Comments on: Whither Museums?

By: Belgian Antedote to the Broad Museum…I mean McMuseum

Belgian Antedote to the Broad Museum…I mean McMuseum — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 17:27:43 +0000

[...] Whither Museums {via Slow Painting} [...]

By: Deborah Barlow

Deborah Barlow — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 13:53:44 +0000

G, in this postmodern phase of our culture, there are lots of prevailing opinions that simply do not feel natural or easy to me to embrace. This is one of them, the prevailing proclivity to favor the “common man” experience over the need/desire/longing for privacy. I treasure my solitude and the experiences that only happen on the internal plane. That’s not a “PC” approved position, as you know. Nonetheless, I’m all for the 99% pure approach.

By: suburbanlife

suburbanlife — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 08:03:07 +0000

Deborah – those leanings may not be so much “elitist” as against the norm. Just because one thinks in certain ways doesn’t necessarily mean one is an elitist only that one thinks rationally on cause and effect. If we allow concentration to be divided. disturbed or otherwise impeded, we cannot expect to get the full range possible for our experience without the mediation of distractions. maybe purist, but wasnt the equation of 99% pure once thought to be desirable? G

By: Deborah Barlow

Deborah Barlow — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 00:23:18 +0000

G, thank you for these insights. I think about this problem a lot, and I struggle with leanings that could be seen as “elitist.” (I prefer to think of this as a proclivity to purism…!)

By: suburbanlife

suburbanlife — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 16:25:09 +0000

This is a very provocative posting. The article’e writer iterates some of my own thoughts vis a vis the gallery experience. I hate blockbuster exhibitions precisely for similar reasons – having to negotiate through crowds AND not being able to have the appropriate time and freedom to meditate upon what i am experiencing there.
As a member of the Board of a small municipal gallery, I proposed that we banish Muzak from within the gallery space. This proposal was met with vigorous resistance from the volunteer body and from other members of the Board. To me this represente succumbing to the “mallification” of the gallery, where the consideration of material was given the same importance as the fingering of clothes on a rack, or perusing soup cans on a shelf. This, I think is a good example of how we “dumb down” an activity which otherwise might yield some profound and meaningful thought. G