The Filament event I was most looking forward to was the MTAA Art Barn. After hearing about it in class I went to the website and began voting on what I wanted the barn to look like. I was voting on some ridiculous features and was therefore looking forward to seeing a completely unique and crazy barn.
When I walked up to the barn I was immediately a little disappointed. The wild barn I had in my mind was replaced with a fairly normal looking half finished barn. I thought after a weekend of various people working on the barn it would be completed, but it wasn't and maybe that is why I didn't get the full effect. I also wonder if my high expectations were unrealistic. In my mind and based off the questions I voted for, this was going to be a neon circular barn boat. I can't tell if the other people voting on the barn were more inclined to see a traditional barn or if structural restrictions limited the extend to which the artists could be creative. After hearing that there was an Art barn in San Jose I looked online to see what that one looked like. I felt like Art Barn east, while architecturally disappointing, was overall better because it was outdoors and felt like more of a community fueled work of art.
What I did find really interesting was hearing more about what is to be done with the barn. The barn will stay up through the end of October and many student groups on campus have already signed up to use the barn for various activities. This is truly an interactive piece of community art. The community got to help build the barn and now we get to have it on campus as a space for students to use. My disappointment with the appearance of the barn was countered by this information, and overall I think the Art Barn was a success.
