Thursday, April 14, 2016
The MoMA Is Shuttering Its Architecture and Design Galleries
WIRED: The Museum of Modern Art in New York City is closing its architecture and design galleries, along with the other “medium specific” galleries including photography and drawing. Instead of living in a dedicated space, some of the works from all four mediums will be interspersed throughout the museum, as additions to preexisting (and future) installations.
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I think this is really interesting because of how much we have spent talking about semiotics this semester. This author ends their their article with a statement sayingb"art and architecture have two different stories to tell, but I think I have learned otherwise. Ofcourse no two thngs will every tell the exact same thing but that is true of two art pieces by the same author too. I think putting pieces that have the same vibe to them will inspire people to look at art differently. If you put a chair and a painting with similar semiotics next to one another it allows viewers to under to look at it more closely, to understand the design components that went into it. I also think this method of curating creates unique oppodtunitys for media installations and digital art, because i feel that s ton of peoole take that kind of art less seriously, but if they were to see it along with more traditional works they could change their opinion.
Having read the article, I’m now much more ok with the idea behind it than I was when I first read the title. Just going off the title I was fully prepared to write a comment about how it was an outrage that the MOMA was effectively declaring design and architecture to not be art. Now that I know that isn’t what they intend I’m still not sure how I feel about their plan but at least I understand their reasoning behind it. To be completely honest its probably a good thing to mix the architecture and design exhibits in with the rest of the museum, after all like the article said design does not exist in vacuum. That being said I do have an issue with it (although its an incredibly petty and minor one). If there are specific architecture or design exhibits I want to go see I don’t want to have to crisscross the entire museum to see them. Having them all contained in one section makes it much easier to enjoy them as they relate to each other.
I feel like this move on MoMA's part to give design a more holistic presentation by removing the divisions between mediums did not have to be wholesale. I think there is something to be gained from showcasing certain pieces from, say, architecture with pieces from photography. But I sincerely believe these cross medium juxtapositions should be examined on a more case by case basis, rather than simply doing away with medium specific galleries all together.
I think the author's observation about the very real differences that exist between art and design, and vice versa, is spot on. Bringing all of these collections together could blur that line for many future generations that pass through the newly organized galleries. And yet, perhaps - in the best case - bringing these different elements together will provide occasions for deeper understanding of art and design as separate things, understood all the better in light of each other.
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