Bone Box by Michael Nicoll Yanhgulanaas is an art installation that is situated in the Museum of Anthropology. The installation, created in 2007, is a combination of 12 square pieces of plywood that are assembled together to reveal a large picture. While each piece, positioned next to one another, creates a unified image, each individual piece is, in fact, able to stand alone. The unification of all the pieces of plywood works together to tell a story of the Haida culture. Bone Box, being the only interactive installation in the Great Hall of the museum is very attractive. It not only draws audiences in through curiosity, but it also attracts their eye simply because of how colourful it is in comparison to the other pieces in the area. We are accustomed to not being able to touch any artefacts or artwork displayed in museums and the idea of allowing people to interact with this piece by turning the pieces of plywood to reveal the sentence “ A stack of plywood trays built to contain fragments of everyone’s culture.” is not only unique but also enriches the whole meaning of the piece.
Considering how this piece is comprised of individual images placed next to one another to create a larger picture while also leaving gaps in between them, insinuating that they are all independent, the audience is able to analyze the symbolic meaning of this piece through the way it is displayed. Before reading the sentence on the top of the plywood pieces, many people could infer that each section represents something on its own about the culture and the concept of unifying all of them symbolizes that unity within the culture. Therefore, the words written on the plywood only enhance or clarify this concept that the artist was trying to convey. This concept, combined with the interactive nature of the piece was also an intention of the artist, seeing as how it can bring people together to discover other features of it and learn more about how different, individual people come together to create what they call a “culture.”
What I have observed through this piece is how not only the images tell the story, the entire composition of the piece is what enriches the meaning. The uniqueness of the colours and the composition of this piece in comparison to the display of the other pieces in the museum, it stands out in a way that attracts people’s attention. However, the full intention and story behind this piece will not necessarily be clear to every individual that views and interacts with the piece. I did not necessarily know that this piece represented the Haida culture. One could look at the piece and understand it represents the indigenous culture; however, this culture and historical details are not necessarily taught to everyone who would view this piece. Therefore, I think that it could be hard for certain people to understand the piece without background knowledge or having read the sign describing the piece and the artists artistic intention.