In a session at last weekend’s Blog Indiana 2008 conference, a speaker stressed the importance of using our senses to sharpen our observations in order to better share them. Environment is highly considered in many professions such as architectural design, retail and food service. Marketers want to make us comfortable and happy in our homes, stores and restaurants. So why not think in terms of art viewing experiences?
According to a recent BBC News article citing a study by Heriot Watt University, music can enhance wine taste. On the same principle, can music enhance art taste? Does the taste of a one type of wine or the shade of a certain color wall effect your like or dislike for a work of art?
From my perspective, it must. A recent example of my user-experience comes from this year’s Indiana State Fair. Being a veteran 4-H’er, I’m always impressed at the increasing talent I see in the photography exhibit, including a creative/experimental category for those who like to play in the digital world. The photography exhibits are displayed in the same buildings, and bunched together on the same white walls, shrink wrapped in plastic just as they always have been. The smell of swine mixed with cotten candy wafts through the exhibit. It’s all part of the signature fair experience. I can only imagine what those photographs must look like framed on the wall of a home or art gallery with proper lighting and plenty of breathing room.
In a museum, exhibition design is usually a department unto itself. Wall colors, lighting and graphic design elements are selected with the goal of creating a canvas that best compliments an exhibition or individual work of art. The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery does an exceptional job of making portraits pop, which got the attention of The Washington Post. Viewer experience is key. One sign of flattery is when visitors ask the museum staff for the specific paint number of a gallery so they can use it in their own homes. Sometimes, installation art and site-specific art does the work of the exhibit design team by taking into account the environment in which the work of art lives and the viewers’ total experience. In this way, the artist has more absolute control.
Should artists recommend the ideal environment in which to view their work, what song to listen to while looking at it, or what bottle to pop before feasting? Or should the viewer create their own unique experience or simply rely on the curator or museum to provide that for them?
Below are some works of art from the IMA. Share your music or wine recommendations for these or other favorite works:
- “Two Figures” 1968 sculpture by Barbara Hepworth
- “Phenomena Danger - Pass Left” by Paul Jenkins
- “Electric Chair” by Andy Warhol
Photo Credit: Hugh Talman, Smithsonian Institution
John Updike by Alex Katz; David Hockney Self-Portrait; Phil III by Chuck Close; and Self-Portrait with Liz by Red Grooms, as installed in “Americans Now,” National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.
August 21st, 2008 at 9:25 am
Perhaps the most expected response possible for those of you who know me…but I love listening to Iggy Pop and looking at Andy Warhol…what a big mess of sound, color and mediated nonsense from both of them. It is chaotic and I love it. Maybe I will make an enhanced podcast later…
And I think artists can definitely create multi-sensory situations for art to be experienced, and other people can definitely screw up art-viewing spaces with that other stuff. It is a tricky balance…
August 21st, 2008 at 10:56 am
I vote for a glass of Valpolicella with IMA’s La strada da Brindisi a Barletta by Giuseppe de Nittis:
http://www.imamuseum.org/explore/artwork/59239
August 21st, 2008 at 3:21 pm
If we’re talking about a museum playing music in an exhibition space, then I’m not on board. Worst case scenario: trying to enjoy a Durer print while being Rick Rolled.
However, I have no issue with individuals using headphones while they move about the gallery spaces. I’ve always preferred that the artwork I’m viewing be displayed so that I can concentrate on it alone.
Meanwhile, because the fun of coming up with something isn’t lost on me:
A Lemon Shake-Up while relaxing in an old webbed lawn chair recliner and viewing Miss Lemon Drop by Mel Ramos (and perhaps The Girl from Ipanema playing softly in the next room). …and a small fan.
http://www.imamuseum.org/explore/artwork/960
Also, I’ll need someone to move the painting back and forth on my command (sort of like John Candy offering me pancakes …from that SCTV skit, ‘Monster Chiller Horror Theater’) I’m sure it’s on youtube somewhere.
August 21st, 2008 at 3:32 pm
..although there’s no reason for anyone to care, the painting Daniel mentions is one of my favorites from the IMA’s collection.