Education and Community Programs

A central theme in the exhibition The Quick and the Dead is the expansive idea of time. Represented by watches, a flip clock, a time capsule and various other forms, musings on the passage of time are found in several works in the show. Tony Conrad’s Yellow Movie 2/28/73 (1973) consists of white paint on white paper that slowly yellows over years of exposure to light. Rivane Neuenschwander’s digital clock titled 00:00 (2007) sits inconspicuously on the wall above a gallery entrance mechanically flipping to zero over and over again.

Stephen Kaltenbach uses a delightfully familiar symbol of a culture’s time passing in his piece Time Capsule (OPEN AFTER MY DEATH) from 1970. The directive of the work found in the title addresses another monumental subject tackled by this exhibition: our own inescapable ends.

These two fundamental notions–the nature of time and the inevitability of death–are key forces in the life and career of Dr. Ronald Mallett, a theoretical physicist who will speak at the Walker in July in conjunction with the exhibition.

You may have heard Mallett’s story featured on the radio show This American Life, or more recently, on a special Father’s Day edition of Good Morning America. Or perhaps you’ve heard word of Spike Lee’s interest in making a biopic on Mallett. Regardless, it’s the kind of life that inspires everyone—from filmmakers to science fiction fans.

When he was just ten years old, Mallett’s beloved father died of a heart attack. A year later he stumbled upon a comic book based on H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine, the famous science fiction tale of time travel originally published in 1895. Inspired by the seemingly magical ability to travel backwards in history, Mallett formed a secret plan that he hoped would one day allow him to reunite with his father. Decades later, as a tenured professor in the physics department at the University of Connecticut, he has developed his childhood dream into a working theory of time travel.

Using Einstein’s theory of relativity which states that energy equals mass, Mallett’s machine uses circulating lasers to create loops or warps in time.* It’s a bit much to explain here (especially for a museum educator with a high-school physics education such as myself; this article does a better job), but luckily you can get it straight from the source.

On Thursday, July 9 Dr. Mallet will take the stage to give a lecture on his theories, including a basic introduction to scientific thinking on time-space. He’ll also read from his memoir, Time Traveler: A Scientist’s Mission to Make Time Travel a Reality and will be available to sign books.

Join us for an evening steeped in the mysteries of the universe via science and art. Gallery admission is free on Thursday nights from 5 to 9 pm–come early to discover the shapes of time found in The Quick and the Dead.

*It would be disingenuous to end this post without mentioning that Mallet’s time travel experiments are currently limited to sub-atomic particles, although he believes that with enough funding and research, human time travel can happen in this century. Now if someone can just figure out a sure-fire method for human cryopreservation we’ll all be back to the future!

Kids, this July 4th is our Fantastic Fourth Free First Saturday.  Join us in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden for a huge 4th of July party including music, artmaking activities, movement workshops and a bike parade!  Bring your decorated bicycle for a parade at noon.  Prizes will be awarded for best decorated bikes.  Call 612.375.7600 for more info.  Save the date, and remember to bring your decked-out bikes!

Meet Calpurnia Peach. She’s the lovely, mischievous, free spirited young lady whose Minnesota adventures shape her youthful style!

Actually, meet the two ladies who make up this upstart clothing line right here in Minneapolis. Fresh off their Voltage Amplified success, they’re ready to wow Walker patrons with their unique designs and original prints for this Thursday’s art lab.

 Luci Kandler and Ashley Wokasch will demonstrate the screen printing process on some of your old clothes. Public Programs intern Jamie Sandhurst talked to the dynamic duo about their process and Ms. Calpurnia Peach herself.

How and when did Calpurnia Peach get started? Where did the name come from? 

Calpurnia Peach started when we were studying in New York and were thinking of applying to Voltage: Fashion Amplified 2008 in Minneapolis. We deliberated on the name quite a bit. Ashley liked Calpurnia because it was a childhood nickname of hers and peaches were a current infatuation of Luci, and bam! The two just worked together so well that we decided to not only use them but to create this little girl character with that name, to represent the brand.

What kind of imagery do you use on your clothing and accessories?

 We mean to inspire adventure and youthfulness in our prints. They have ranged from New Zealand flowers, to daggers, to paper airplanes, to ceramic 1950’s quails. We have such a broad range of inspirations but we keep the prints wearable.

 How was your experience at Voltage: Fashion Amplified?

Voltage is such a life-saver to Minneapolis fashion. We learned so much from our first experience with the show and it opened us up to the twin cities fashion scene so quickly and completely that we were able to move forward at a fast pace. Our second year with Voltage showed evidence that local fashion is improving just as quickly with some really great talents and an awesome support system.

What can we expect in the future for Calpurnia Peach?

 We’ve talked about a variety of ways to extend Calpurnia Peach, but our main goal right now is increase production while maintaining the quality and keepsake feel of the line.

 And lastly, what can we expect for the upcoming Art Labs on June 11th and 25th?

 It’s going to be a blast! Expect to learn the screen-printing basics quickly and then put them to use on any fabric surface you would like embellished, think outside the box! Here’s a few tips when picking your surface, pick something that’s smooth and doesn’t have a pile, the lighter in color the better but we can do dark fabrics too, choose something that can lie completely flat so that you get a smooth print.