographs that were given to us. The tricky part is that rope that goes through every single one of them, being able to figure out the way that those all sit together, so that like they form that full bunch where there isn't any holes. And then that rope can also pass all the way through all of them. It's really tricky. It takes a long time.
 
 Gianofer Fields  05:02
 Girl, you do not have a bicycle pump in this museum. This is crazy!
 
 Kate Wanberg  05:06
 We've got to have some way to pump up the tires!
 
 Gianofer Fields  05:18
 So then is that a concern, I mean, eventually at the tire keeps going flat, is it gonna be replaced? Is it kind of like the Oldenburg screw, where it no matter what happens to it, it may or may not retain its "value," in quotation marks?
 
 Kate Wanberg  05:36
 I mean rubber in general will age over time. And so it will get stiff and brittle. So we definitely could just replace the tire if needed. And we would try to match, you know, like the, this tire is actually a different tire than the tire on the back there was like a white line that goes along that we could also potentially replace the tubes, but they're not leaking air at a really fast rate. It's just like a normal rate for a bicycle ...
 
 John Berner  06:04
 You know when you put your bike in the garage for the winter. And you come back and it's spring and you gotta pump 'em up.
 
 Gianofer Fields  06:12
 But then is that still, but is it still part of it? Is it still part of the work of art then? Like doesn't that change the work of art?
 
 Kate Wanberg  06:21
 I think because this is a found object it's like the idea of the bicycle is more important than the actual individual parts of the bicycle, so I think as long as it's visually the same and in the spirit of what the artist selected, we're still, we're still in the spirit of the art work as a whole.
 
 John Berner  06:44
 I think it kind of like falls under the line of like conservation where like you do in-filling on a paint painting and it's been damaged. It's not the original paint but the intention is when you put that new in-filling and you're matching what was there as closely as you can to possible in order to like reflect what the original work was.
 
 Gianofer Fields  07:06
 So I'm guessing you're not gonna attach a scooter to this and call it a day.
 
 Kate Wanberg  07:12
 Maybe one of those electric scooters we saw yesterday.
 
 John Berner  07:17
 With giant wheels.
 
 Kate Wanberg  07:21
 Although I don't know what the PSI on these tires is. Probably 80 will be fine.
 
 Gianofer Fields  07:37
 I never thought I would see this in a gallery that, well actually I never thought I'd be able to be behind the scenes in to see this thing actually move but to watch you pumping up tires
 
 Kate Wanberg  07:51
 Did you find it?
 
 John Berner  07:52
 It's 90 on both.
 
 Kate Wanberg  07:53
 I think if we do 80 on both, we'll be good.
 
 Rosco Ford  07:55
 You've got some cool noises today.
 
 Gianofer Fields  08:08
 I'm waiting for somebody to ring the bell!
 
 Kate Wanberg  08:11
 I don't think we've ever rung it. ... when it's in place downstairs ... the other thing we might have to think about is oiling this chain.
 
 John Berner  08:21
 I mean ... it was rusty when it got here.
 
 Kate Wanberg  08:26
 Yeah. I'll send David, he's my bike mechanic.
 
 John Berner  08:35
 I mean, I can do it, but ... Also, the derailleur here, well, it's a, it's not a gear, it's like a rubber, a rubber grommet system instead of like a series of gears.
 
 Gianofer Fields  09:06
 Would you eventually get to the point where you just would carry it and not even wheel it?
 
 Kate Wanberg  09:11
 Essentially. I like wheels, though, they make our lives a lot easier.
 
 John Berner  09:18
 Especially when it has like big comfortable wheels like that, it's gonna be less shock to any of this as we move it.
 
 Gianofer Fields  09:26
 So then what's the plan what's the plan of moving it?
 
 Kate Wanberg  09:32
 We detach the bike and wheel that separately so that goes ... because I don't think it will ... [crosstalk] I was like, what is that noise? Hi, good morning, Margaret!
 
 Gianofer Fields  09:59
 Good morning, good morning.
 
 Kate Wanberg  10:01
 So yeah, I think we'll just detach the bike so that it'll fit in the elevator and we'll bring them separately, we might be able to get both in the elevator once they're detached. And then we'll get to a couple of people on this so that it's stable, and just wheel it very slowly into the freight elevator and down to the Rowland Gallery. Come on this journey with us!
 
 Gianofer Fields  10:26
 I'm just delighted at how calm you are because I literally had a nightmare last night that my bike was stolen. And when I found it, it was here and nobody would let me take my bike because they said it was a work of art. If I was just crying and screaming like 'You know! There's pictures of me with it in my kitchen!'
 
 Kate Wanberg  10:48
 Pee Wee's Big Adventure oh it's just all about Pee-Wee like losing his bike and trying to find it ...
 
 Kate Wanberg  11:02
 I didn't bike in today.
 
 John Berner  11:03
 yeah I almost did and then I realized that it was getting late. [crosstalk]. Just learn that bit of information and you've already dove right into it.
 
 Rosco Ford  11:18
 Winter is terrible here!
 
 Kate Wanberg  11:28
 I think maybe let's put the kickstand up and then, there we go. Margaret do you want that honor of wheeling the bicycle?
 
 Margaret Nagawa  11:48
 I'd be happy to!
 
 Gianofer Fields  11:53
 We look up as she's just going through the galleries, just taking off!
 
 Kate Wanberg  12:00
 Can you bring that bike pump from the elevator? Thank you.
 
 Gianofer Fields  12:18
 Can I write down with? Is there room for all of us in here?
 
 Rosco Ford  12:20
 Of course, yeah. There should be.
 
 Kate Wanberg  12:22
 [crosstalk] final thing ... you got to grasp ... reposition them for travel ... [crosstalk, squeaking rubber tires on gallery floor ...]
 
 John Berner  13:34
 That is all the way?
 
 Kate Wanberg  13:36
 And Rosco if you ...
 
 Margaret Nagawa  13:38
 If we bring the cart, I think it can't fit.
 
 Kate Wanberg  13:42
 We'll come back.
 
 Rosco Ford  13:42
 We can come grab it.
 
 Kate Wanberg  13:43
 I've got it. .... open the front doors.
 
 Rosco Ford  14:20
 So this is Frank the Freight Elevator.
 
 Gianofer Fields  14:22
 Frank the Freight Elevator?
 
 John Berner  14:24
 Frank is ornery, uncooperative sometimes.
 
 Gianofer Fields  14:27
 Well if you keep talking about him like that, I would be too.
 
 John Berner  14:31
 He's earned the reputation, he knows why we talk about him the way we do.
 
 Gianofer Fields  14:34
 Yeah, I guess us ornery folks know we're ornery. There's an art to it! I try to tell people there's an art to being ornery and it's an art to being petty.
 
 Kate Wanberg  14:48
 All right, we're going this direction, towards me ... [rubber tires on gallery floor] ... okay so we can come in towards me ... [squeaking rubber tires]
 
 Kate Wanberg  16:11
 Do we want to have something like this?
 
 John Berner  16:14
 I mean, I can just hold on to it.
 
 Kate Wanberg  16:22
 I think it's gonna have to come, just a bit, like this way ...
 
 John Berner  16:29
 Do you like this angle though?
 
 Kate Wanberg  16:31
 Yeah ... which means no yeah no yeah no, just, I think it needs more, a little bit yeah, and then, back up, back, then let's, we can start with it there. Actually, step back that direction and take a look at it to see what do you think. [crosstalk]
 
 Margaret Nagawa  17:26
 I would say not necessarily trying that, but sliding backwards a bit, so we're not in the way of these.
 
 Kate Wanberg  17:41
 Okay, that's easily adjustable yeah so once we kind of have everything in place we can make changes. It's not very often that something this large is this easy to move.
 
 Margaret Nagawa  18:09
 I think the artist was thinking about us when he was making it.
 
 Gianofer Fields  18:20
 There's so many work parts about it too that just make me want to shop, because the bags in the bottom, this would be a what we would call a grocery bag like a you know, recyclable grocery bag, and then the bundles on top if you so it's just like this is heaven. But yeah, there's something that just makes you it's really, there's a movement to it, and an enticement like you said to it, that it's really hard to resist like it's ...
 
 John Berner  18:59
 ... a jump suit made out of them.
 
 Gianofer Fields  18:59
 And I thought this would take hours, like all of this is going to be crazy. They're going to take it all apart, then put it back.
 
 John Berner  19:05
 This is probably the easiest part of the whole exhibition.
 
 Gianofer Fields  19:08
 Knock on wood.
 
 John Berner  19:11
 I don't know if there's something else that's easier, I don't have a problem with that, too, if this isn't the easiest thing.
 
 Rosco Ford  19:19
 Are we good on placement? I wanted to run up and grab the cart real quick.
 
 Kate Wanberg  19:23
 We've got ... I think we leave it as is until this afternoon, and when we do the walk through and look at everything together, we need to make subtle adjustments.
 
 Gianofer Fields  19:42
 You've been listening to Meet Me at the Chazen. Our guests:
 
 John Berner  19:45
 My name is John Berner. I'm a preparator at the Chazen Museum of Art.
 
 Rosco Ford  19:50
 I am Rosco Ford; I'm a preparator with the Chazen Museum of Art
 
 Kate Wanberg  19:54
 And I'm Kate Wanberg, the exhibition and collections project manager at the Chazen Museum of Art.
 
 Margaret Nagawa  19:59
 I am Margaret Nagawa; I'm the guest curator for Insistent Presence. The exhibition is coming up.
 
 Gianofer Fields  20:05
 The backbone of our current exhibition, Insistent Presence: Contemporary African Art from the Chazen Collection, at UW–Madison's Chazen Museum of Art. Meet Me at the Chazen is a production of the Chazen Museum of Art on the campus of UW–Madison in Madison, Wisconsin. For more information about the museum its collections and exhibitions visit chazen.wisc.edu I'm your host, Gianofer Fields. Thank you for listening.