Going in to the MIA, Carrie and I didn’t have a concept in mind. We just decided we would walk around, look at the art, take pictures of art we found to be interesting, and hopefully form some of them into a concept. By the end, we knew we wanted to contrast the past with the present. Our exhibit would be held in a long, skinny room painted black, with only two sources of light. On one end, the painting Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist by Onorio Marinari would be hung, with one dim light illuminating it. On the opposite wall, at the other end of the skinny room, would sit the stuffed animal chair created by Fernando and Humberto Campana, with the Club (probably from the Anishinabe (Ojibwe)) lying on it. A brighter light would illuminate the chair and club so that if you were standing in the middle of the room, you could see the chair and the club, but the decapitation painting would be in semi-darkness to give it an eerie feeling. On the Club there are carvings of different animals, giving light to important aspects of the tribe’s spiritual beliefs. We want to contrast the meaning of this ornate club, which gives respect to animals and their power, with the stuffed animal chair that just makes the animals look ridiculous. The difference in our cultures is astounding. The Native Americans respected animals and thought them to be great beings that controlled things such as the land and sky, while also brining medicinal gifts, among other things. Nowadays, we have ultimate control over animals. We, as a culture, obviously don’t have a widespread belief in the spiritual power of animals. We have the technology to overpower any sort of animal. We now have fluffy, cartoon versions of animals made into chairs. The sacred beliefs of the Native Americans are all but dead. While using animals as an example, our exhibit is trying to give light to the decreasing sanctity of anything and everything in our society today, for we are continually growing to be the masters of our own destinies. We are steering away from looking to higher powers for meaning and guidance. This lack of the sacred is displayed in the painting of the decapitation of Saint John the Baptist on the opposite wall.
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