Things ain't what they used to be

The lecture named ‘things ain’t what they used to be has given me an understanding of the term museology and collecting. Ed Ruscha’s oil on canvas painting titled The Los Angeles County Museum on Fire 1965-8, displays the loss of culture and history a museum enables us to have knowledge of.  Showing how important a museum is in securing art and culture.

 

The decision to evacuate the important contents of the National Gallery during WWII and keep it hidden away during the war years in a bunker at the Manod Quarry. Strikes the question how do you choose what the most important works of art are? Is it the value or how famous the artwork is? If you look at Damien Hirst’s artwork for example do people want to see money, the artwork or lastly just because its famous. Gillian Wearing’s video installation titled Western Security 1995 gives us the idea, why are some paintings worth more could it just be a question of the figure that makes the work of art important. Which leads you onto thinking is the museum and the art for the people or the instition.

Joseph Kosuth installation titled The Play of the Unmentionable 1990, Brooklyn Museum New York is a series of collected artwork that has upset people at some point. https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/exhibitions/819/The_Brooklyn_Museum_Collection:_The_Play_of_the_Unmentionable_(Joseph_Kosuth)

This leads onto the artwork of David Hamilton whose work got removed in the 90’s due to the pedofile epidemic. Just showing the enoumous power instutions have to remove history or choose what to show from history. This can lead you to think what remains hidden.

The Give and Take exhition at the V&A and Serpentine refused labels as they tell you what to think and guide you round.

Museums have evolved to have two menaing such as actually going to see the displays or to a coffee with friends and shopping. The General Idea Boutique and General Idea publiations from the 1984 Miss General Idea Pavilion take the idea of the museum as a money making machine with lots of people buying products to do with the displays.

 

Claes Oldenburgs artwork titled Mouse Museum makes you look at human lifestyle through mouses eyes. Leading you onto the idea what do you have to do to get in a museum, is our lives and the way we live a museum itself?