The following videos
from “Films on Demand” all relate to the work of art gallery staff such as
curators and directors: The Lowdown on
Lowbrow: West Coast Pop Art, Displaying
Modern Art: The Tate Approach, Bones
of Contention: Native American Archaeology, An
Acquiring Mind: Philippe de Montebello and The Metropolitan. Below I have briefly described each.
The first video mentioned above introduces
viewers to what has been referred to as “Lowbrow” art or Pop Surrealism. These artworks might be rejected for display
by renowned art galleries due to their subject matter or styles. They often contain images from pop culture
and can have a lot of nudity. Lowbrow
art is designed to appeal to the carnal desires of viewers. One main purpose for its display in galleries
is to attract like-minded people who can enjoy this social scene. Some Lowbrow art has become very well known
and is considered fine art and has been displayed in some well-known art
galleries. Much of it, though, is
displayed in small, privately owned galleries since other galleries will not
accept it.
The second video describes the unique
approach that the Tate Gallery takes in displaying their art. The gallery has four main areas, each
representing a category such as “landscape.”
This is a very different approach than the traditional one, used by MoMA
for example, where art is placed in chronological sequence, according to
style. There have been criticisms of
Tate’s approach, such as that this may cause viewers to read more into a work
(based on the category it is grouped under) than the artist would have
intended. Yet, that is not necessarily
the case. The video points out that
curators seek to organize rooms and works in order to create attention-getting
scenes and that art can be enjoyed without a lot of background knowledge about
works.
The third video provides some historical
background to the Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990. This act required museums to return bones of
Native Americans to their original tribes.
Some scientists were concerned that this would mean a great loss of
important resources that could be studied to find cures for disease or
information about migration patterns, for example. Some Native Americans stressed to the museums
that they wanted the bones returned immediately. One tribe, the Omaha, decided to allow the University of
Nebraska to study the bones of their ancestors before returning them for
reburial. The study uncovered some
valuable information that the Omaha were grateful to receive. This video reminds viewers of the dilemmas
that can arise in working with artifacts and determining who has the right to
do what with them.
The fourth video provides a
behind-the-scenes look at how The Metropolitan, under the direction of Philippe
de Montebello, expanded their art collection.
Curators had to present a work before a committee, who would vote on
which works should be purchased.
The first video relates to my creation of
an Art Exhibition slideshow in that my project will be an electronic, online “gallery”
of sorts, comparable to a small gallery used to display Lowbrow art. This sort of presentation allows for the public
display of art online. The second video
inspired me to come up with creative ways of organizing art in a display. The third challenged my notions of what art is
(photos of items such as bones may offend some). The fourth video gave me some ideas about
criteria for selecting works for my display.
These videos were helpful and
relevant to this project.
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