LET THERE BE LIGHT!!!!!

After our mapping assignment I decided the walker lights map was one that caught my eye as an interesting piece that raised several questions. Some of these questions I had the opportunity to ask during the final critique. The rest are newly formulated after looking at the piece again and again in recent days.
The Map i am doing displays the different works at the walker by the gender of the artist. Males get blue lights and females red lights. The piece is mounted on foam core. The foam core has little holes cut out of it where the lights are mounted through. The wiring and batteries are all on the back side of the piece which the viewer does not see. The foam core is painted black and has silver sharpie neatly outlining the walkers floor plan. The lights are placed accurately to where the actual pieces of art are located. The piece also comes with a little key to help the viewer clarify what is going on.
The piece covers the walkers first and second floor(galleries 1,2, and 3). At first glance the walker appears very sexist. Which brings the walker itself into question. There is only a light sprinkling of red amongst the see of blue. Only in one little crowded cluster of lights does it appear like the red and blue lights are equally represented. This area Is where the new contemporary pottery exhibit at the walker is located.
So why are the proportions of lights the way they are?
The majority of the walkers art is and has been collected over the last half century. Which explains why there are so few women in the rest of the galleries. Women did not go to art school or become artists very easily until very recently. These days it can even be argued that women will start to out number men in the art field. Just look at our classes here at CVA. So while the walker is filled with contemporary art. It is still art from long enough ago that social changes have occurred and changed the balance.

I enjoyed this piece. I found it appealing to the eye and I enjoyed the quality of craft put into it. The idea of using the lights is very ingenious and clever. The piece raises questions and invites you to look into it further. Its message is easily crossed to the viewer and is simple enough to keep my attention. The lights are good at attracting your attention even from across the room.
Overall I thought this was a well designed map