At the end of October, a “Space Available” sign went up in the front window of the U-M WORK Gallery on State. Rumors spread that the gallery was closing, and “one woman came in and actually started measuring” the space, says art and design prof Osman Khan. The woman was disappointed–“Space Available” was an exhibit organized by Khan’s A&D graduate students.
“One of the questions we are asking in our seminar is, ‘What is art in the twenty-first century?'” Khan explains. “Should we still be making paintings all the time?” In fact, virtually no art hung on any of the walls, and the culmination of the three-week exhibition may be a book. One evening the students showed the same movie (for free) that was playing at the State Theater across the street.
Khan admits they skirted ethical boundaries by showing the movie (student Kayla Romberger says the director knew, gave them a nod, and told them not to do it again). Like the sign, it was evidently intended as a commentary on art and business. “They’re in it for a commercial reason,” says Khan, referring to both the theater and to the brokers who put up real “Space Available” signs. “We don’t have to pay rent … so we have certain freedoms.”
The artists don’t pay rent, of course, because philanthropist Penny Stamps does. So what did Stamps make of the exhibit? Khan says she didn’t take part in any of the activities, but when he told her about it, she smiled.