Aura labora

I've been looking forward to the event for first years we put on in the Orozco Room this evening for a long time: a recollection and continuation of the brilliant "Re-imagining Orozco" show put on in 2010 by the University Art Collection (with that amazing animation) and a

  

couple of Parsons classes - with a bonus presentation of the just-completed "Questions for Revolution and Universal Brotherhood" project, too. The students got to contribute to a slide show of images, and generated poems from their reactions to the work, like this one:

power religion oppression ostracization

fiery controversy imposing difference

change socialism control pride impact

motivating ombre ethnocentristic

historical representation

But truth be told I'm not sure the students enjoyed it as much as we organizers did. We relished seeing the 2010 and 2012 projects presented in this room for the first time - at one point transgressively projecting them directly on to the venerable mural: we giggled like schoolchildren.
Art's Benjaminian aura doesn't have the same complicated tingle for our media-saturated students, so neither the transgression nor the genre-busting reimaginings were quite as intoxicating to them. Still, Orozco is part of their world now. And the murals, methinks, had a blast.