In this new commission for Manning Hall, Now You See It by Harley Morman, the artist has turned the walls of gallery into a large-scale word search puzzle, which features the surnames of a selection of 280 artists whose work is represented in the AGA’s collections.
While the work is firstly an interactive game that is intended to engage visitors in a fun and challenging activity, it is also celebrates and calls attention to the artists whose work the AGA is built upon, with their names having become a literally part of the walls for the duration of the exhibition. Through the development of installations, toys and games that function simultaneously as aesthetic objects (works of art) and didactic devices (teaching tools) Morman explores the role that the artist as provocateur, cultural community member as well as educator. For Morman, play is an integral part of the work as it stimulates a participatory process and social exchange that is fundamental to how art and ideas circulate in the world.