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Dr. Bess Williamson

Historian of design and culture

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  • Bio: Dr. Bess Williamson (she/hers)
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Most of us: [Image: You Are Looking At /Unceded Land, text on windows looking out from Chicago Cultural Center to park/office landscape. Work by @futurefirm , @amlc.umich , American Indian Center of Chicago]
Kind of obsessed with this Mika Rottenberg show at the #MCA especially the Spaghetti Blockchain piece, which is a video of intense sensory stuff (see images) with Tuvan throat singing. This was a hit with all members of my family ages 4-47. I was there again today and a curator pointed out to me that all videos are both captioned and visually described on their website- so this one is at MCAchicago.org/access-sb. I really like open captioning best but I know that very few artists will allow it. But, I enjoyed following along. I just wish the videos would have a full-screen option so I can make this the accessible background to my everyday life (jk sort of). #AccessibleMuseums #description #Captions #videos #MikaRottenberg #Senses #ASMR #AccessibleASMR
I love when friends guest lecture.. especially when a different department organized it so I don't have to do anything. Welcome @retracharas
The Art Institute recently acquired Andreas Jacque's work Phantom: Mies as Rendered Society, which takes objects/equipment out of the basement of the reconstructed Barcelona Pavilion as an installation. Apparently there is a staircase to the basement deliberately designed to be terrible to use so that no one would be tempted to make the basement into an exhibition/interpretation space. #inaccessiblearchitecture #inaccessiblemuseum
Is it just me or is there a real sensory moment happening in contemporary art right now? I'd love to hear recs on where to read thoughts about it. Image: small kid going into a wall of tinsel in Mika Rottenberg exhibition at MCA Chicago
Something I've been pondering about the #ChicagoArchitectureBiennial .. it's a triumph in many ways, really getting at the social/political/power issues in architecture.. stretching so far beyond the usual focus on architectural practice and history, to implications and experiences and possibilities of architecture & design very broadly defined. But There is no explicit reference to disability or access as far as I have found. On the website there is one student project for an accessible playground. many projects (esp a large section on sanitation) are public health related.. but otherwise there is no mention of disabled people or the activism that has changed architecture significantly (though not necessarily arch. discourse) in the last 50 years or so. That said- it's very well designed for mobility access, at least. Nice wide paths, uncluttered installations. And LOTS of seating. Way more than typical exhibitions. And sitting/discussing is a big part of the show- libraries, a "common ground" gathering space with fun flexible seating. But, not all videos were captioned and no audio options as far as I know. And no critical projects involving access. Could have seen @ablerism's "design for one" work here, or @slowdwelling's campus mapping, or NYC's Adaptive Design workshop, or Liz Henry's tech/maker work. So that was ahead scratcher for me.
  • Writing
  • Bio: Dr. Bess Williamson (she/hers)
  • Teaching
  • News
  • CV
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