Self: Camera Oscura. Photo by Jasmic.
There’s an interesting discussion about musum no-photo policies over at Art Fag City that’s worth checking out.
My two cents: Any museum that accepts even one cent of public money should allow photography (without a flash, of course). A museum is a public space—and if my taxes are gonna help pay for that space and its maintenance, I should be able to take a damn picture. And, no, there shouldn’t be any exclusion of pieces that are part of rotating exhibits. I don’t care if the works are privately owned. (If you want them to be that private, don’t loan them to a museum. Duh.) The fact is an artist—and more importantly, their dealer—benefits tremendously from having work included in a tax-payer-funded museum. That museum prestige rubs right off on them. And then they turn around and cash in on that at some privately-owned Chelsea gallery. My picture is not going to prevent them from making a buck. And if anything, it’s what I get in exchange for supporting, with my taxes and my attendance, these municipal show palaces.
Certainly, there’s other stuff going on here, too: It’s about highly-corporate institutions trying to tightly control how works are viewed. (But that’s the kind of abstract intellectualism that would require way more deep introspection than I’m currently capable of.) The short of it is that museums are public places purportedly designed to showcase important works to the public. They are spaces, in essence, that belong to all of us. And policies or no policies, I’m going to continue to take pictures. After all, it’s just art.
Posted by C-Monster.
Robots Will Kill. Photo by Luna Park.
- 475 Kent Follow-up: Tell Mayor Bloomberg what you think about the city booting out artists to make way for rich people (via Winkleman). More on Gothamist and AFC. Also: see updates to my original post.
- Seamonsters.
- “Holy Grail” of photographer Robert Capa’s negatives found in Mexico. Photo essay here.
- Photo Essay: Iraq’s wounded, photographed by Farah Nosh.
- The Art Industry has seen more Feds than an episode of the Sopranos: Affidavits used for search warrants at the California museums raided last week describe a hotbed of institutional corruption. See a scan of one of the affidavits, courtesy of the NYT. Other reports on the case: CultureGrrl, LA Times, Newsweek, San Diego Union-Tribune, BBC and the O.C. Register.
- These raids are gonna be a “headache” for museums, says one expert. You mean they aren’t going to be able to openly traffic in plundered antiquities? A headache, indeed.
- Speaking of which: Perp Walk of the Day.
- Weed ATMs. (Via ackackack.)
- Museum director musical chairs: The Chicago Sun-Times recommends James Cuno, of the Art Institute, for the gig at the Met. (Via Arts Journal.)
- Art museum voice mail systems are going the way of commercial radio.
- Researchers are trying to restore the world’s first oil paintings, which date back 15 centuries and surround the remains of the Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan. (Via Arts Journal.)
- Graff of the Day: My Monsters in Barcelona. (See the full set.)
- Leave it to the tech geeks: Devising ways of identifying graffiti walls.
- In related news: The BBC profiles various Brazilian graffiti artists, including Zezao and TitiFreak. See a related images here and here.
- Calling Seattle Singles: Gallery owner and her friends want to find you a match based on your taste in art.
- Miami Art Exchange has photos from the Palm Beach Art Fair.
- An interview with video artist Michael Bell-Smith. (Via AFC.)
- Portable cellular phone booth by Nick Rodrigues. (Click through to see the video. It’s worth it.)
- In related news: A good round-up of online art-video sites.
- Where the media and bird shit intersect. (Gracias, Alex.)
- The turntable wristwatch.
- NPR asks: Is architectural design outpacing engineering? Special mentions: Frank Gehry’s leaky M.I.T. structure and Renzo Piano’s falling chunks of ice at the NY Times building.
- Speaking of leaks: Frank Lloyd Wright’s La Miniatura, in L.A., was opened to the public yesterday for the first time since 1992.
- In related news: Architects now hawking Blackberries.
- If you added a hot tub, you could probably turn this article into an art reality show.
- Nudar.
- Your moment of incredibly odd pairings.
Posted by C-Monster.
From the Idiotarod 2008, in NYC: Danger zone, by F. Trainer. See a full set of his pictures here.
Posted by C-Monster.
Baby Tilley. Courtesy of batvega_jl.
See the other entries here. (Via Kottke.)
Posted by C-Monster.
Hummingbird. Monteverde, Costa Rica. Photo by C-M.
Posted by C-Monster.
