2-Physical Context The Museum PDF

Encountering the Museum Readings: Monument List: Gateways to Art, pp. 30-31, Ø Domenico Remps, Scarabottolo, 1675. 78-79, 361. Ø The Enlightenment Room, The British Muse...

Encountering the Museum Readings: Monument List: Gateways to Art, pp. 30-31, Ø Domenico Remps, Scarabottolo, 1675. 78-79, 361. Ø The Enlightenment Room, The British Museum, Terms/Concepts: London, opened 1823. museum, mouseion, muses, Ø Resnick Pavillion, LACMA (Los Angeles County treasury, pinakotheke, chapel, Museum of Art). ambulatory, reliquary, Ø Fred Wilson, Pedestals, wunderkammer, kunstkammer, from Mining the Museum, Enlightenment, white cube, 1992 postmodern installation, framing devices.  Artist Co xt nte nte Co xt Art Viewer Context When Where  Defining the Museum ØEtymologically: Our word museum comes from the word “mouseion” or “home of the muses.” ØDenotatively: a building in which objects of historical, scientific, artistic, or cultural interest are stored and exhibited. ØHistorically: locations where the collections and riches of a kingdom or a single person are kept.  The Mouseion: “The Home of the Muses” Baldassarre Peruzzi, Apollo and the Muses, 1514-1523. Calliope = Epic Poetry Erato = Love Poetry Terpsichore = Dance Melpomene = Tragedy Clio = History Euterpe = Song Polyhymnia = Hymns Urania = Astronomy Thalia = Comedy  Pre-Modern: Temples and Chapels Treasury of the Siphnians, Sanctuary to Apollo at Delphi, Greece, 550-530 BCE. Library at Alexandria, Egypt, c. 323-31 BCE. Propylaia Pinakotheke Temple of Athena Nike Propylaia (center), Temple of Athena Nike (right), Pinakotheke (Left). Acropolis, Athens. Apse with Reliquaries, Ste. Chapelle, Paris, c. 450-430 BCE France, 1370 CE.  The Early Modern: “Wunderkammer” European Trade Routes of the 15th and 16th century.  The Early Modern: “Wunderkammer” Musei Wormiani Historia, Italy, 16th century.  The Early Modern: “Wunderkammer” Domenico Remps, Scarabattolo, 1675.  The Early Modern: “Wunderkammer” Schloss Ambras, Kunst- and Wunderkammer, 17th Century.  The Early Modern: “Wunderkammer” Schloss Ambras, Kunst- and Wunderkammer, 17th Century.  The Early Modern: “Wunderkammer” William van Haecht, Kunstkammer of Cornelius van der Geest, 1628.  The Early Modern: Private Collections Rembrandt van Rijn, Self-Portrait, 1658. Collections in Rembrandt’s House in Amsterdam. Collections in Rembrandt’s House in Amsterdam.  The Enlightenment: Pictures go Public Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, opened 1683.  The Enlightenment: Pictures go Public The British Museum, London, founded 1753.  The Enlightenment: Pictures go Public The Enlightenment Room, The British Museum, London, opened 1823.  The Enlightenment Room, British Museum Reading Room, Denver Art Museum, 2011.  The Enlightenment: Pictures go Public The Enlightenment Room, The British Museum, London, opened 1823.  The Enlightenment: Pictures go Public The Louvre, Paris, Opened to the public in 1793.  The Enlightenment: Pictures go Public Hubert Robert, Design for the Grande Galerie in the Louvre, Paris, 1796. Installation view of “Jackson Pollock,” 1956–57, at Museum of Modern Art, New York.  The Modern Era: The White Cube Resnick Pavillion, LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art). Almost nothing displayed in museums was made to be seen in them. --Susan Vogel  Contemporary Scene: Postmodern Installation A Kuba woman’s wrapper, a Zande hunting net and a metal currency from Zairein the “Art Gallery Display” A Kuba woman’s wrapper, a Zande hunting net and a metal currency from Zairein the “Art Gallery Display” Diorama in the “Man in Africa” Hall, in the American Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C. Zande Net Jackie Winsor, Double Circle A Kuba woman’s wrapper, a Zande hunting net and a metal currency from Zairein the “Art Gallery Display” Fred Wilson, Mining the Museum, 1992. Installation. Cigar-Store Indians facing photographs of Native American Marylanders.  Contemporary Scene: Postmodern Installation Fred Wilson, (Right) Pedestals described as Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Benjamin Banneker; (Middle) Globe (known as Truth Trophy) ca. 1913; (Left) Henry Clay, Napoleon Bonaparte, Andrew Jackson busts. from Mining the Museum, 1992. Fred Wilson, Metalwork 1793-1880, from Mining the Museum, 1992.  Framing Devices in Museums Ø Choice of objects to display. Ø The grouping or separation of objects. Ø The categorization of objects. Ø The location of displays. Ø The design of displays. Ø The didactic materials. Museums “frame” our understanding and interpretation of cultures and historical periods.  Museum Displays Can… Ø Tell a story. Ø Create relationships. Ø Contextualize objects. Ø Lend importance to objects. Ø Declare an object to be an artwork or an artifact.  Questions to ask yourself… 1. How does the space operate? Is it small? Large? Does it encourage or discourage interaction with the art or others? 2. What is the scope of this exhibit? What objects are chosen? Why might they be chosen? What are you supposed to learn? 3. How are objects displayed? Are they grouped together? Separated? What relationships do you see among objects? 4. Are objects presented as artworks or artifacts? 5. How are the space and objects lit? Is the room bright? Dark? Does the lighting add a sense of drama? Does it highlight particular objects?