TUESDAY NEWS DAY: DIGITIZATION AND THE GOOD BOOK

BY ALEXANDRA JEFFERY

I'm busy, you're busy. Let's keep this brief shall we? Just a little news, kind of old news now, for this Tuesday.

The Biblioteca Apostolica Vatinica. Image from Getty

As some of you have probably already heard/read/seen the Vatican is embarking on a digitization project to eventually (hopefully) make 82,000 manuscripts available online (I hope the website will be updated as well, it must be c. 1993, there can be no other explanation for how bad it is).

An illustration of the Dante's Divina Commedia realized by artist Sandro Botticelli 

in the XV century recently digitalised 
Image from Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana/Reuters

The project will start with 3,000 documents. The price of the digitization will fall to Japan's NTT Data technology. In order to carry out the project the  library will be using NTT scanners to record the manuscripts and archive software to manage the collection. NTT will also provide company technicians to work alongside the librarians. The prefect of the library, Monsignor Cesare Pasini, has said that participation of NTT could lead to further engagements which could cover the entire collection.

Monsignor Cesare Pasini, prefect of the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana.
Image from the Vatican Library Website

This digitization project comes on the heels of another project undertaken in partnership with the Bodleian library at Oxford to digitize manuscripts, started in 2013, their commitment is to have 1.5 meters of documents digitized.

10th century Greek Bible Reginensis Graecus held at the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana
is famous for its "splendid" miniatures. Image.

I have to say I'm pretty JAZZED about this, it's like the Vatican is giving away all their secrets but FOR FREE and in a computer. Of course there's the whole corporate funding of a religious library. I feel like there's something odd about that but it kind of just fits in with other cultural institutions needing funding from corporate bodies.

What are your thoughts? Do you feel as if Aladdin's Catholic cave is going to be revealed to you? OPEN SESAME.

TUESDAY NEWS DAY: TRAFFIC BOXES AND PUBLIC ART

BY ALEXANDRA JEFFERY

Wrapped traffic cabinet by Gary Taxali (source)

This year's Outside the Box project has recently been announced (March 25, 2014). As part of StART's (StreetARToronto)  the Outside the Box project covers traffic light boxes in "graphically attractive, synthetic wrap." 15 boxes feature artworks by Gary Taxali and photographic images by Moira McElhinney. The StART website includes brief descriptions about the artists and their work:

"Taxali is one of Canada’s best-known and highly acclaimed artists. His signature pop culture works are infused with 1930s-style packaging, posters, typography and advertising with original and sophisticated characters and graphics onto distressed surfaces... McElhinney was a Toronto photographer who produced work that focused predominantly on nature and panoramic landscapes...Fascinated by the beauty and simplicity of the everyday world she lives in, her work is predominately of nature and panoramic landscapes."

Wrapped traffic cabinet by Moira McElhinney (source)

It appears that there are still 15 spaces in the 2014 Outside the Box project for local artists to submit art works. The deadline is April 22. From the website: "The City of Toronto invites local area artists to submit proposals to create art on City traffic signal boxes at various locations throughout Toronto. The goal of this project is to provide opportunities for artists to create works of art that contribute to the vitality and attractiveness of the streetscape."

Last year's project produced 20 hand-painted boxes by a number of artists. The list of artists and locations are on the website. Some photos can be seen in this flickr photostream.The art is meant to "enhance the streetscape by adding works of art to surfaces that are often targeted by vandalism." The art, once it is applied, is coated in a "vandal resistant clear coat."

A similar project has also been completed in the city of Calgary, AB. Their Painted Utility Box Program has been running since 2010, they maintain that the pilot program reduced graffiti by 89%. All of the boxes can be seen on the city of Calgary website. The town of Canmore, AB also initiated a similar program in 2013. My own home town of Cochrane, AB has put synthetic wraps on their utility boxes that feature scenic and natural images.

"Colour Of The Harvest" by Karen Scarlett located at 20 Avenue & 4 Street NW in Calgary. Photograph property of Karen Scarlett

As I was doing research on this project, I found I was more interested in the idea of images of nature being put on traffic or utility boxes in an urban "streetscape" than I was in the idea of art vs. graffiti.  In Toronto, nature is represented in Moira McElhinney's photographic work and in Calgary there are a number of boxes that feature naturalistic scenes or nature in the work.

Utility box in Calgary, AB (source)

I wonder what the works say about urbanization, the growth of towns (particularly in Cochrane's case) and the displacement of nature. I think there is a lot that can be said about this project including: the original-ness of the project, the hand-painted vs. wrapped boxes, art vs. graffiti and the cost of the project. What are your thoughts?

TUESDAY NEWS DAY: NATIONAL SEPTEMBER 11 MEMORIAL MUSEUM

BY: BRITTNEY SPROULE

Happy Museum Week everyone!

While one of our Museum Week goals here at Musings is to try and highlight the important cultural contributions and cultural value of smaller, perhaps lesser known museums, I couldn't help but deviate slightly from that mission with a museum news story I felt was quite significant. Also, there's nothing us museum folk like more than to see the opening of a brand new museum in the headlines! As such, I give you this article from Time.com, announcing the May 21, 2014 opening of the National September 11 Memorial Museum in New York City, at the former site of the World Trade Center.

Outer facade of National September 11 Memorial Museum.
Inside you can see the two tridents made out of salvaged metal
from the World Trade Center towers.

To give you a sense of the Museum's intents and purposes, here is an excerpt from the 9/11 Memorial Museum's mission statement:

"The National September 11 Memorial Museum, opening  on May 21, 2014, will serve as the country’s principal institution for examining the implications of the events of 9/11, documenting the impact of those events and exploring the continuing significance of September 11, 2001."

I encourage you to check out the full mission statement here.

For a helpful intro to the Museum and the thought processes behind its construction as well as the representation of its subject matter (and the related challenges of such a task), check out this interview with the Museum's Director, Alice Greenwald:

One thing I find particularly interesting about Alice Greenwald is, according to the link attached to her name above, she used to be Associate Museum Director for Museum Programs for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. As such, I'd certainly be curious to know how her experiences working with the difficult knowledge exhibited by the Holocaust Memorial influenced her work at the 9/11 Memorial Museum. Or, how her experiences with these two Memorial Museums differ from each other -- I wonder how presenting difficult, emotionally charged information about an event like the Holocaust differs (or not) from presenting information about/commemorating 9/11?

Talk about heavy jobs.

Also, I wonder if it has been particularly challenging for 9/11 Memorial Museum curators thinking about how to frame the information/objects presented in the museum since 9/11 is a fairly "recent" event in terms of the greater historical picture. Many of those who the event directly affected (survivors, families of survivors, relief workers, etc.) are still very much alive and will likely be visiting the museum. How does one, as a curator, do justice to respectfully and truthfully representing an event like 9/11 for the people who were directly affected by 9/11 but also for the general public? As Greenwald says in her interview, how does one find balance between commemoration but also education in regards to subject matter such as this?

Exhibition gallery featuring one of the first fire trucks on the scene
after the WTC towers fell on 9/11.

Here's a behind the scenes tour of the interior of the Museum from 2013, lead by the Museum's President, Joe Daniels and Director Alice Greenwald.

I'm particularly fascinated by the 9/11 Memorial Museum space. While this footage is taken during construction of the Museum, the digitally created images of the finished interior show the inside as reminiscent of a construction zone --very industrial, a lot of exposed concrete and metal, ramps connecting different levels. This is likely intentional, to acknowledge the destruction of Ground Zero, the resulting chaos of the scene after the towers fell, and the resulting clean up process. Do you think this is an effective way of contributing to the overall experience of the 9/11 museum-- by utilizing space to evoke certain feelings, emotions, reactions?

Not only is the Museum located on the site of the former WTC towers, but it also incorporates a lot of the remnants/debris from the towers in both its artifact collection and within the very structure of the Museum building itself (along with other types of artifacts as well - like oral history accounts, photographs of victims, etc). Does incorporating these WTC building remnants right into the museum itself help (or not) create an even more touching, disturbing, or perhaps even awe-inspiring experience for visitors? If the Museum was located somwhere else in NYC, not directly on the WTC site, would it be just as impactful?

World Trade Center Cross, now located in the 9/11 Memorial Museum

I leave you now with a particularly controversial artifact, the World Trade Center Cross (above), a piece of debris from the WTC towers which happened to take on the shape of a cross. Perhaps somewhat unsurprisingly, many Americans saw this as a Christian symbol of God's presence and of the existence of hope in a tragic situation. Others, however, felt this view was exclusionary to non-Christians and that this piece should not be displayed at a national memorial site. Feel free to read about this particular piece here, as it raises some very interesting questions about representation in museums.

As always, we welcome you to share your thoughts and comments about anything discussed in this post or others!

TUESDAY NEWS DAY: NATIONAL HOLOCAUST MONUMENT

BY ALEXANDRA JEFFERY

This proposal for a National Holocaust Monument
 is from the team including David Adjaye and Ron Arad (source).

This spring, the National Holocaust Memorial will announce the winning proposal for a Holocaust monument which will be built in Ottawa near the Canadian War Museum. The monument was originally announced last April and is to be built this summer. The National Post recently wrote a thorough overview of the 6 monument proposals. Of note is the proposal by the Daniel Lebiskind team, which may be familiar in terms of its sharp angles and crystalline style -- apparently a stylized Star of David.

Daniel Libeskind and Gail Lord's design (source)

In addition to describing the designs, the article asked several interesting questions about the nature of the project. For instance, what is the best way to explain and remember the Holocaust, especially because "we are separated from those unspeakable events by an ocean and, nearly, a lifetime."

The exposed  bedrock design of Krzysztof Wodiczko andJulian Bonder (source).

I think that the questions raised in the National Post article need to be asked, and they are questions that go far beyond the representational or conceptual design possibilities proposed by each team. In fact, I have questions of my own: what is the purpose of the monument? Why now? Is there a broader political context for this?

According to the monument website and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, John Baird, the monument is meant to “[remember] the suffering of the millions of innocent victims of the Holocaust. This monument will not only preserve their memory but will also educate visitors of all faiths and traditions about the causes and risks of hate. Let us use the lessons of the past to remind us of the importance of tolerance, to inspire us to uphold human rights and to prevent future acts of genocide.”

The website notes that roughly 40 000 survivors of the Holocaust came to Canada in the 1940s and 1950s. This would imply a definite need for a memorial, perhaps particularly as these individuals approach old age. This brings up broader questions regarding the usefulness of memorials as well as the idea that perhaps memory is served in another arena. Certainly, as a fixture in the capital, the monument would attract visitors as well as demonstrate national importance. The National Holocaust Monument Development Council's fundraising goal is 4.5 million dollars. Would this money be put to better use elsewhere? If it was used in a different area to memorialize the Holocaust, would it have the same impact as a monument which is form that is recognizable in the Western world as the way to memorialize significant events?

I think this question can only be answered individually. Clearly there are supporters of the monument. If you scroll down to the supporters and friends section on the "about" page of the website, you can gauge the support for yourself. Despite this, I'm sure there are also those who do not support the building of the monument. I would be interested in hearing some other thoughts on this, particularly in terms of the Holocaust Monument but also in terms of general memorialization through monuments.

TUESDAY NEWS DAY: CENSORSHIP IN CANADA'S HUMAN RIGHTS MUSEUM

BY: BRITTNEY SPROULE

As many of you may have seen in the news recently (and as one of our commentors brought up for discussion on Alex's recent Museum Monday post), there has been much controversy (and rightly so) surrounding a blog post written by Canadian Historian and specialist in the modern history of women and children in Canada, Veronica Strong-Boag. Strong-Boag's post was commissioned for International Women's Day by the new Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) in Winnipeg, MB and was then rejected by the CMHR's communications department for "not meeting some of the museum's objectives."

Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Winnipeg, Manitoba

You can read Strong-Boag's original post here, which she shared publicly on ActiveHistory.ca after being rejected by the CMHR. I should note that Strong-Boag's post was initially posted publicly by the CMHR for a few hours and she was notified of its successful posting. However, the post was withdrawn after further examination by the museum's Communications department, deeming Strong-Boag's comments on the current federal Conservative government as unacceptable.

You can  view here the response letter the CMHR provided to Strong-Boag after withdrawing her post, as well as Strong-Boag's subsequent (and disbelieving) response to the CMHR's actions. I highly encourage you to check out these links in order to gain a better sense of just how incredulous this entire situation is, particularly for a human rights museum and particularly in light of International Women's day.

ActiveHistory.ca

To give you an overarching idea of the content of Strong-Boag's CMHR post, below is an excerpt from her post, courtesy of ActiveHistory.ca. This was considered one of Strong-Boag's more "problematic" statements, in the eyes of the CMHR:
  
"By the close of the 20^th century, the IWD feminist grassroots in Canada as elsewhere emphasized the role of class, race, sexuality, and (dis)ability in further jeopardizing particular groups. Although Canadians grew increasingly sensitive to human rights, state approval included the threat of cooptation. In 2014 Canada’s Conservative government left its anti-woman record unmentioned (which included withdrawal of plans for a national child care program and major cuts to Status of Women Canada [2006], the prohibition of civil servants taking pay equity complaints to the Human Rights Commission [2009], the denial of international funding for abortion [2010], and major cuts to public services that employ and serve significant numbers of women)^[1] as it dedicated IWD week to the ‘valuable contribution of women entrepreneurs'."

And, to give you an idea of the kind of response the CMHR gave Strong-Boag, here are a few of the more unbelievable and, quite frankly, frustrating statements made by the CMHR's communications director Angela Cassie, courtsey of an article in the Winnipeg Free Press:

"We will more clearly ask that guest blogs consist of anecdotal accounts of first-person experiences that illuminate human rights themes, and that they include "rich media" relevant to the story (photos, images). We also make efforts to ensure that guest blogs not be used as, or be perceived as, a platform for political positions or partisan statements."

....mmmmm...perhaps some clarification is in order regarding what exactly constitutes an "anecdotal" and unpolitical human rights theme/experience. (Is that even possible?)

Dr. Veronica Strong-Boag

I think Strong-Boag summarizes my reaction (and I'm sure the reactions of many others) to this entire situation perfectly in her letter responding to Angela Cassie:

"Since museums and institutions of public memory are not normally intended to imitate Disneyland but to provide serious, although engaging and accessible, observations on the world, I have been a long time supporter of a Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Your letter has been extremely disheartening." (Winnipeg Free Press)


And so, I leave you now with some points to ponder (and invite any others that cross your mind!):

What does this situation say (if anything) about museums which rely on government funding - is this situation unique to the CMHR or would another government institution likely respond to Strong-Boag in the same way? Differently?

Would public/the CMHR's response be different if this post was not by a publicly prominent, well-educated female historian?

"The Museum fosters an appreciation for the importance of human rights, spurs informed dialogue and invites participants to identify the contemporary relevance of past and present human rights events, both at home and abroad" - this is an excerpt from the CMHR's mandate from their website. Do you think their reaction to Strong-Boag's blog post stays true to the CMHR's mandate?

TUESDAY NEWS DAY: CULTURE IN OPPOSITION TO RIGHTS

BY ALEXANDRA JEFFERY

Protestors at the Guggenheim (source)

I saw this news item the other day on Huffington Post, it's a bit old--from January--but it is an interesting case. Protestors--Gulf Ultra Luxury Faction (GULF)--converged on the Guggenheim Museum in New York to draw attention to the working conditions of labourers building the new Guggenheim in Abu Dhabi.

The new Guggenheim is being built in the Cultural District of Saadiyat Island, along with the Louvre. The Guggenheim's website states that the museum will be: "Designed by internationally renowned architect Frank Gehry, the 450,000-square-foot museum will house its own major modern and contemporary art collection and present special exhibitions that will include works from the Guggenheim Foundation’s extensive collection. The museum, the largest Guggenheim in the world, will have global art, exhibitions, and education programs with particular focus on Middle Eastern contemporary art."Clearly a very important cultural institution.

The Guggenheim on Saadiyat Island (source)

GULF hung a manifesto stating "Is this the future of art?" on the wall next to the introductory text for the Italian Futurist exhibit that was on display at the time. The concerns of the protestors were with the conditions in which labourers are working to build the museum. It should be noted that the majority of construction workers concerned are foreign and some of the practices involved in recruiting and housing are being called into question. Additionally the protestors were concerned with the working conditions being imposed on workers.

GULF manifesto in the Guggenheim (source)

One of the concerns that was identified on Occupy Museums about the Guggenheim was their inability or unwillingness to discuss the issues raised by protestors. According to Occupy Museums, the Guggenheim has repeatedly deflected or diverted discussions regarding protestors' concerns.

The issue this raises for me is the seeming subservience of rights and/or safety to "art and culture." Now, admittedly, it is not culture perpetrating these situations, but rather the institution--the Guggenheim. Culture, however, used to--and I would argue still does--represent a certain "morality." How does this mesh with accusations of abuse? How do we reconcile this cultural morality with realities of working conditions?

The Guggenheim (source)

This to me is an example of culture taking precedence over other human rights concerns. Another recent event that raised this issue for me was the film Monuments Men, and more broadly the monuments men themselves. One of my biggest concerns with the film was that it was never demonstrated or explained why the art needed to be saved. It felt as though the audience was simply expected to recognize that, since these items are art, of course they need to be saved. Right.

I did some reading on cultural property in conflict zones last semester and a recurring theme, particularly in introductions and introductory paragraphs, was the assertion of cultural property and cultural heritage as a human right. I cannot help but ask in this situation would the money, people, resources not be better spent on medical aid for instance? Furthermore, who is to say which right supersedes the other?

Of course if we consider the museum a business rather than culture then we might be able to see this from a different perspective. These actions, then, simply fall into line with common (awful) business practices. When we want to view it as a "cultural" institution the issue becomes more problematic for me. What are your thoughts?

TUESDAY NEWS DAY: TIM'S VERMEER

BY: BRITTNEY SPROULE

Johannes Vermeer's The Music Lesson (1662-65)

      This weekend, I came across an article in Vanity Fair about a recent documentary called Tim's Vermeer. The documentary was created by the magician duo Penn & Teller and tells the story of their friend Tim Jenison. Jenison is a San Antonio Texas native who became obsessed with discovering exactly how Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer was able to paint the photo-realistic images he is so famous for, hundreds of years before the invention of the photograph. In the documentary, Jenison is confident he has solved the mystery behind Vermeer's artistic"genius" and decides to test his findings by using this new information to reproduce a Vermeer painting himself, by hand. Specifically, Vermeer's The Music Lesson (above). The kicker is, Jenison is an engineer who has made his fortune creating video production software and hardware, and has never painted in his life.

 

Trailer for Tim's Vermeer (2013)

      It may come as no surprise that prior to Jenison, art historians have addressed the mystery of Vermeer's exceptional ability to portray such lifelike images in his paintings, suggesting that it is very possible that Vermeer used optic devices (i.e. lenses, camera obscura) to help him see from perspectives and capture light and colour in ways the naked eye alone cannot comprehend. Two of the foremost advocates for this controversial position (both of whom are featured in the film) are London architecture professor Philip Steadman (in his book Vermeer's Camera: Uncovering the Truth Behind the Masterpieces) and prominent artist David Hockney (in his book Secret Knowledge: Rediscovering the Lost Techniques of Old Masters).

Prof. Philip Steadman on optical devices, Tim's Vermeer

      Without giving too much away, Jenison becomes inspired by the controversial work of Steadman and Hockney and manages to rig up an optical device that functions, in what he believes, to be a similar fashion to the kind of optic device Vermeer may have used. Jenison then decides to completely reconstruct the scene from The Music Lesson -- and we're talking completely here, in the sense of reconstructing the scene with painstaking historical and mathematical accuracy, from making window glass by hand to building a harpsichord -- and ultimately, when this is finished, he sits down to paint his own Vermeer using the optic device he created (which consisted of technologies/materials that would have been plausible to use in the 17th century).

 This video shows (much better than I can explain) 

how Jenison's simple optic device works 

and just how effective a tool it is.

      Conveniently enough, I discovered that Tim's Vermeer is actually currently playing at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. Thus, I had the fabulous opportunity to actually catch this film, along with a few Musings cohorts, before posting! I highly recommend you check this film out. It is fascinating, unbelievable, and actually quite funny all at the same time. You can't help but love Jenison and feel for him during the painstaking process he undergoes in order to recreate the physical scene from The Music Lesson and then actually paint it. Before I wrap this post up, there are a few things I'd like to throw out on the table for possible discussion...

      One of the main issues that members of the art community have with the suggestion that Vermeer used optic devices while painting is that this is somehow "cheating." What are your thoughts on this matter? Is using technology to enhance art or inspire new artistic processes (which is what Vermeer likely did with his lenses, and I'm sure he wasn't the only one to do so) cheating?

      As Jenison proves, these devices certainly do not make the painting process any easier or less time consuming. So, can we still consider this cheating? Personally, seeing Jenison go through Vermeer's painting process himself makes me appreciate Vermeer's work even more. Does the discovery of these methods now render Vermeer paintings meaningless or valueless, now that we know it may not have been pure "genius" that allowed him to paint this way, but the use of man-made tools? Does this make you appreciate the works of the Old Masters like Vermeer any less? Can science and art/creativity exist on the same plane and perhaps even inspire each other?

Tim Jenison in the process of painting his Vermeer

I could go on posing a million questions to you based on what I encountered watching this film, but I think I'll leave the floor open from here. Please go check this film out if you have the time. Or even just spend a few minutes perusing the related YouTube videos. You won't regret it. Even if you don't buy into what Jenison is doing, I think you will still be transfixed or, at the very least, entertained.

Enjoy!

TUESDAY NEWS DAY: FOLK ART MUSEUM

BY ALEX JEFFERY

Robert Wright for The New York Times The exterior of the American Folk Art Museum (source)

There has been a few stories lately in the news about the MoMA's acquisition of the American Folk Art Museum's old building and their plans to demolish it in order to accommodate a gallery expansion. I won't talk about that though, mostly because there is already good information in the articles. But I will talk about one of the AFAM's exhibitions.

The AFAM is not gone, just relocated. When I first saw the story I thought that a museum of folk was falling to a bulldozer of modern art. Certainly not the case, however this brought to mind my personal appreciation of folk (art) museums and exhibits. I think they are incredibly important as a part of almost everyday history. Sure there are Picasso's, Rembrandt's, and Bruegel the Elder's to display; but of equal importance are those which are not considered by some to be "art" in the same way.

Coat dress designed by Gary Graham

Early nineteenth-century coverlet, used by Graham as inspiration 

Currently the AFAM has an exhibit called Folk Couture: Fashion and Folk Art. Which in some ways reads as a contradiction to me. The description from the website states:"thirteen established and emerging designers have created original ensembles inspired by the art work in the museum's collection." Of course the idea of clothes as folk is not foreign to me, I think clothing and dress practice are important markers of cultural (whichever that might be) life. However what I do not think of as often is couture as folk. Another layer to this is that the pieces are inspired by the collection of the museum.

Painted wood figure, the inspiration for John Bartlett

Bartlett's exaggerated ensemble

Regardless of my philosophical pondering it looks like it would be incredibly interesting to see. The website has some pretty fantastic content in terms of the exhibit so if you are interested check it out.
There are some interesting designers that participating, only one of which I'm familiar with -- Koos van den Akker and only because he designs sewing patterns for vogue. The pieces created are so beautiful and very fascinating to read about.

Dress by Koos van den Akker

One of the pieces van den Akker used for inspiration

(I checked the links for the exhibit website and they only take you to the main page, so you'll just have follow the current exhibitions to the Folk Couture and find some interesting content)

TUESDAY NEWS DAY: NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM...WITH ROBOTS?

BY: BRITTNEY SPROULE

Ben Stiller, Night at the Museum (2006)

Don't look at me like that Ben, let me explain...

On February 6, 2014 the Tate Britain announced the winner of the Tate's very first IK Prize, an award celebrating "creative talent in the digital industry." The winner of the IK Prize receives £10,000, as well as a £60,000 production budget to be put toward the realization of "a digitally innovative project that  enhances public enjoyment of art."

The IK Prize winner is determined by an expert jury of 6 prominent individuals, well-versed in the fields of arts, technology, and digital media. Among this year's judges was Wikipedia.org founder Jimmy Wales. The winner's work, along with presentations of the other top 3 candidates, are then showcased at the Tate Britain.

This year's winner, announced by Jimmy Wales himself, is a project titled After Dark, created by members of the UK digital product design studio The Workers.

 

 The Workers  

After Dark will allow Tate Britain visitors from all over the world to explore the museum at night. Users will be able to control robots which will roam the galleries, allowing users to look at the art on display up-close and also broadcast their experience and live commentary.

From the looks of the video, the user is, indeed, digitally roaming the Tate in the dark. This definitely seems like a very effective tool for prompting users to think about museum space and atmosphere in a new way and to consider how the presentation/manipulation of museum space can greatly effect one's experience of art. I like the Workers' idea of playing on the notion of the "mystery" of the museum, showing off what happens behind closed doors and, in this case, when the lights go out. I'm certainly curious to see how they will go about organizing After Dark, especially in terms of the sign up process for users.

Balcony view of Tate Britain rotunda

Some food for thought...

Would you be interested in an "after hours" digital tour of your favourite museum? How do you think your experience "after dark" might change (or not) your perception of the artworks/gallery? Do you think this or similar types of digital experiences enhance or take away from (or maybe both) the museum experience?

As a side note, the IK Prize candidate I personally was rooting for was a man by the name of Adam Clarke, who sought to create an interactive Minecraft world that takes the player on a journey of discovery through British art -- aka, Tatecraft. 

 

 Adam Clarke explains Tatecraft

While I have never played Minecraft (mostly for fear of it taking over my life because it would be so addicting), I think this would be a fabulous tool to reach out to new museum audiences. Perhaps we don't typically think of gaming culture and museum culture crossing paths, but in this day and age it is happening more and more often (and rightly so!). As such, I think projects like Tatecraft and After Dark, and closer to home, the ROM's Game Jam, are really embracing the opportunities virtual worlds and digital technologies have to offer in terms of their use value for museums and cultural institutions.

Anyway, I think that all of the IK Prize projects are truly excellent examples of the exciting time we live in, where the crossing of socio-cultural, technological, and creative/artistic boundaries are producing unprecedented opportunities for users of every kind to actively participate in creating their own experiences of art, culture, and history... at any time of day!

Enjoy!

TUESDAY NEWS DAY: CABINET OF PERVOSITIES

BY ALEXANDRA JEFFERY

Hello friends! This week's Tuesday Newsday is slightly more risque than usual. It is about the things you don't usually see, our heritage that is slightly more body oriented than other material culture. If that was too vague of an explanation for you, I'm talking about smutty artifacts! Vintage Penthouse! Victorian panties! Naughty novels! (P.S. if you're offended by nudity you may not want to scroll down).

Bob Guccione's (the founder of Penthouse) Playboy and Penthouse covers collection (Source)

Now, I should probably explain why I'm talking about this. I was researching the use of folksonomies in museums and one article I read mentioned that if you looked up Annette Kellerman, Australia's "Diving Venus," you would find the Powerhouse Museum 's material on Kellerman on a blog called Silent-Porn-Star (Kellerman was arrested in 1907 for indecent exposure while wearing a bathing suit).

Wooden penny arcade peep show game by Esco (Source)

This discovery led me to think about the things that one doesn't see in the museum, after viewing several pages of the blog of course. The items which are featured on the blog are found on auction sites or in flea markets, though some are in online collections databases, like Kellerman's items. It made me wonder why don't we see items like smutty postcards or retro sex toys in regular museum collections or exhibitions.

Sex Museum (Source)

This led me to a bit more searching and I found the British Museum Secretum and the secret cabinet of the National Archaeological Museum of Naples. Both of these areas of the museums feature objects and imagery that was deemed too explicit for the public. The Museum of Naples initially exhibited the objects until the future King of the Two Sicilies, Francis I, told them off. Now the majority of objects are on display in both museums. There is also a Sex Museum in Amsterdam which features; "A rich and interesting collection of the objects about the human sexuality: art as well as photographs, china, figures, plates, arms and many other items."

I also just learned that under the Mark S. Bonhom Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies there is a Sexual Representation Collection. However, you need special permission to view the collection as it is for research only. And understandably so.

Items from the Gabinetto Segreto (Source)

The thing is, we all have sex (well most of us do) and there are a whole lot of accessories that can go with it.  Therefore, it is a part of our history as much as anything else. I don't think that "sordid," "lurid," or "smut" is covered under what we might call "difficult knowledge" (however, I still don't know what that means). So how does a museum handle less than savory items? Not accession them at all? Refuse them when donors try to thrust their naughty paraphernalia on curators? What are your thoughts? How should museums deal with this type of material culture?

Unpublished photograph of Madonna by Herman Kulkens in the collection of Bob Guccione (Source)

 This also leads to the question of whether or not all images of naked bodies are sexually explicit. Often they are not and we title them art. So where do we draw the line between art and pornography? Are vintage Playboy covers art? If they aren't then how should we handle them?

Photograph of nude sailor (Source)

Also what would the purpose be of such a non-art collection? Shock value? Pure entertainment? I, personally, am thinking that there could be some very educational and artistic sexual education traveling exhibits. Coming soon to your neighborhood middle school.

Virgins for the Cardinal, a book in the Monk's Secret Library Series by Star Distributors (Source)

TUESDAY NEWS DAY: INSTAGRAM GETS A MUSEUM

BY: BRITTNEY SPROULE

Hi all! So we here at musings decided to switch things up a bit. Instead of having two hearty helpings of blog posts for Museum Mondays, we moved the museum news posts on over to Tuesdays. News...rhymes with...Tues...you see our logic. Anyway, Museum Mondays and Tuesday News blog posts will still be interchangeably brought to you by Ms. Jeffery and myself, so do not fret. NOW. Time for some cultural current events!

INSTAGRAM GETS A MUSEUM, AND WE GET A WINDOW TO THE WORLD

Instagramers Gallery Homepage

This week I came across an intriguing article from earlier in January about something called the Instagramers Gallery. Essentially, the Instagramers Gallery is "an open, democratic online gallery, devoid of the terms "followers" or "followed," where people could access any image and users could share their talent with the world, displaying their work in a place where it can be appreciated and awarded solely on the quality and originality of their photos" (Instagramers Gallery, "About"). What's more, and what really peaked my interest, is the fact that the Instagram gallery concept has been developed into a physical museum, located in the Wynwood arts district of Miami. Thus far, this is the only gallery in the world devoted to "Instagram art," featuring the photography of "renowned Instagramers" from all over the world.

Physical Instagramers Gallery space in Miami

I shan't ruin the fun of letting you read the above article and check out the online Instagramers Gallery (or the physical one, I don't know how much free time you have for these things...) for yourself with a lengthy summary, but I will share with you a few thoughts that popped into my mind whilst contemplating this particular museum.

First of all, for someone like me who refuses to sign up for Instagram (not that I am against those who have it, I just can't be bothered to take photos on a daily basis. What I'm saying is, I'm too lazy for Instagram), the online gallery open for public viewing is great! The only kicker is, if you wish to vote on pictures or upload your own, you do have to log in. However, while having this publicly accessible online gallery is indeed convenient for leisurely perusal, is it really necessary to have an online gallery devoted to, well, an online gallery-esq application for sharing photos? At least having a physical gallery space throws a new dimension into the mix for Instagram, but I'm not sure I'm totally sold on the online Instagram exhibition idea. Perhaps some of you Instagram aficionados out there can shed some light on the merits of the online Instagramer Gallery for me. What does it offer that the Instagram application does not already?

Photo courtesy of Instagramers Gallery artist @handesemercioglu

Maybe, just maybe, it all comes down to that lovely term and concept of "curation" that we here in museum studies like to pick apart and debate at length. Are the Instagramers Galleries, both online and physical, curated to convey a particular message or purpose with their photo collections and selections that the Instagram application alone lacks? Are members of the public to be considered the curators in this case?

In the same vein, what does a physical Instagram gallery space offer that an online gallery does not, apart from the fact you actually have to visit the space? Is it worth a jaunt to a gallery space when you can just view your favourite Instagram photos on your own Instagram account which you've selected, or dare I say, "curated", based on your own interests? For the record, I am genuinely asking these questions and opening the floor for discussion!

Photo courtesy of Instagramers Gallery artist @paty_guerra

As a final note (or four or five), you may have also noticed earlier that I put the terms "Instagram art" and "renowned Instagramers" in quotations. This is because I couldn't help but wonder...are Instagram photos art? Certainly there are some exceptionally beautiful photos uploaded to Instagram on a daily basis and certainly photography is considered an art form in our modern museums and galleries. My question, then, is how do we judge which Instagram photos are artistic and which are just pictures of kittens or food? Do we use the same criteria to judge these types of photos as we would say, in a professional photography exhibition in a gallery? Also, how do Instagramers become "renowned"? Is it simply the people who get the most views or hits on Instagram or is there more to what an "Instagram artist" does that separates them from the rest? Is the very allure of being an "Instagram artist" the fact that anyone with Instagram can hold this title?

Photo courtesy of Instagramers Gallery artist @madtias

I think that's enough questioning for one day on my part. This felt like Inception for photo galleries. I certainly welcome your responses or further inquiries into the above discussion! As I said, I would love to know what avid Instagramers think of all of this. Of course, I welcome feedback from my fellow non-Instagramers as well. No judgement here :)
Enjoy!