Lab Museum Design & Interpretation

First of all, in terms of art galleries, The Louvre (http://www.louvre.fr/llv/commun/home_flash.jsp?bmLocale=en) is the first one that comes to mind, and it has an incredible website. The background image that adorns the home page constantly changes to show another photograph of the interior of the museum, representing a sense of being at the museum within the web space. The museum building is as much a representation of art as the exhibitions within its walls. On the home page, the Museum tab explains the history of the building itself and allows you to take a virtual tour, taking you through all the images that refresh the home page.

    The classical style of the architecture, the size of each column, the banners that hang from its heights: this shrine to portraiture could date back to the Greeks and Romans. Why? It reminds us of the foundations of mankind, this is a shrine to its history, its people, its first artists. This is not the British Museum or the Louvre or the Pergamon. There are no original Roman or Greek sculptures in this building, but its exterior is a testament to history. This museum is saying that their collection emulates the history of the world, the roots of the world. The classicism creates their identity as a shrine.

    This building hosts the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery, but you would never know the difference the way the wings flow together and blend into a celebration of history, of culture, of the individual. Visitors travel in small groups or alone. Some hardly pause as they pass each piece of art. Others stay longer, even sitting down to enjoy the piece. In my photograph of Man in His Temple, I discovered a man sitting in a room by himself, he did not look at the other art in the room or look at me as I entered, and he was entranced. What entranced him? This painting had its own space, its own wall, and its own context. 

    The coloring of each room in this museum is designed according to the purpose of the exhibit, to make the art stand out within the context of a special exhibition or to become permanently fixed to the space. The spaces in the museum belonging to the American Art Museum tended to be more vibrant in their color and their use of context. The red of the walls in the Civil War room deepened the experience; it made the visitors more sober. Whereas, the exhibit on the American experience with its beige walls and wooden decor made it more comfortable. A group of visitors huddled talking about the photographs displayed of the American landscape, trying to figure out whether the landscape truly looked like it could be their own hometown countryside.

    As I wandered deeper into the museum, I began to notice that all the lighting was directed, not a fluorescent lighting unit in sight. It would have destroyed the aura that the directed lighting gave each piece. The lighting in most rooms was bright to allow visitors to look closely at the art; however, some rooms were not so brightly lit. The wing on American presidents had a more dim lighting system. The people here were not talking about the artist techniques, but about the individuals that the artwork featured. This is where they had the internet portal for biography, to allow visitors to learn more about the individuals who are shown in this art, immortal.

            The tour guides seemed rather focused in their discussion. They know they cannot cover every piece so they make their choices, and try to use their perspective to allow visitors to make their own observations about the art. They seem to train their lectures to the individuals that are shown in the art rather than the artists who painted them. They are telling the public what they want to hear. Is this mystification?  They are allowing the public to create its own illusion.

The hallway devoted to the “Americans Now” exhibit reflects the presence of art in ordinary individuals whether they happen to be famous or not, their portraits become the intangible. Two ladies admired a photograph of an Hispanic girl crying. One said to the other: “Why do you think she’s crying?” The response: “Maybe she’s as hungry as I am. Where’s the café?” This is America now, the world we live in, and we are making it an illusion by creating art and refusing to see beyond it. This institution is not about the art, it is about what each piece represents as a link to the past and the present. We are walking in the presence of history. That is the illusion, the mystification. We do not want to see beyond the art to what is real.

I do not agree with Berger about the seduction of the images. Although he makes an excellent point regarding the importance of acknowledging that what we see is not what others may see, he avoids discussion of the issue of cultural context. Each perspective is unique, however, there are commonalities within each generation that affect their cultural perspective. The seduction that he speaks of is more than the impression of the painter or the creator, it is society working upon us. That is the seduction. What do you think? Will you conform?

Here's a start... Collier 2