In an online article in spiked,* Wendy Earle of Birkbeck, University of London, argues for minimal information and technology in art museums, encouraging visitors to interact directly with the works themselves.
At an exhibition in Paris of British Aestheticists (Désir et Volupté – with Alma-Tadema,
Leighton, Rossetti, Burne-Jones etc) at the wonderful Musée Jacquemart-André, I noticed that the punters
were nearly all reading the information panels and/or using various “apps”,
leaving scarcely anyone to look at the paintings.
This is
not a phenomenon unique to the French. I notice it everywhere – a real hunger
for information and guidance, as though people are afraid simply to trust
themselves, to look and wonder.
*Technology
in museums – less is more! http://www.spiked-online.com/newsite/article/technology_in_museums_less_is_more/14433#.UsPvQv1FDIV
Posts
