Because collect-and-cage is boring
September 27, 2014 7:53 AM Subscribe
Art should be enjoyed the way it was intended: hanging from the walls of a wealthy merchant's house on the shores of the Adriatic Sea.
posted by mikewebkist at 8:03 AM on September 27, 2014 [49 favorites]
posted by mikewebkist at 8:03 AM on September 27, 2014 [49 favorites]
Museums? Man, that stuff really gets old.
posted by Segundus at 8:03 AM on September 27, 2014 [13 favorites]
posted by Segundus at 8:03 AM on September 27, 2014 [13 favorites]
Actually, if you get past the knee-jerk "foul heathen!" reaction, the guy's got a good point.
He's not complaining about museums as a concept. He's more complaining about how museums relate to people. And he's right, the way that museums are set up aren't that great about luring the casual observer in.
A lot of us who are big museum buffs are already coming into it with a curiosity and an eagerness that we've brought from somewhere else. My love for art museums actually began with the Van Gogh coffee table books my mom had when I was little, which I'd read when I got bored. For us, the way a museum presents things is just fine. But for someone who hasn't had enough of a background as to what that thing is they're looking at and why they should care, a lot of museums do kind of fall down in contextualizing things.
On the other hand - guys, there's nothing stopping adults from playing around with the knobs and bells and levers and such that the kids are playing with. And there's also nothing stopping you from just leaving a particular section or a particular museum if you're not feeling it. There are entire sections of the British Museum and the Uffizi and the Vatican Museums I just blew by because "meh", but that just left me time to linger in the areas that did grab me (did you know there's an entire Contemporary Art section in the Vatican?).
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:06 AM on September 27, 2014 [9 favorites]
He's not complaining about museums as a concept. He's more complaining about how museums relate to people. And he's right, the way that museums are set up aren't that great about luring the casual observer in.
A lot of us who are big museum buffs are already coming into it with a curiosity and an eagerness that we've brought from somewhere else. My love for art museums actually began with the Van Gogh coffee table books my mom had when I was little, which I'd read when I got bored. For us, the way a museum presents things is just fine. But for someone who hasn't had enough of a background as to what that thing is they're looking at and why they should care, a lot of museums do kind of fall down in contextualizing things.
On the other hand - guys, there's nothing stopping adults from playing around with the knobs and bells and levers and such that the kids are playing with. And there's also nothing stopping you from just leaving a particular section or a particular museum if you're not feeling it. There are entire sections of the British Museum and the Uffizi and the Vatican Museums I just blew by because "meh", but that just left me time to linger in the areas that did grab me (did you know there's an entire Contemporary Art section in the Vatican?).
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:06 AM on September 27, 2014 [9 favorites]
On the other hand - guys, there's nothing stopping adults from playing around with the knobs and bells and levers and such that the kids are playing with.
A good antidote to the sameness of museums is the interactive natural history museum where the exhibits are meant to be manipulated. Last time we visited San Francisco my wife and I made a point of using our Exploratorium coupons for adults only night, and we had a blast.
posted by localroger at 8:10 AM on September 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
A good antidote to the sameness of museums is the interactive natural history museum where the exhibits are meant to be manipulated. Last time we visited San Francisco my wife and I made a point of using our Exploratorium coupons for adults only night, and we had a blast.
posted by localroger at 8:10 AM on September 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
People eat these articles up with a spoon. A couple more:
- 21 reasons why I hate museums
- 21 Reasons Why I Love Museums
(The latter rocks.)
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 8:10 AM on September 27, 2014
- 21 reasons why I hate museums
- 21 Reasons Why I Love Museums
(The latter rocks.)
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 8:10 AM on September 27, 2014
I wonder if this is something that could be helped by updated guides. I agree that I often gloss over areas of museums that I don't know much about if the labels are on the level of "Vase: Iran; circa 15th century,". But there's no reason museums should be limited to that level of description - if printing or space is really the problem, have a tag so you can point your smart phone to it and get some actual context. This vase is interesting because it's a rare example of trade from Madeupistan with influences from Otherplacia, showing Iran's unique position as a blahblahblah.
Contemporary art museums can be the worst at this, because I actually like contemporary art a lot, but I don't have the strongest background. It often feels like more than half the artwork either is just title/date/artist, or an artist's description containing many polysyllabic words and no actual information. I really like it when museums go out of their way to contextualize art, so now I know that a blue canvas with yellow circles is actually harkening back to artist X and cultural influences from Y.
posted by fermezporte at 8:17 AM on September 27, 2014 [8 favorites]
Contemporary art museums can be the worst at this, because I actually like contemporary art a lot, but I don't have the strongest background. It often feels like more than half the artwork either is just title/date/artist, or an artist's description containing many polysyllabic words and no actual information. I really like it when museums go out of their way to contextualize art, so now I know that a blue canvas with yellow circles is actually harkening back to artist X and cultural influences from Y.
posted by fermezporte at 8:17 AM on September 27, 2014 [8 favorites]
Many people overlook the audioguides but when they're good they're great and add an entire new layer to the experience. My previously bored by medieval art SO had The voice of Helen Mirren calmly explain how paintings where expected to be read during the period and it flipped a switch in his head he didn't know was there.
posted by The Whelk at 8:21 AM on September 27, 2014 [7 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 8:21 AM on September 27, 2014 [7 favorites]
I looooove museums. This is probably because I wasn't introduced to them as things that virtuous tourists do to show that they're cultured. I grew up in DC, and my family didn't have a lot of money when I was a kid. The Smithsonian was free, so we went to the Smithsonian a lot. And I mean, the Smithsonian is full of wonderful things that would delight any six-year-old. There is a throne made of garbage covered with tinfoil! There is a bug zoo where you can touch the bugs! Last time I was in DC, I took my seven-year-old nephew to the Natural History museum and we got to touch a giant cockroach. Seriously: this was the highlight of his day, but it was also kind of the highlight of mine. Their "bugs of North America" exhibit is kind of a thing of beauty, especially if you're a seven-year-old or a grown-up with the mentality of a seven-year-old.
What is true, I think, is that old-school museums, with rows of stuff labeled "Vase: Iran; circa 15th century", can be pretty dry. I mean, I also love a lot of that stuff, but sometimes you don't know what you're looking at and need more information and guidance. But I think that modern museums are pretty attuned to that problem and try to have more interactive exhibits, docent-led tours, audio guides, and other stuff to help you relate to the displays.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 8:22 AM on September 27, 2014 [11 favorites]
What is true, I think, is that old-school museums, with rows of stuff labeled "Vase: Iran; circa 15th century", can be pretty dry. I mean, I also love a lot of that stuff, but sometimes you don't know what you're looking at and need more information and guidance. But I think that modern museums are pretty attuned to that problem and try to have more interactive exhibits, docent-led tours, audio guides, and other stuff to help you relate to the displays.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 8:22 AM on September 27, 2014 [11 favorites]
(Of course, I also love libraries, and I saw that he got in a gratuitous swipe at them, too. Maybe we just have completely conflicting temperaments.)
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 8:24 AM on September 27, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 8:24 AM on September 27, 2014 [3 favorites]
Also yes, museums are often the emery of context. I had a friend who said all that great work wasn't meant to be seen all at once, and I kind of agree. Find the one thing that really interests you and spend time with it rather than checking off the box of having "done" a museum
I really like this trend for putting period objects in set up rooms, seeing how and where they where used and how they related to each other in both practical and design ways is worth so much more than a case full of twenty chairs.
posted by The Whelk at 8:25 AM on September 27, 2014 [7 favorites]
I really like this trend for putting period objects in set up rooms, seeing how and where they where used and how they related to each other in both practical and design ways is worth so much more than a case full of twenty chairs.
posted by The Whelk at 8:25 AM on September 27, 2014 [7 favorites]
( also, old fashioned museums look and are arranged like what they used to be, research insinuations and resources for like minded academics not intended for public display.)
posted by The Whelk at 8:26 AM on September 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by The Whelk at 8:26 AM on September 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
Kids do seem to have a good time when pushing buttons, pulling levers and magnetizing soap bubbles (right up until they stop having a great time and turn into wailing bundles of hair and tears only a little more bored than the parents).
But where's the equivalent for adults? Why should over-16-year-olds, who still make up the significant majority of museum-goers, be subjected to stiff, dry, academia-laced presentations as if fun were a dirty word?
I hate with a vengeance museums that take things off display and replace them with "experiences" or "interactive displays". I can do that crap anywhere, but if you have the world's best collection of Sassanian metalwork I damn well expect to see it.
posted by Thing at 8:26 AM on September 27, 2014 [24 favorites]
But where's the equivalent for adults? Why should over-16-year-olds, who still make up the significant majority of museum-goers, be subjected to stiff, dry, academia-laced presentations as if fun were a dirty word?
I hate with a vengeance museums that take things off display and replace them with "experiences" or "interactive displays". I can do that crap anywhere, but if you have the world's best collection of Sassanian metalwork I damn well expect to see it.
posted by Thing at 8:26 AM on September 27, 2014 [24 favorites]
Well, because interactive displays can improve your understanding of what you're seeing. For instance, I recently went to a textile museum that had an interactive thing that explained different techniques for making textiles and allowed you to try each one. It's fun, but it also helps you understand what you're looking at and gives you added appreciation for the skill that went into producing the objects on display. There are definitely bullshit interactive displays, because there's a lot of pressure on museums to have them, but done right they can enhance the experience, especially for people who aren't already knowledgeable about the things on display.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 8:33 AM on September 27, 2014
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 8:33 AM on September 27, 2014
My world is just a bit more pleasant now, knowing that my chances of bumping into this self-absorbed dick in a museum are apparently very low.
posted by Thorzdad at 8:33 AM on September 27, 2014 [16 favorites]
posted by Thorzdad at 8:33 AM on September 27, 2014 [16 favorites]
Nyet kulturny, CNN dickhead.
posted by COBRA! at 8:37 AM on September 27, 2014 [6 favorites]
posted by COBRA! at 8:37 AM on September 27, 2014 [6 favorites]
Sure, museums need better contextualizing. I went to an Islamic exhibit at the DMA in Dallas a few months ago and it had extra web content that really added to the experience for me. It would have been better if that contextualizing experience wasn't only available to those of us with smartphones.
Having said that, I did a thing I do reflexively when I read a contrarian article like this. I googled the author, who turns out to be a senior travel producer for CNN. One of the top hits for him, along with his twitter feed and his CNN bio, is an article about how photography is ruining travel (which it may be, and he may have good points, but ...) that suggests to me that part of his brief is to write Slate pitches for CNN, or at least articles with Slate pitch headlines. Caveat lector.
posted by immlass at 8:37 AM on September 27, 2014 [6 favorites]
Having said that, I did a thing I do reflexively when I read a contrarian article like this. I googled the author, who turns out to be a senior travel producer for CNN. One of the top hits for him, along with his twitter feed and his CNN bio, is an article about how photography is ruining travel (which it may be, and he may have good points, but ...) that suggests to me that part of his brief is to write Slate pitches for CNN, or at least articles with Slate pitch headlines. Caveat lector.
posted by immlass at 8:37 AM on September 27, 2014 [6 favorites]
My favourite part of this article was "the gift shop-coffee shop-toilet triple-whammy." That's some masterful sleight-of-hyphen right there
posted by oulipian at 8:39 AM on September 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by oulipian at 8:39 AM on September 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
I always have the feeling that these sort of museum bashing is done to shame the intellectuals and nerds of us (for nerd read people who find things interesting for the sake of beeing interesting) by the non nerds.
You know, too cool for school for adults.
It's ok if you do not like a particular type of museum. But to say that no museum deserves you attention... gosh, what a boring life you live.
posted by thegirlwiththehat at 8:41 AM on September 27, 2014 [15 favorites]
You know, too cool for school for adults.
It's ok if you do not like a particular type of museum. But to say that no museum deserves you attention... gosh, what a boring life you live.
posted by thegirlwiththehat at 8:41 AM on September 27, 2014 [15 favorites]
"I have an opinion! But that opinion may be considered not good for my particular socioeconomic class! Haha but you see I am not wrong it is SOCIETY that is wrong, I do not have an unpopular opinion I Am A Brave Person. I got paid to write this."
posted by The Whelk at 8:47 AM on September 27, 2014 [13 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 8:47 AM on September 27, 2014 [13 favorites]
I like my hometown Mercer Museum. Just neat stuff everywhere. Hanging from the ceiling! But otherwise I can end up bored in a lot of museums.
posted by Drinky Die at 8:53 AM on September 27, 2014
posted by Drinky Die at 8:53 AM on September 27, 2014
I love museums because I love information, beauty, history and the chance to soak up any and all of these things.
I once dropped acid before touring the Smithsonians, and it was a transporting experience. The chemical gave me access to everything stored in my brain, and so I was able to discourse at length, for example, on the objects encased in the American Entertainers exhibits for my sister's benefit. I went on about dialect comedy and its place in a new country, about vaudeville and its impact on radio and television, all the while pointing out Harry Lauder's cane, Fred Allen's microphone, etc. It was a huge rush to see so many wonderful objects in one place, and to know so much about them. After I'd spoken for maybe ten minutes I turned to discover maybe a dozen people who'd gathered to listen. Stunned and tripping, I explained that I was not, in fact, a tourguide, and quickly one woman said "we don't care, can we listen anyway?"
Another time I visited the Museum of the City of New York, unenhanced, and dragged my friends up to the "attic," a floor with cases jammed with artifacts. A Constitution desk stood next to an ancient carnival sign; here was a life cast of Benjamin Franklin's face, there a first-edition copy of The Deerslayer... I was in heaven, getting massive goosebumps from the things before my eyes, and dragged everyone from case to case pointing them out. "Just think!" I'd cry, "that really is Fiorella LaGuardia's fountain pen!" When my friends finally dragged me away, the guard at the entrance shouted firmly, "You! You there! Come over here!" She had a loud voice and a serious expression so I went. "I want you to promise," she said, "to come back here again!"
In short, I love museums. Yes, they can be dead places, but I would rather see amazing things in glass boxes than never see them at all.
posted by kinnakeet at 8:56 AM on September 27, 2014 [41 favorites]
I once dropped acid before touring the Smithsonians, and it was a transporting experience. The chemical gave me access to everything stored in my brain, and so I was able to discourse at length, for example, on the objects encased in the American Entertainers exhibits for my sister's benefit. I went on about dialect comedy and its place in a new country, about vaudeville and its impact on radio and television, all the while pointing out Harry Lauder's cane, Fred Allen's microphone, etc. It was a huge rush to see so many wonderful objects in one place, and to know so much about them. After I'd spoken for maybe ten minutes I turned to discover maybe a dozen people who'd gathered to listen. Stunned and tripping, I explained that I was not, in fact, a tourguide, and quickly one woman said "we don't care, can we listen anyway?"
Another time I visited the Museum of the City of New York, unenhanced, and dragged my friends up to the "attic," a floor with cases jammed with artifacts. A Constitution desk stood next to an ancient carnival sign; here was a life cast of Benjamin Franklin's face, there a first-edition copy of The Deerslayer... I was in heaven, getting massive goosebumps from the things before my eyes, and dragged everyone from case to case pointing them out. "Just think!" I'd cry, "that really is Fiorella LaGuardia's fountain pen!" When my friends finally dragged me away, the guard at the entrance shouted firmly, "You! You there! Come over here!" She had a loud voice and a serious expression so I went. "I want you to promise," she said, "to come back here again!"
In short, I love museums. Yes, they can be dead places, but I would rather see amazing things in glass boxes than never see them at all.
posted by kinnakeet at 8:56 AM on September 27, 2014 [41 favorites]
PS One small local museum near us had a recent hands-on exhibit of old, operating typewriters. I spent a wonderful rainy morning typing away, demonstrating for kids and getting super nostalgic for the machines I wore out in school. I cannot imagine having such an experience anywhere but a museum--typewriters are bulky and tough to store.
Thank heavens for museums. Maybe some people can turn their noses up at them. I cannot.
posted by kinnakeet at 8:59 AM on September 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
Thank heavens for museums. Maybe some people can turn their noses up at them. I cannot.
posted by kinnakeet at 8:59 AM on September 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
I clicked the link but there was nothing there except a bunch of words arranged into sentences. The words weren't even doing anything, just sitting there in sentences. It was like a tomb of dead words. You couldn't even extract meaning from them without looking at them and thinking about them. I thought, Jesus, what kind of lame-ass article is this? Couldn't they have made it blinky or interactive or something? People don't have time to just sit there looking at a bunch of words.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 9:03 AM on September 27, 2014 [46 favorites]
posted by Sing Or Swim at 9:03 AM on September 27, 2014 [46 favorites]
What a miserable and incoherent screed.
posted by tonycpsu at 9:04 AM on September 27, 2014 [14 favorites]
The Smithsonian has been government funded to the tune of $811.5 million for 2013 -- 65% of its total costs.Actually, that's what you just did two paragraphs earlier.
Yet these are still cited as among their country's best "free" activities.
Insiders claim they generate far more money than they suck up. "One statistic I never tire of citing -- for every $1 a municipality invests in cultural organizations, including museums, $7 are returned to the public coffers. That's a return that would make Warren Buffett swoon," says Bell.
Fair enough, I don't question the wider benefits of museums, economic or otherwise.
posted by tonycpsu at 9:04 AM on September 27, 2014 [14 favorites]
I once dropped acid before touring the Smithsonians, and it was a transporting experience.
I want you to be my tourguide.
posted by Thing at 9:07 AM on September 27, 2014 [4 favorites]
I want you to be my tourguide.
posted by Thing at 9:07 AM on September 27, 2014 [4 favorites]
Kinnakeet, I did the same damn thing at the Natural History Musuem not too long ago. Full on unpaid docent mode.
posted by The Whelk at 9:07 AM on September 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by The Whelk at 9:07 AM on September 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
Quite a lot of museums do fail in exactly the way he describes. Both understanding and interest are primarily dependent on understanding in context, and none of us has enough knowledge to contextualise everything presented in any reasonably sized general museum without significant help.
Of course it's fine that some areas of museums are geared towards people with prior knowledge, but too many museums still make little coherent effort toward providing compelling contexts and narratives for the things they present. Sometimes I wonder if too great a reverence for the objects is to blame. I suspect curators often understandably fear distracting us from the primary thing that makes a museum special, the actual presence of the artefacts, and end up neglecting the extent to which most people need more structure for most things. And that these structures will, typically, need to be fairly didactic or dramatic. It is very hard to begin to understand an unfamiliar field without being presented with someone else's perspective on it as a starting point. It should be noted that audioguides are sometimes really good, but they're often just more information, rather than more context.
posted by howfar at 9:07 AM on September 27, 2014
Of course it's fine that some areas of museums are geared towards people with prior knowledge, but too many museums still make little coherent effort toward providing compelling contexts and narratives for the things they present. Sometimes I wonder if too great a reverence for the objects is to blame. I suspect curators often understandably fear distracting us from the primary thing that makes a museum special, the actual presence of the artefacts, and end up neglecting the extent to which most people need more structure for most things. And that these structures will, typically, need to be fairly didactic or dramatic. It is very hard to begin to understand an unfamiliar field without being presented with someone else's perspective on it as a starting point. It should be noted that audioguides are sometimes really good, but they're often just more information, rather than more context.
posted by howfar at 9:07 AM on September 27, 2014
A good antidote to the sameness of museums is the interactive natural history museum where the exhibits are meant to be manipulated.
I hate with a vengeance museums that take things off display and replace them with "experiences" or "interactive displays". I can do that crap anywhere
oh god this. I was heartbroken the last time I went to the natural history museum to find they had painted white over all the (painstakingly researched) dinosaur murals (god I hate archetechts with the heat of a million flaming suns...I can just hear their weaselly little voices talking about how 'crisp' and 'clean' everything will look. Fuckbags.)...what did they install instead? A gd video monitor with a trackball that did absolutely nothing but pan back and forth over a picture of the mural that was there in the first place! (fuckbags fuckbags fuckbags!)
posted by sexyrobot at 9:18 AM on September 27, 2014 [9 favorites]
I hate with a vengeance museums that take things off display and replace them with "experiences" or "interactive displays". I can do that crap anywhere
oh god this. I was heartbroken the last time I went to the natural history museum to find they had painted white over all the (painstakingly researched) dinosaur murals (god I hate archetechts with the heat of a million flaming suns...I can just hear their weaselly little voices talking about how 'crisp' and 'clean' everything will look. Fuckbags.)...what did they install instead? A gd video monitor with a trackball that did absolutely nothing but pan back and forth over a picture of the mural that was there in the first place! (fuckbags fuckbags fuckbags!)
posted by sexyrobot at 9:18 AM on September 27, 2014 [9 favorites]
(Also yes, acid+any museum=win. They should give it out with the tickets. Even better than marijuana+brownies or gin+tonic)
posted by sexyrobot at 9:22 AM on September 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by sexyrobot at 9:22 AM on September 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
The first time I went to an art museum with my wife I learned that you don't have to spend two minutes in front of every piece, appreciating it. You can breeze through rooms and halls if you want to, stopping when you see something that makes you want to stop. Museum-going has been more fun ever since.
posted by jomato at 9:22 AM on September 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by jomato at 9:22 AM on September 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
I've had the pleasure and occasional vexation of working at the American Visionary Art Museum for sixteen years, with three years as a full-timer at the systems level, and while working for any museum can ruin the museum experience for you (I can't go to any museum without obsessively observing the minutia of their facility structure, hanging systems, lighting, HVAC, display cases, and other things that are invisible, or should be invisible, to normal people), AVAM is distinct from other museums in that people just engage with the artwork, and even more interestingly, will stand and read the very, very long wall texts posted with each exhibit in a way I've never witnessed elsewhere.
Curating the vibe is as important as curating the work on display, and AVAM gets it right.
posted by sonascope at 9:24 AM on September 27, 2014 [5 favorites]
Curating the vibe is as important as curating the work on display, and AVAM gets it right.
posted by sonascope at 9:24 AM on September 27, 2014 [5 favorites]
if you are not down with acid or any other drugs can i sugest an mp3 player with some epic film soundtrack?
Personaly, the best of doctor who wile visiting an exibit on young Raffaello. The battles and the politics became Amazing.
posted by thegirlwiththehat at 9:29 AM on September 27, 2014
Personaly, the best of doctor who wile visiting an exibit on young Raffaello. The battles and the politics became Amazing.
posted by thegirlwiththehat at 9:29 AM on September 27, 2014
I've always hated museums.
Yet twice or three times a year, I somehow find myself within one.
Not a good way to invite the reader to trust your judgment.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 10:06 AM on September 27, 2014 [4 favorites]
Yet twice or three times a year, I somehow find myself within one.
Not a good way to invite the reader to trust your judgment.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 10:06 AM on September 27, 2014 [4 favorites]
He's not complaining about museums as a concept. He's more complaining about how museums relate to people.
The thing is, his complaint is actually about how museums relate to shmucks. Nothing wrong, obviously, with wanting cultural institutions to do more outreach or education in their curation, but when you reach the point where you're literally proclaiming how widely you've travelled the world solely so that you can blame it for your own continuing incuriosity and ineducability, the problem maybe isn't with the world, primarily. Emerson wuz right:
The thing is, his complaint is actually about how museums relate to shmucks. Nothing wrong, obviously, with wanting cultural institutions to do more outreach or education in their curation, but when you reach the point where you're literally proclaiming how widely you've travelled the world solely so that you can blame it for your own continuing incuriosity and ineducability, the problem maybe isn't with the world, primarily. Emerson wuz right:
He who travels to be amused, or to get somewhat which he does not carry, travels away from himself, and grows old even in youth among old things. In Thebes, in Palmyra, his will and mind have become old and dilapidated as they. He carries ruins to ruins.posted by RogerB at 10:08 AM on September 27, 2014 [6 favorites]
Traveling is a fool's paradise. Our first journeys discover to us the indifference of places.
Oh, this guy. It's almost an article version of what he derides: it's just a list of random anecdotes of museums he's wandered into along with some miscellaneous budget figures. Definitely don't look at the enormous amounts of research the Smithsonian museums produce, or the costs of sustaining 100% free access, or even the additional programs they offer: early education enrichment, Jazz nights, the Folk Festival. No love for the Luce Foundation Center for American Art, or the organ concerts at National Gallery [which is a nearby public institution but not part of the Smithsonian family]? Not even a little excited about the possibilities of outreach to autistic patrons, to patrons with visual disabilities, or programs aimed at those suffering from Alzheimers?
Things even this guy might like: the digital pen program premiering at Cooper Hewitt, Brain Scoop at the Field Museum, exploring the collection at the Rijksmuseum, or hey, maybe this list of awesome dino museums from CNN Travel. I'm not sure I've actually been to a bad dinosaur museum but there are definitely some that are even more awesome than others.
Also, if you do go to a museum and have feelings about your experiences, good or bad, please fill out a comment card/survey/send an email in. If you interact with volunteers and floor staff, supportive emails can help encourage high floor staffing levels. If you liked a booze-and-lecture night, write a review on Yelp. If you have a question about an object or a time period, they might have more information online (oh Met I love your teacher resources) or be able to answer a question about a particular object. It's true that not all museums are great at responding or at being responsive. Reinstalling a collection can be a lot of (expensive) work, and some collections (and their buildings) are not easily reinterpreted. Research about engagement changes. But a lot of museums are really trying to make better visitor experiences: from tiny homesteads in the west to old churches in exurban PA to large urban collections with curators of public engagement, they're all trying to get their collection out there and to get you to enjoy it in new ways.
caveat, I volunteer at a couple of museums, I like seeing people of all ages get excited by and enthusiastic about objects and narratives, also I really like old-school museums with random drawers of things and tiny old labels like "hot cross bun used as a cure for colds 1981" in a bin of things at the Pitt Rivers
posted by jetlagaddict at 10:25 AM on September 27, 2014 [6 favorites]
Things even this guy might like: the digital pen program premiering at Cooper Hewitt, Brain Scoop at the Field Museum, exploring the collection at the Rijksmuseum, or hey, maybe this list of awesome dino museums from CNN Travel. I'm not sure I've actually been to a bad dinosaur museum but there are definitely some that are even more awesome than others.
Also, if you do go to a museum and have feelings about your experiences, good or bad, please fill out a comment card/survey/send an email in. If you interact with volunteers and floor staff, supportive emails can help encourage high floor staffing levels. If you liked a booze-and-lecture night, write a review on Yelp. If you have a question about an object or a time period, they might have more information online (oh Met I love your teacher resources) or be able to answer a question about a particular object. It's true that not all museums are great at responding or at being responsive. Reinstalling a collection can be a lot of (expensive) work, and some collections (and their buildings) are not easily reinterpreted. Research about engagement changes. But a lot of museums are really trying to make better visitor experiences: from tiny homesteads in the west to old churches in exurban PA to large urban collections with curators of public engagement, they're all trying to get their collection out there and to get you to enjoy it in new ways.
caveat, I volunteer at a couple of museums, I like seeing people of all ages get excited by and enthusiastic about objects and narratives, also I really like old-school museums with random drawers of things and tiny old labels like "hot cross bun used as a cure for colds 1981" in a bin of things at the Pitt Rivers
posted by jetlagaddict at 10:25 AM on September 27, 2014 [6 favorites]
I explained that I was not, in fact, a tourguide, and quickly one woman said "we don't care, can we listen anyway?"
Hah! I had exactly the same experience (well, without the acid) when Mrs. Example's parents came to London a while back. We took them to see the Globe, and while we were all lined up waiting for the tour, I was regaling them with a little of the history and background, both of the original theater(s) and the reconstruction we were about to see. When I paused and looked around, I'd gathered a small knot of (I think) Italian tourists. I had to explain to them that it was very flattering, but our actual tour guide would be along in a couple of minutes.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 10:31 AM on September 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
Hah! I had exactly the same experience (well, without the acid) when Mrs. Example's parents came to London a while back. We took them to see the Globe, and while we were all lined up waiting for the tour, I was regaling them with a little of the history and background, both of the original theater(s) and the reconstruction we were about to see. When I paused and looked around, I'd gathered a small knot of (I think) Italian tourists. I had to explain to them that it was very flattering, but our actual tour guide would be along in a couple of minutes.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 10:31 AM on September 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
In order to create the guides that would enable people to know more about the objects they're looking at involves a long, drawn-out process that only starts with getting the money to do such things. And then each museum thinks that putting together these types of guides for their museum will cost a nickel and a pat on the head and take 3 weeks to finish. Of course they have never heard of Agile. Then there are so many items to review and choose from (there are countless items that have been in museum basements for decades that haven't seen the light of day), determining what stories you want to tell about the objects, who the target audiences are, and then there's whatever agendas from curators, museum trustees, museum C-level folk, and on and on - and they're usually at cross-purposes. Smaller museums usually cannot raise and do not have the funds for these types of tours, or guides, at all. However, there is a program that interests me being tested now by the EU called CHESS, experimenting with something similar to what fermezporte is talking about.
Speaking personally, I hate the musk of elitism that many museums emit, especially when, in the course of their programming and guide planning, they ignore their main audiences (who are usually tourists with no specialty education in the arts or history) and try to act as if they're some august academic institution a la Cambridge. While I'm no longer the poor little ghetto child as I was when I first went to museums on the special trips for the "deserving poor" back in the 70s, this attitude ticked me off then and ticks me off still. It's all about creating programs that will please those that will give them multimillion dollar bequests, like the Kochs, while the regular visitor is an afterthought. There is a class action lawsuit going on now against the Met in NYC related to their not making it clear to all visitors that the $25 admission is suggested, not required, for example. Ain't that a kick in the head?
posted by droplet at 10:33 AM on September 27, 2014
Speaking personally, I hate the musk of elitism that many museums emit, especially when, in the course of their programming and guide planning, they ignore their main audiences (who are usually tourists with no specialty education in the arts or history) and try to act as if they're some august academic institution a la Cambridge. While I'm no longer the poor little ghetto child as I was when I first went to museums on the special trips for the "deserving poor" back in the 70s, this attitude ticked me off then and ticks me off still. It's all about creating programs that will please those that will give them multimillion dollar bequests, like the Kochs, while the regular visitor is an afterthought. There is a class action lawsuit going on now against the Met in NYC related to their not making it clear to all visitors that the $25 admission is suggested, not required, for example. Ain't that a kick in the head?
posted by droplet at 10:33 AM on September 27, 2014
LUCE FOUNDATION
VISIBLE. STORAGE.
MY FAVORITE THING LETS TALK ABUT IT FOR HOOOOURS
posted by The Whelk at 10:39 AM on September 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
VISIBLE. STORAGE.
MY FAVORITE THING LETS TALK ABUT IT FOR HOOOOURS
posted by The Whelk at 10:39 AM on September 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
Alastair Humphreys was named a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year for a concept that he called microadventures: basically, seeing adventures in your own back yard without needing to take off and spend lots of time and money. Whether or not he just had a neat taxonomic twist on an old idea is a different discussion, but going to a museum seems like the ultimate representation of a "microadventure." Like all adventures, there are different types for different folks. And like an adventure, one goes to consciously seek something out. It's an exploration, the means towards some kind of discovery which can be internal or external, and needs -no, demands - a sense of wonder and curiosity about the world or one's self.
I fully agree with the idea that museums might need to have some - some - paradigm shifts about the concept of a museum and incorporating good design, etc. etc., - but the museum community itself is aware of this. This author isn't railing against museums or a certain kind of intellectual class. He's railing against his own personal failure: his lack of curiosity.
posted by barchan at 10:48 AM on September 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
I fully agree with the idea that museums might need to have some - some - paradigm shifts about the concept of a museum and incorporating good design, etc. etc., - but the museum community itself is aware of this. This author isn't railing against museums or a certain kind of intellectual class. He's railing against his own personal failure: his lack of curiosity.
posted by barchan at 10:48 AM on September 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
is this guy dumb or just boring? i think his problem might be with curators or curation itself (which is a debate i would gladly wade into). i have to say though, i spend tons of time in museums but, then again, i bring a notebook and i know how to use google so that when i do encounter a 15th century Iranian vase that i like i have the wherewithal to investigate its backstory.
i love museums, especially the Met. that's the best pot-cookie excursion money can buy. and, in further defense of museums, there is a chair museum outside of London that is dedicated to the history of chairs and to a limited extent interiors, fascinating! and one of my favorites. most museums could do more to rotate their collections, but if i could see the historical watches that are on permanent display in the Louvre, or their ancient Egyptian toiletries section i would do so in a heartbeat. even MoMA that ossified temple to one very narrow view of modernism is an incredible public resource. this could all be just a matter of taste though because i would rather peruse a barbed wire museum in Texas than watch some crappy TV show about terrible people who invent all the drama within their lives.
posted by Conrad-Casserole at 11:07 AM on September 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
i love museums, especially the Met. that's the best pot-cookie excursion money can buy. and, in further defense of museums, there is a chair museum outside of London that is dedicated to the history of chairs and to a limited extent interiors, fascinating! and one of my favorites. most museums could do more to rotate their collections, but if i could see the historical watches that are on permanent display in the Louvre, or their ancient Egyptian toiletries section i would do so in a heartbeat. even MoMA that ossified temple to one very narrow view of modernism is an incredible public resource. this could all be just a matter of taste though because i would rather peruse a barbed wire museum in Texas than watch some crappy TV show about terrible people who invent all the drama within their lives.
posted by Conrad-Casserole at 11:07 AM on September 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
In a surprising twist, barb wire museums are fascinating and better than a television show any day of the week, and I say that having gone willingly to two of them.
posted by barchan at 11:23 AM on September 27, 2014
posted by barchan at 11:23 AM on September 27, 2014
Where's your joy gone, museums?
Honestly, is it so difficult to realize that what you get out of a cultural institution is, in large part, based on what you take in? If you go into a museum with no joy or interest in your heart, the best museum is going to fail to kindle joy and interest in you. If you don't meet the museum halfway with a genuine willingness to learn, some imagination, and maybe a little bit of knowledge, what are you doing going to museums? Much the same way that someone who has no appreciation for athletic achievement of a specific type might not enjoy going to a particular sports event or someone who is not up for 2 hours of explosions should leave the Michael Bay movies to people who are. If you feel angry that you have been guilted into a "cultural experience," maybe you should learn to say "no" and do something you enjoy.
posted by GenjiandProust at 11:25 AM on September 27, 2014 [5 favorites]
Honestly, is it so difficult to realize that what you get out of a cultural institution is, in large part, based on what you take in? If you go into a museum with no joy or interest in your heart, the best museum is going to fail to kindle joy and interest in you. If you don't meet the museum halfway with a genuine willingness to learn, some imagination, and maybe a little bit of knowledge, what are you doing going to museums? Much the same way that someone who has no appreciation for athletic achievement of a specific type might not enjoy going to a particular sports event or someone who is not up for 2 hours of explosions should leave the Michael Bay movies to people who are. If you feel angry that you have been guilted into a "cultural experience," maybe you should learn to say "no" and do something you enjoy.
posted by GenjiandProust at 11:25 AM on September 27, 2014 [5 favorites]
Fine, then, dumbass, don't go to museums. Problem solved.
I spent some very formative time in the Royal British Columbia Museum learning about First Nations and Settler art and culture from some very old, static (and beautiful) exhibits. Exhibits that shape my identity in noticeable ways even now. I've also seen the museum of Civilization in Ottawa, the London Museum, the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City and countless others. All of them are inspiring and amazing, and all of them inspire questions not only about the way people lived in the past, but how their possessions came to rest in museums, how the artifacts were acquired (stolen?), and what the existence and nature of museums says about us now. It's not the museum that has to tell you to think about these things, it's just the natural inclination of curious, intelligent, thoughtful people. People unlike the author.
And I never gave one shit whether it was profitable or not. I never begrudged a dime of the money that the government spends on museums. If I want to go to a place that doesn't need government handouts, I'll go to Wal-Mart. Oh, wait.
posted by klanawa at 11:29 AM on September 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
I spent some very formative time in the Royal British Columbia Museum learning about First Nations and Settler art and culture from some very old, static (and beautiful) exhibits. Exhibits that shape my identity in noticeable ways even now. I've also seen the museum of Civilization in Ottawa, the London Museum, the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City and countless others. All of them are inspiring and amazing, and all of them inspire questions not only about the way people lived in the past, but how their possessions came to rest in museums, how the artifacts were acquired (stolen?), and what the existence and nature of museums says about us now. It's not the museum that has to tell you to think about these things, it's just the natural inclination of curious, intelligent, thoughtful people. People unlike the author.
And I never gave one shit whether it was profitable or not. I never begrudged a dime of the money that the government spends on museums. If I want to go to a place that doesn't need government handouts, I'll go to Wal-Mart. Oh, wait.
posted by klanawa at 11:29 AM on September 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
I don't hate museums. I love museums and everything about them, from the "dull" exhibit cards to the stuffy atmosphere. What I hate: people who think that museums are there to entertain and satisfy them and who walk out disappointed when the experience is too "boring." Who act like the museum is an extension of their living room at home. Who see the museum as a place to bring their kids to get them out of the house and let loose so they can scream and run through the halls and climb all over everything. Who yell and call their peeps over so they can take selfies at the exhibits. Who crowd at all the important objects and hog the views of them. Who indeed if they feel so inspired will stop at nothing to take a knife to, throw paint on, or otherwise vandalize or ruin objects or anything else in the building if they think that the object or the building or the experience isn't meeting their ideological specifications. Who have no awareness (or display none) that the museum isn't there so they can act there like they act at every single other tourist attraction in the city. Who will bitch and moan every single election when they're asked whether they will raise the tax a quarter of a cent (or whatever the currency is) so that the museum won't have to reduce hours, cut staff, remove exhibits, or close its doors entirely. Yeah, I'm that guy, the finger-wagging "get off my exhibit" geek, standing there staring at you disapprovingly through dusty bifocals. So sue me.
And this James Durston -- whoever he is, hadn't heard of him till now -- is clearly a convenient paid anti-intellectual asshat. He hates museums, he hates libraries, he hates [insert valuable element of the shared cultural patrimony here], he hates being asked to support them, he hates inconvenience of any kind ...... but he loves getting paid to travel and write clickbait.
posted by blucevalo at 11:31 AM on September 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
And this James Durston -- whoever he is, hadn't heard of him till now -- is clearly a convenient paid anti-intellectual asshat. He hates museums, he hates libraries, he hates [insert valuable element of the shared cultural patrimony here], he hates being asked to support them, he hates inconvenience of any kind ...... but he loves getting paid to travel and write clickbait.
posted by blucevalo at 11:31 AM on September 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
Adding: I don't know what museums this dude has been to, but the ones I've been to recently have had incredible programs that actively engage the patron from the first footfall and are not dull in the slightest.
posted by blucevalo at 11:32 AM on September 27, 2014
posted by blucevalo at 11:32 AM on September 27, 2014
Honestly, is it so difficult to realize that what you get out of a cultural institution is, in large part, based on what you take in? If you don't meet the museum halfway with a genuine willingness to learn, some imagination, and maybe a little bit of knowledge, what are you doing going to museums?
Yes, absolutely, and quoted for truth, GenjiandProust, that struck me about his article as well.
Also, most museums these days have a wealth of supplementary material online. He could easily delve into that either before or after his visit to a museum to decide what to see, and to enrich his experience afterward.
Here's a blog post about what goes in to creating one Smithsonian exhibit, and note that we are talking about only 2 (albeit large) exhibit cases. The work involved in doing a large exhibit is this, magnified by 1000. And, if he was not happy with Souvenir Nation , there are a wealth of other options and topics at the Smithsonian alone, from Persian calligraphy to Human Origins (designing the exhibit, and the MEanderthal app; to prove that not only kids can have fun).
posted by gudrun at 11:55 AM on September 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
Yes, absolutely, and quoted for truth, GenjiandProust, that struck me about his article as well.
Also, most museums these days have a wealth of supplementary material online. He could easily delve into that either before or after his visit to a museum to decide what to see, and to enrich his experience afterward.
Here's a blog post about what goes in to creating one Smithsonian exhibit, and note that we are talking about only 2 (albeit large) exhibit cases. The work involved in doing a large exhibit is this, magnified by 1000. And, if he was not happy with Souvenir Nation , there are a wealth of other options and topics at the Smithsonian alone, from Persian calligraphy to Human Origins (designing the exhibit, and the MEanderthal app; to prove that not only kids can have fun).
posted by gudrun at 11:55 AM on September 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
A lot of people are throwing tantrums in this thread. "You don't like it? Fuck you!" is childish. There are museums which should be interesting, but end up being boring because there's too little information.
Go into the American History Museum and the first floor is just a bunch of stuff behind glass. You could take any one of those objects and talk for hours about its history, but as it's presented, it's just a bunch of stuff with a bunch of other stuff.
I would rather read through wikipedia, google and youtube to find the history behind an object and its people than stare at some object for a minute.
posted by stavrogin at 11:57 AM on September 27, 2014 [3 favorites]
Go into the American History Museum and the first floor is just a bunch of stuff behind glass. You could take any one of those objects and talk for hours about its history, but as it's presented, it's just a bunch of stuff with a bunch of other stuff.
I would rather read through wikipedia, google and youtube to find the history behind an object and its people than stare at some object for a minute.
posted by stavrogin at 11:57 AM on September 27, 2014 [3 favorites]
Personally I love museums. For another view: The Pinky Show: We Love Museums... Do Museums Love Us Back? Transcript & Poster here.
posted by ovvl at 12:11 PM on September 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by ovvl at 12:11 PM on September 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
There are museums which should be interesting, but end up being boring because there's too little information.
Eh, it's a tricky balance. There's a lot of evidence that people won't read more than about 100 words on a sign, so you can't put too much text in a case. This is coupled with the fact that you often need to look at a lot of something to start appreciating the commonalities and differences. I was recently at the Royal Ontario Museum, and the ancient Greek section has about a million pots. Now, I know a little about classical Greece, but I don't know much about pottery, but, as I walked around the parade of kraters and amphorae and other bowls and jugs and stuff started to make sense. I think if I hadn't been open to letting the mass of pottery "wash over" me, I would have just gone "eh, a bunch of pots" and moved on. Which would have been OK, but writing an op-de that, therefore, the Greek section of the ROM is boring and stupid would be... well, kind of missing the point.
And no matter how much reading you do, sometimes it takes a thing to bring it home. I know a bit about how awful syphilis was for the 19th C, but it took standing in front of a case of syphilitic skulls at the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia to make that knowledge visceral. Or, walking into the Vasa Museum in Stockholm, I was first struck by how damn big the ship is, then, as I walked around the hall and read a little, I realized that it had a crew of 3-400, and I had a terrible feeling of how small the ships of the Age of Sail were. So reading is great, but it can only rarely bring you into the guts of a subject.
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:16 PM on September 27, 2014 [3 favorites]
Eh, it's a tricky balance. There's a lot of evidence that people won't read more than about 100 words on a sign, so you can't put too much text in a case. This is coupled with the fact that you often need to look at a lot of something to start appreciating the commonalities and differences. I was recently at the Royal Ontario Museum, and the ancient Greek section has about a million pots. Now, I know a little about classical Greece, but I don't know much about pottery, but, as I walked around the parade of kraters and amphorae and other bowls and jugs and stuff started to make sense. I think if I hadn't been open to letting the mass of pottery "wash over" me, I would have just gone "eh, a bunch of pots" and moved on. Which would have been OK, but writing an op-de that, therefore, the Greek section of the ROM is boring and stupid would be... well, kind of missing the point.
And no matter how much reading you do, sometimes it takes a thing to bring it home. I know a bit about how awful syphilis was for the 19th C, but it took standing in front of a case of syphilitic skulls at the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia to make that knowledge visceral. Or, walking into the Vasa Museum in Stockholm, I was first struck by how damn big the ship is, then, as I walked around the hall and read a little, I realized that it had a crew of 3-400, and I had a terrible feeling of how small the ships of the Age of Sail were. So reading is great, but it can only rarely bring you into the guts of a subject.
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:16 PM on September 27, 2014 [3 favorites]
When were you last at American History, stavrogin? Currently on the first floor there are things like Food: Transforming the American Table, 1950-2000 and America on the Move (which is not really my thing, but tends to appeal to the little kids with whom I often visit Smithsonian museums.)
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 12:18 PM on September 27, 2014
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 12:18 PM on September 27, 2014
I was literally typing the same exact response to stravrogin, because I think that American History, which was completely renovated not that long ago, generally does a pretty good at having interactive components, online materials, and different kinds of displays. (And the floating interactive carts run by docents; it also looks like they've just gotten a major grant to fund a new kind of learning center.) Was there a particular section that you remember? I'm not trying to say your experience was wrong or bad, I'm just curious to know what didn't work out.
posted by jetlagaddict at 12:23 PM on September 27, 2014
posted by jetlagaddict at 12:23 PM on September 27, 2014
Was just at the Penn archeology museum, where they've put all these dry erase boards around to solicit feedback. One cheerily queried something like, 'what would you like to learn more about in terms of the habits of ancient peoples?' Some wit had written hugely MID LIFE CRISES
posted by angrycat at 12:40 PM on September 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by angrycat at 12:40 PM on September 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
I once took a museum studies class which really changed how I look at museums- and which, yes, made me more comfortable criticizing certain aspects of the various museums I visit. I think that critical perspective has enhanced my appreciation of museums.
One thing that has stuck with me, particularly in relation to art museums, is the idea that the way things are displayed in art museums- stick it on a wall or on a pedestal in an otherwise mostly empty room- is really calibrated toward a pretty specific kind of decorative art. An oil painting's natural home is hanging on a wall at convenient viewing height. Same for a sculpture on a pedestal. But a necklace or a mask or a gown? A ceremonial cup? A weapon? These things weren't meant to be passively displayed, but to be used. Yet we most often exhibit them just like we would a painting, hung on a blank wall with little context to help us understand the reason for their existence.
posted by showbiz_liz at 12:43 PM on September 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
One thing that has stuck with me, particularly in relation to art museums, is the idea that the way things are displayed in art museums- stick it on a wall or on a pedestal in an otherwise mostly empty room- is really calibrated toward a pretty specific kind of decorative art. An oil painting's natural home is hanging on a wall at convenient viewing height. Same for a sculpture on a pedestal. But a necklace or a mask or a gown? A ceremonial cup? A weapon? These things weren't meant to be passively displayed, but to be used. Yet we most often exhibit them just like we would a painting, hung on a blank wall with little context to help us understand the reason for their existence.
posted by showbiz_liz at 12:43 PM on September 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
I'm a little alarmed by the idea of a museum that shows off weapons as they were meant to be used. I am imaging a meat locker where you are invited "to take a swing." Or, perhaps worse, be on the receiving end.
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:49 PM on September 27, 2014
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:49 PM on September 27, 2014
Haha, having to wear (replica) chain mail in archaeology class was a great way of learning about the physical components of battle! I also have to give props to the Roman legionary groups that do outreach with museums. One of my favorite family photos (also at the Penn Museum!) has my father, brother, grandfather and assorted cousins all in Roman gladiator helmets, thanks to the Ludus Magnus Gladiatorial group. They wisely restricted children from playing with the swords though...
posted by jetlagaddict at 12:56 PM on September 27, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by jetlagaddict at 12:56 PM on September 27, 2014 [4 favorites]
I think it's refreshing that someone DOES have the courage to say that they find museums boring because it is only with that kind of honesty that it is possible figure out how to address the problem. Much of the answer is to realize that "museum" is a very diverse class, and you don't have to like them all the same, or all their exhibits the same, or all the objects in those exhibits the same. To paraphrase someone upthread, you can skip all but the stuff that really gut punches you.
People should be more ruthlessly clear about their likes and dislikes -- then it would be easier to show them what they might actually enjoy. It's the same, for example, with classical music. Someone who thinks they dislike it after having heard Vivaldi, for example, should not be judging Prokofiev or Ravel or Richard Strauss by extrapolation.
Apropos of not much, one of my most satisfying museum experiences was reading a novel that touched on, among other things, Freud and a piece of art from the Vienna Secession. I looked up the piece referenced, found that a museum nearby had it, and went and saw it. Just like that the novel was enhanced. That was super cool.
posted by shivohum at 1:27 PM on September 27, 2014
People should be more ruthlessly clear about their likes and dislikes -- then it would be easier to show them what they might actually enjoy. It's the same, for example, with classical music. Someone who thinks they dislike it after having heard Vivaldi, for example, should not be judging Prokofiev or Ravel or Richard Strauss by extrapolation.
Apropos of not much, one of my most satisfying museum experiences was reading a novel that touched on, among other things, Freud and a piece of art from the Vienna Secession. I looked up the piece referenced, found that a museum nearby had it, and went and saw it. Just like that the novel was enhanced. That was super cool.
posted by shivohum at 1:27 PM on September 27, 2014
People should be more ruthlessly clear about their likes and dislikes.
Isn't that what data mining is for?
Or was it the free market place?
posted by IndigoJones at 2:39 PM on September 27, 2014
Isn't that what data mining is for?
Or was it the free market place?
posted by IndigoJones at 2:39 PM on September 27, 2014
I think it's refreshing that someone DOES have the courage to say that they find museums boring because it is only with that kind of honesty that it is possible figure out how to address the problem.
Really? I didn't see courage so much as a sort of pseudopopulist sneering at an "elite" institution. Museums can be places to learn, but you have to come to them with some knowledge, imagination, and openness to get the most out of them. It's true that some museums are better laid out than others, and some have better programs than others, and some are just more in tune with what you are interested in than others, but that's not what this guy is saying. He doesn't have a clear thesis for what would make a museum interesting to him, which makes his opinion about as useful as "my 5 year old could have painted that" quips in an art show.
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:52 PM on September 27, 2014 [3 favorites]
Really? I didn't see courage so much as a sort of pseudopopulist sneering at an "elite" institution. Museums can be places to learn, but you have to come to them with some knowledge, imagination, and openness to get the most out of them. It's true that some museums are better laid out than others, and some have better programs than others, and some are just more in tune with what you are interested in than others, but that's not what this guy is saying. He doesn't have a clear thesis for what would make a museum interesting to him, which makes his opinion about as useful as "my 5 year old could have painted that" quips in an art show.
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:52 PM on September 27, 2014 [3 favorites]
I was heartbroken the last time I went to the natural history museum to find they had painted white over all the (painstakingly researched) dinosaur murals
Think of it not as some incredibly moronic decision made by numb brains to placate can't think, won't think maroons like the author of this piece, think of it as a job scheme for future museum curators.
The Rijksmuseum here in Amsterdam just went through an intensive rebuild during which the philistinism of the previous round of rebuilds, during which the gorgous 19th century murals were painted over, was reversed. That's at least three generations of curators that got work out of that, as aesthetics changed.
posted by MartinWisse at 3:13 PM on September 27, 2014 [4 favorites]
Think of it not as some incredibly moronic decision made by numb brains to placate can't think, won't think maroons like the author of this piece, think of it as a job scheme for future museum curators.
The Rijksmuseum here in Amsterdam just went through an intensive rebuild during which the philistinism of the previous round of rebuilds, during which the gorgous 19th century murals were painted over, was reversed. That's at least three generations of curators that got work out of that, as aesthetics changed.
posted by MartinWisse at 3:13 PM on September 27, 2014 [4 favorites]
There are museums which should be interesting, but end up being boring because there's too little information.
Hey, they would be a great topic for an opinion piece.
It would beat the hell out of "Museums are boring."
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 3:30 PM on September 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
Hey, they would be a great topic for an opinion piece.
It would beat the hell out of "Museums are boring."
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 3:30 PM on September 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
Kinnakeet, I did the same damn thing at the Natural History Musuem not too long ago. Full on unpaid docent mode.
This also happens to me sometimes if I take someone to see Judy Chicago's "Dinner Party" installation, because I know the backstory behind a couple of the more badass women in the roster (Hrosfitha! Boudicca! St. Brigid!) and I end up excitedly telling my friend. And invariably a couple people end up eavesdropping on me.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:05 PM on September 27, 2014 [6 favorites]
This also happens to me sometimes if I take someone to see Judy Chicago's "Dinner Party" installation, because I know the backstory behind a couple of the more badass women in the roster (Hrosfitha! Boudicca! St. Brigid!) and I end up excitedly telling my friend. And invariably a couple people end up eavesdropping on me.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:05 PM on September 27, 2014 [6 favorites]
But for the most part, museums need to stop relying on the supposed intrinsic value of their collections. Stop "presenting" when you should be flaunting. Give me a story. Show, don't tell.
I wonder if this was the work of an inattentive editor. I was expecting "tell, don't [just] show".
posted by uosuaq at 5:17 PM on September 27, 2014
I wonder if this was the work of an inattentive editor. I was expecting "tell, don't [just] show".
posted by uosuaq at 5:17 PM on September 27, 2014
All I could think of after reading this article were that the words uttered by Buckaroo Banzai were said after he met the author: "No matter where you go, there you are."
posted by wobumingbai at 5:24 PM on September 27, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by wobumingbai at 5:24 PM on September 27, 2014 [3 favorites]
At the NYC natural history museum last year, I noticed a college-aged guy in an "Ask Me About Dinosaurs" t-shirt standing nearby with his friends. I did not, in fact, need to ask him about dinosaurs, because he was already telling his friends everything about dinosaurs. Ended up joining them for the rest of his impromptu tour, and learned a lot.
I have also drawn a crowd on a couple of occasions, usually at costume history exhibits. In my defense, I have a lot of feelings about cage crinolines.
posted by nonasuch at 6:53 PM on September 27, 2014 [4 favorites]
I have also drawn a crowd on a couple of occasions, usually at costume history exhibits. In my defense, I have a lot of feelings about cage crinolines.
posted by nonasuch at 6:53 PM on September 27, 2014 [4 favorites]
Next up: Why I Hate Ducklings, Food Trucks and Air Conditioned Cocktail Lounges...
I've always associated museums with fun: elementary school field trips, summer and weekend excursions with my family, long afternoons in NYC and Boston with my cousins.
While some of the museums we visited were less interesting than others, none were ever boring. There were places that were certified duds, but they register in memory
as humorous family lore rather than disappointments:
So he composes crappy bilious articles in their stead. Bummer.
posted by Pudhoho at 8:01 PM on September 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
I've always associated museums with fun: elementary school field trips, summer and weekend excursions with my family, long afternoons in NYC and Boston with my cousins.
While some of the museums we visited were less interesting than others, none were ever boring. There were places that were certified duds, but they register in memory
as humorous family lore rather than disappointments:
"Remember that awful seashell museum that turned out to be a store?"Instead of a collection of joyous memories, the poor dude only has a blank cat-box of sour milk regret.
"Oh yeah, that tourist trap we drove around almost an hour to find. The place with the smoker."
"Yeah, her - the way she inhaled, it was like watching someone smoke a fuse."
"She wouldn't let [youngest sister] use her bathroom. Even mom was cursing that day. We had to pee in the bushes."
"Which turned out to be nettles, hahahahahahahaha!"
"I remember those nettles..."
So he composes crappy bilious articles in their stead. Bummer.
posted by Pudhoho at 8:01 PM on September 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
I was in the Prado in Madrid the other day, and it is pretty much the archetype of the kind of museum he's (boringly and tritely) complaining about here. There are so, so many paintings, so much dense content, presented without much more context than a name and a date. It can be overwhelming and difficult to absorb if you're interested in the paintings beyond the pure aesthetic quality of what's in front of you. I remembered, standing in front of a Velázquez, that a couple of years ago I'd seen a temporary exhibition on Velázquez at the same museum. It presented important paintings chronologically, punctuated by clear and relevant biographical information. Most interestingly, it also hung related work of contemporaries, students and masters of the painter, showing how his painting had developed, who it had influenced. Who had influence him. Who he worked for, and what effect it had on the work. It was superb.
The thing is, there are almost always temporary exhibitions of this quality happening alongside the permanent collections.
I really dislike this article. It's aggressively simplistic and reductive. But I do think permanent collections can be difficult if you're not bringing a lot of prior knowledge into it. There's an awful lot museums can do to engage visitors, and it rarely means putting bells, knobs and interactive 3D cameras around the art. Simple and clear presentation of contextual information can be a wonderful thing. It makes the painting come alive as an historical artefact, as well as a piece of art.
posted by distorte at 3:49 AM on September 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
The thing is, there are almost always temporary exhibitions of this quality happening alongside the permanent collections.
I really dislike this article. It's aggressively simplistic and reductive. But I do think permanent collections can be difficult if you're not bringing a lot of prior knowledge into it. There's an awful lot museums can do to engage visitors, and it rarely means putting bells, knobs and interactive 3D cameras around the art. Simple and clear presentation of contextual information can be a wonderful thing. It makes the painting come alive as an historical artefact, as well as a piece of art.
posted by distorte at 3:49 AM on September 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
Oh, on the unpaid docent thing: When my wife and I visited the Saturn V Hall in Huntsville, AL an older fellow introduced himself, allowed as to how he worked at Marshall when they were building the Apollo rockets, and offered to show us some of the more obscure and interesting stuff most visitors miss. He spent an hour showing us around and he was full of wonderful stories, especially when he realized we were technically literate. At first we thought he was affiliated with the museum but when we asked he admitted that no, he was just a civilian now with a museum pass and he liked showing people what he'd helped create. Best museum experience evar.
posted by localroger at 6:12 AM on September 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by localroger at 6:12 AM on September 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
Everytime someone says "unpaid docent," I assume you mean the official docents, because even at fancy, big-name museums in the US, the official, museum-sanctioned docents are typically volunteers. I was a volunteer docent for a while at the Museum of the City of New York. Those of you who enjoy being unpaid docents could consider doing it on an official basis if you think that would be fun!
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:21 AM on September 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:21 AM on September 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
Really? I didn't see courage so much as a sort of pseudopopulist sneering at an "elite" institution.
But isn't it actually true that most people really do regard museums as things they Should Be Doing when traveling abroad -- a kind of marker of virtue rather than something they really enjoy? All too often, I think that's the case. Only most would refrain from saying so for fear of being branded a philistine.
If you compared visiting a museum to, say, spending the same time reading a book, watching a movie, listening to music, or sitting in natural beauty, and if you were completely honest -- how often would the museum win on either a) emotional power or b) intellectual interest?
And then there are inconveniences. Among other issues, the incessant walking around, the having to read text on walls, the jostling for position at popular exhibits, the tickets, the guards... it all tends to be a little stressful.
There are lots and lots of legitimate qualms and gripes that people don't often voice.
posted by shivohum at 6:33 AM on September 28, 2014
But isn't it actually true that most people really do regard museums as things they Should Be Doing when traveling abroad -- a kind of marker of virtue rather than something they really enjoy? All too often, I think that's the case. Only most would refrain from saying so for fear of being branded a philistine.
If you compared visiting a museum to, say, spending the same time reading a book, watching a movie, listening to music, or sitting in natural beauty, and if you were completely honest -- how often would the museum win on either a) emotional power or b) intellectual interest?
And then there are inconveniences. Among other issues, the incessant walking around, the having to read text on walls, the jostling for position at popular exhibits, the tickets, the guards... it all tends to be a little stressful.
There are lots and lots of legitimate qualms and gripes that people don't often voice.
posted by shivohum at 6:33 AM on September 28, 2014
But isn't it actually true that most people really do regard museums as things they Should Be Doing when traveling abroad -- a kind of marker of virtue rather than something they really enjoy? All too often, I think that's the case. Only most would refrain from saying so for fear of being branded a philistine.
Yeah, THIS is the problem, more so than museums themselves as a thing. People are encouraged to go to City X's major museum without there being any context for it, especially if you're talking about a major European city. Sometimes you get lucky and hat museum is like the British Museum, where there's a crapton of cool stuff and you can find something, and other times it's the kind of museum he's talking about.
And even if you do like museums some of them are still kind of obligations you try to do if you're traveling. I actually hit the Victoria and Albert mostly as a "well, I should while I'm here" kind of thing while in London, and the kinds of things I'd thought I would enjoy (William Morris design) were just plain boringly presented, and if I hadn't found this whole awesome interactive gallery about theater design it would have been a bust.
Or the it's-an-obligation people only go to see the highlights and that's it. My mother was a fine arts major and she said she was profoundly disappointed by the Louvre, because of all the crowds ten-deep gathered around all the things she wanted to see. The Mona Lisa was "a smudge ten feet across the room behind a crowd".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:58 AM on September 28, 2014
Yeah, THIS is the problem, more so than museums themselves as a thing. People are encouraged to go to City X's major museum without there being any context for it, especially if you're talking about a major European city. Sometimes you get lucky and hat museum is like the British Museum, where there's a crapton of cool stuff and you can find something, and other times it's the kind of museum he's talking about.
And even if you do like museums some of them are still kind of obligations you try to do if you're traveling. I actually hit the Victoria and Albert mostly as a "well, I should while I'm here" kind of thing while in London, and the kinds of things I'd thought I would enjoy (William Morris design) were just plain boringly presented, and if I hadn't found this whole awesome interactive gallery about theater design it would have been a bust.
Or the it's-an-obligation people only go to see the highlights and that's it. My mother was a fine arts major and she said she was profoundly disappointed by the Louvre, because of all the crowds ten-deep gathered around all the things she wanted to see. The Mona Lisa was "a smudge ten feet across the room behind a crowd".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:58 AM on September 28, 2014
But isn't it actually true that most people really do regard museums as things they Should Be Doing when traveling abroad -- a kind of marker of virtue rather than something they really enjoy? All too often, I think that's the case. Only most would refrain from saying so for fear of being branded a philistine.
I don't really know. Certainly, I've gone to various cultural institutions while traveling because I felt I ought to, but then I like museums, and I usually get something out of it. I can think of a few museums which have really not engaged me, and it's possible to get into a sort of funk while in a museum, especially if you (or I at least) am alone, where it's kind of deadening and lonely, but I think that's more a failure of my neurochemistry than a feature of the museum. More often I see something that I think is really interesting or I experience a new idea or perspective or something that makes the trip worthwhile.
Something that I think is maybe an issue is that museum entrance fees tend to be fairly high -- you are often paying the equivalent of $10-20US for admittance, and then there is the tendency to feel you need to get "your money's worth" by seeing the whole thing, so, instead of taking in what you can emotionally and intellectually handle that afternoon, you grimly press on, determined to see the Mona Lisa or whatever instead of spending half an hour in a little display of cameos or Greek pottery or whatever that you would really enjoy. Maybe museums should charge by the hour instead.
As for how often museums beat out reading a book or whatever, well, that depends. I spent a very pleasant afternoon in Þjóðminjasafn Íslands (the National Museum of Iceland) because it was next door to a library where I had a meeting. I liked it enough that I went back on my next trip when I had another free afternoon between the puffin-watching and touring areas of geologic splendor (thanks Kattullus!). I suppose I could have spent that afternoon in a coffee shop reading a book, but I had done that in the morning, plus I had also had a lovely chat with a sandwich shop owner from Scotland while eating my lunch, and made a fairly fraught decision to spend the money on the museum admission instead of paying a similar amount to see an educational/entertaining movie about volcanoes (Iceland: Where the Even the Geography Wants to Burn You). On the way back to my lodgings, I took a shortcut that led me through an old graveyard, which was really pleasant and interesting. So it's not like doing one prevents me from doing the other.
Something I have learned while traveling, especially on fairly long trips, is to plan about two things a day, one for the morning and one for the afternoon. Those are the Things I Am Going to Do. Then I look for stuff around those things that I Might Like to Do. I go conscious that I am not going to do everything, because, maybe beer or coffee or a nice walk or maybe just a nap in the hotel, and I give myself permission to bail on the big things and do something else, so I never feel trapped by my itinerary. (Although on a recent trip to Toronto, I was more or less forced by my usually-delightful Sister in Law to visit a parade of historic houses, and the last one on the itinerary, Spadina House, had me just about ready to chew off my own arm rather than enter, but it turned out to be a really great time, so your mileage might vary). Plan to do a bunch of different things; if you are seeing 4 museums in a day, yeah fatigue is going to set in.
posted by GenjiandProust at 7:31 AM on September 28, 2014
I don't really know. Certainly, I've gone to various cultural institutions while traveling because I felt I ought to, but then I like museums, and I usually get something out of it. I can think of a few museums which have really not engaged me, and it's possible to get into a sort of funk while in a museum, especially if you (or I at least) am alone, where it's kind of deadening and lonely, but I think that's more a failure of my neurochemistry than a feature of the museum. More often I see something that I think is really interesting or I experience a new idea or perspective or something that makes the trip worthwhile.
Something that I think is maybe an issue is that museum entrance fees tend to be fairly high -- you are often paying the equivalent of $10-20US for admittance, and then there is the tendency to feel you need to get "your money's worth" by seeing the whole thing, so, instead of taking in what you can emotionally and intellectually handle that afternoon, you grimly press on, determined to see the Mona Lisa or whatever instead of spending half an hour in a little display of cameos or Greek pottery or whatever that you would really enjoy. Maybe museums should charge by the hour instead.
As for how often museums beat out reading a book or whatever, well, that depends. I spent a very pleasant afternoon in Þjóðminjasafn Íslands (the National Museum of Iceland) because it was next door to a library where I had a meeting. I liked it enough that I went back on my next trip when I had another free afternoon between the puffin-watching and touring areas of geologic splendor (thanks Kattullus!). I suppose I could have spent that afternoon in a coffee shop reading a book, but I had done that in the morning, plus I had also had a lovely chat with a sandwich shop owner from Scotland while eating my lunch, and made a fairly fraught decision to spend the money on the museum admission instead of paying a similar amount to see an educational/entertaining movie about volcanoes (Iceland: Where the Even the Geography Wants to Burn You). On the way back to my lodgings, I took a shortcut that led me through an old graveyard, which was really pleasant and interesting. So it's not like doing one prevents me from doing the other.
Something I have learned while traveling, especially on fairly long trips, is to plan about two things a day, one for the morning and one for the afternoon. Those are the Things I Am Going to Do. Then I look for stuff around those things that I Might Like to Do. I go conscious that I am not going to do everything, because, maybe beer or coffee or a nice walk or maybe just a nap in the hotel, and I give myself permission to bail on the big things and do something else, so I never feel trapped by my itinerary. (Although on a recent trip to Toronto, I was more or less forced by my usually-delightful Sister in Law to visit a parade of historic houses, and the last one on the itinerary, Spadina House, had me just about ready to chew off my own arm rather than enter, but it turned out to be a really great time, so your mileage might vary). Plan to do a bunch of different things; if you are seeing 4 museums in a day, yeah fatigue is going to set in.
posted by GenjiandProust at 7:31 AM on September 28, 2014
For those that like some play with their learning, we've been fortunate to enjoy The Exploratorium in San Francisco, City Museum in St. Louis, Perot's Science Museum in Dallas, American Visionary Arts Museum in Baltimore, international Spy Museum in DC, and we have found that if you look for free demonstrations/presentations at the Smithsonian venues, you don'tend up writing essays like the one posted...
posted by childofTethys at 10:08 AM on September 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by childofTethys at 10:08 AM on September 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
This thread is mostly over but I will present you all with my favorite museum secret: the tiny, specific ones are actually the best ones. Museum of the Pen in the Languedoc? Fantastic. The town museum in Calistoga, Calif.? A diorama made by a retired Disney animator. You get to learn so much about things when that's all the place is about. And the people who work thee can tell you the best local place to eat.
posted by dame at 3:01 PM on September 28, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by dame at 3:01 PM on September 28, 2014 [3 favorites]
Honestly? I think this guy is right...SOMETIMES. Some museum experiences are genuinely boring as hell. Others are not--I don't think anyone has ever complained about being bored at the Exploratorium by any means. Depends on the museum. Though I do admit that sometimes I feel like this guy, but mostly because I went to a museum with my mother and she takes hours upon hours to slowly read every sign. (At the Walt Disney Museum, it took her five hours because there you also had to watch every video.) Museums are more fun if you don't have to go at the pace of slow, or someone else's slow, or go along with an entire damn group. Though the last time I went to a museum (on Friday), most people wandered off during the tour guide's speech, including the people who had paid extra for her to speak. More fool they, because I found out stuff they wouldn't have known otherwise.
While we're on the topic, can I ask about why museum memberships are a thing? Yes, I get that they are to make more money, but why would anyone buy them? Most museums just don't change THAT much that I'd want to go again and again. The last time I went to a museum twice (aforementioned WDM, mom got a membership), I think it was pretty much the same as last time except for the special exhibit in the basement. Where this would make more sense is if a museum actually changed exhibits around frequently, but it seems like a lot of them don't do it that much?
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:40 PM on September 28, 2014
While we're on the topic, can I ask about why museum memberships are a thing? Yes, I get that they are to make more money, but why would anyone buy them? Most museums just don't change THAT much that I'd want to go again and again. The last time I went to a museum twice (aforementioned WDM, mom got a membership), I think it was pretty much the same as last time except for the special exhibit in the basement. Where this would make more sense is if a museum actually changed exhibits around frequently, but it seems like a lot of them don't do it that much?
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:40 PM on September 28, 2014
I'm a member of a botanic garden rather than a museum, but the thought process for "why" may be similar - a) I do go often enough that the admission is worth it, b) I can skip the lines for tickets during popular special events, c) I get access to special "members only" events, and d) discounts in the gift shop.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:46 AM on September 29, 2014
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:46 AM on September 29, 2014
On museum membership - it gets us to go more frequently with the kids - without sweating about cost. One of ours wants to be a marine biologist. Aquariums are pricey, and some memberships, but not all, have significant savings with visiting others across the country. When we are traveling.
posted by childofTethys at 3:06 AM on September 29, 2014
posted by childofTethys at 3:06 AM on September 29, 2014
Yeah, I'm a Brit Mus member: you can breeze into any special exhibition without booking or paying (a couple of those and you've more or less got your money back), free cloakroom, access to a nice member's room with comfy seats, working tables with wifi, private cafe... Mrs Segundus works in Bloomsbury and I can walk there in fifteen minutes, so we can do any special exhibition on late night any week we happen to feel like it. What's not to like about that?
posted by Segundus at 3:49 AM on September 29, 2014
posted by Segundus at 3:49 AM on September 29, 2014
I would rather read through wikipedia, google and youtube to find the history behind an object and its people than stare at some object for a minute.
There's not really a substitute for "staring at some object" in person. I can look at (just an example) reproductions of a Seurat or a Monet in a book or a catalog or on Wikipedia or elsewhere on the web and not have a fraction of the experience that I have encountering the objects in person. It's not the same experience, emotionally or otherwise. That's not to say that some museums wouldn't benefit from being less recondite. But even if I'm at some really stuffy old museum that doesn't do a thing to draw you in as a viewer -- that just puts its objects behind glass and deigns to let you look at them -- I know I'm still having a better experience of the object than I am looking at it on YouTube.
posted by blucevalo at 8:00 AM on September 29, 2014 [1 favorite]
There's not really a substitute for "staring at some object" in person. I can look at (just an example) reproductions of a Seurat or a Monet in a book or a catalog or on Wikipedia or elsewhere on the web and not have a fraction of the experience that I have encountering the objects in person. It's not the same experience, emotionally or otherwise. That's not to say that some museums wouldn't benefit from being less recondite. But even if I'm at some really stuffy old museum that doesn't do a thing to draw you in as a viewer -- that just puts its objects behind glass and deigns to let you look at them -- I know I'm still having a better experience of the object than I am looking at it on YouTube.
posted by blucevalo at 8:00 AM on September 29, 2014 [1 favorite]
blucevalo - I would say that that would be true of things that you already know you want to see, and already understand why they are significant. If you are staring at a thing, and you don't really have any personal connection to that thing, then I can't quite agree that your experience of that thing is "better" than if you came across it on YouTube with an explanation of what that thing is.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:10 AM on September 29, 2014
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:10 AM on September 29, 2014
While we're on the topic, can I ask about why museum memberships are a thing?
Extra lectures, awesome special events, and membership events (or percentages off the fancier party tickets) are usually at the top of my list. Sometimes there are extra newsletters or magazines about ongoing research. I might also have a tiny problem going wild in museum gift stores, and there's usually a 10% off in the cafe and shops to soothe the pain...At some upper levels, there are often benefits at peer institutions across the country. My mother is a member of a museum/house museum in DC and it comes with free guest passes, so it's easy to offer them to friends when visiting. And hey, a lot of people like supporting museums, and an ongoing membership is an easy way to do so.
I also much prefer the ability to pop in and see one special exhibition or check in with my favorite Art Nouveau installation/Greek pottery/coin collection, and it's easier to do that with a membership than paying full freight every time I get the urge.* Some museums also have libraries, and casual perusal of art magazines or research is easier with ongoing access.
Museums often tinker and play around with the formula and the ideas around membership as well, so I think there are some interesting models that are being tested out.
*to return to an earlier point: I definitely think that the major national museums tend to be overwhelming and tedious for most people after hour three, even if you really like museums. The highlight tours suggested in guide books are often not very well-thought out or don't contain interesting themes, those areas are often crowded, tours and groups often do not plan for a cafe break, and you try to crowd in seeing EVERY SINGLE PART all at once. Which is madness. The first time I was at the British Museum on a Girl Scout trip (age 13?), they gave us two hours. Less than that, really. Two hours! To see the British Museum! I had studied zero art history outside of basic Roman art in Latin class, I thought the Elgin marbles was... an old basin of marbles...., I think I missed the Rosetta stone, and I didn't get to the Roman Britain section (which I love) until years later. I have this handful of blurry photographs of things I basically ran through, including the entire panoply of the Elgin marble rooms, and while I loved it, it was more like a bitter tease than a fun experience. Very few of the people I was with went to museums on a regular basis, and to them it was just something to tick off the List of Things in London. So yes, that kind of zero-prep, full tilt museum experience is often a feature of trips and I'm not a fan.
posted by jetlagaddict at 9:58 AM on September 29, 2014
Extra lectures, awesome special events, and membership events (or percentages off the fancier party tickets) are usually at the top of my list. Sometimes there are extra newsletters or magazines about ongoing research. I might also have a tiny problem going wild in museum gift stores, and there's usually a 10% off in the cafe and shops to soothe the pain...At some upper levels, there are often benefits at peer institutions across the country. My mother is a member of a museum/house museum in DC and it comes with free guest passes, so it's easy to offer them to friends when visiting. And hey, a lot of people like supporting museums, and an ongoing membership is an easy way to do so.
I also much prefer the ability to pop in and see one special exhibition or check in with my favorite Art Nouveau installation/Greek pottery/coin collection, and it's easier to do that with a membership than paying full freight every time I get the urge.* Some museums also have libraries, and casual perusal of art magazines or research is easier with ongoing access.
Museums often tinker and play around with the formula and the ideas around membership as well, so I think there are some interesting models that are being tested out.
*to return to an earlier point: I definitely think that the major national museums tend to be overwhelming and tedious for most people after hour three, even if you really like museums. The highlight tours suggested in guide books are often not very well-thought out or don't contain interesting themes, those areas are often crowded, tours and groups often do not plan for a cafe break, and you try to crowd in seeing EVERY SINGLE PART all at once. Which is madness. The first time I was at the British Museum on a Girl Scout trip (age 13?), they gave us two hours. Less than that, really. Two hours! To see the British Museum! I had studied zero art history outside of basic Roman art in Latin class, I thought the Elgin marbles was... an old basin of marbles...., I think I missed the Rosetta stone, and I didn't get to the Roman Britain section (which I love) until years later. I have this handful of blurry photographs of things I basically ran through, including the entire panoply of the Elgin marble rooms, and while I loved it, it was more like a bitter tease than a fun experience. Very few of the people I was with went to museums on a regular basis, and to them it was just something to tick off the List of Things in London. So yes, that kind of zero-prep, full tilt museum experience is often a feature of trips and I'm not a fan.
posted by jetlagaddict at 9:58 AM on September 29, 2014
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I mean we've all been there.
posted by The Whelk at 7:57 AM on September 27, 2014 [37 favorites]