Video Review - Mod. 13/14

1. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

An Acquiring Mind:

The first hurdle of getting an artwork into The Met is presenting it to the director of the museum.  Philippe wants quality, and always attempts to remain objective and keep his personal tastes out of his decisions.  Identifying outstanding works to go to the director of The Met is the job of over 100 curators and assistants.  Requests for purchase must first go through “The Dry Run” in which the person proposing the piece has 5 minutes to sell it to the Director before it goes to the Board of Trustees.  The Met has numerous conservators that are experts in their perspective fields and are able to re-create ancient and modern techniques in works that need restoration.  Some conservators even use x-rays to examine the objects in need of restoration.  Many of the artworks become even more stunning and beautiful when the history and restoration of them are revealed.

      

Native American Archaeology:

Archaeologists all over American have been studying Native American remains for years.  Countless remains can be found in museums across the country, with individuals using them to find out more about the human race.  However, some individuals find this to be disturbing and disrespectful.  Many Native Americans believe that the archaeologists are tainting the sacred burial grounds and remains of their people.  They do not view it as helping science; they view it as harming their ancestors.  Laws have been put into place that these remains must be returned to the Native Americans, stopping archaeologists from continuing their research.    

Displaying Modern Art:

Tate Modern created a new way of displaying modern art, and is now characteristic of modern art museums.  The art was categorized by art movement, and shown in chronological order so that the public could see how one movement flowed into the next and inspired similarities and differences.  Artists quickly began to push the boundaries of this categorization, so the way in which art was displayed needed to change.  The art was displayed in 4 sections, a thematic approach: landscape, still-life, history, and the nude.  These themes transformed even further becoming Landscape/Matter/Environment, Still Life/ Object/ Real Life, History/ Memory/ Society, and Nude/ Action/ Body.  Some critics were displeased however, by the abrupt transitions from room to room in the museum.        

West Coast Pop Art:

Lowbrow is usually in reference to an artist with no taste.  However, Lowbrow artists look at themselves as being for the people, having heart, being rebellious, and having balls.  People can actually recognize the imagery they’re seeing because it references pop culture, car culture, and folk art.  Art galleries are usually unwilling to display this type of art, but Laguna Art Museum was the first to showcase these artists in a culture show.  It took some time, but eventually female artists began being introduced into the Lowbrow culture.  Punk rock culture really embraced Lowbrow because many of the bands wanted to have Lowbrow artworks on their album covers.  Lowbrow is becoming increasingly popular around the world.            

2. Do the videos relate to the creation of your Art Exhibition project? If yes, explain how. If no, explain why not. 

Two out of the four videos pertain to our Art Exhibition project.  An Acquiring mind relates to this project as it reviews how artworks in The Met have been displayed over the years.  It also explains the process that an artwork must go through, and how many curators it must be approved by, to be worthy of display in The Met.  The Displaying Modern Art video also pertains to our project as it discusses different methods of categorizing and displaying art.  Both of these videos allow us to understand what goes into setting up an exhibit.  The Bones of Contention video is more of a history of what has happened to Native American remains in archaeology.  The Lowbrow video is also more of a history and description of the Lowbrow art culture.  These videos do not have much to do with curating an art exhibit, but they do give us insight into different forms of art.

3. What is your opinion of the films? Do they add depth to understanding of the art concepts you practiced while creating your curation project?

I believe that these films will help me in creating my art curation project.  I have now been introduced to the curation process as well as to different methods of categorizing and displaying art.  I believe that these videos will help me to look for specific aspects of art when I am creating my exhibit.