In Little Frank and His Carp, a video by Andrea Fraser, the artist is listening to the official audio guide of the Guggenheim Bilbao, following the instructions closely. She walks around, admire and touch when it is told. In awe, she rubs her body around the “gentle” and “powerfully sensual” curves of the museum under the surprised and amused eyes of visitors. By overplaying the instructions, Andrea Fraser points out the enthusiasm and almost adoration put onto the architecture of the Frank Gehry building. She insert this critic within a broader reflexion on the museum adaptation to globalisation in her essay ‘Isn’t this a wonderful place?’, in which she provides a detailed analysis of the audioguide. [1]
Indeed, in its description of the …show more content…
This has led to a shift of interest from collections to audiences with the necessity for institutions to find innovative ways of increasing visitor figures every year. The museum could not survive in its previous form of old cultural and elitist model with its educated, refined but limited audience. Museums started embodying new ideologies of democratisation of the arts, education and inclusion, with a stronger business model to survive in our economic environment. A number of museums have had to redesign their buildings to suit these new needs.
The architect Michael Grave expresses this new challenge defending his proposal for extension of the Whitney Museum: ‘I think this is a moment in history where we have got realize that we’re not just building Kunsthalles or picture galleries. We’re building institutions that have places for discussion, places for study, and a social climate as well as a climate in which to see painting and sculpture. I’m all in favour of that. I’m bowled over, quite frankly, that the building is described as too large.’ [2]
This new museum dynamic has led to an adaptation of their interior and exterior …show more content…
It has also directed museums into a race of ever-bigger spaces: museums around the world are expanding, promoting their square footage and most avant-garde designs. They all seem to need their superlative: Tate Modern, hosting the ‘largest contemporary art commissions in the UK’ is expanding in a new building and in the Tanks, the ‘most exciting spaces to display art anywhere in the world’. [3] The Whitney Museum of American Art has announced that it will soon have ‘the largest column-free exhibition space of any museum or gallery in New York City’. The V&A is planning to open a new public space for London above an underground gallery of 1,500 square meter, as well as transform the London’s former Olympic park into its new branch. The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is planned to open in 2017 and will be twelve times bigger than the Guggenheim New York. [4]
Indeed, in its description of the …show more content…
This has led to a shift of interest from collections to audiences with the necessity for institutions to find innovative ways of increasing visitor figures every year. The museum could not survive in its previous form of old cultural and elitist model with its educated, refined but limited audience. Museums started embodying new ideologies of democratisation of the arts, education and inclusion, with a stronger business model to survive in our economic environment. A number of museums have had to redesign their buildings to suit these new needs.
The architect Michael Grave expresses this new challenge defending his proposal for extension of the Whitney Museum: ‘I think this is a moment in history where we have got realize that we’re not just building Kunsthalles or picture galleries. We’re building institutions that have places for discussion, places for study, and a social climate as well as a climate in which to see painting and sculpture. I’m all in favour of that. I’m bowled over, quite frankly, that the building is described as too large.’ [2]
This new museum dynamic has led to an adaptation of their interior and exterior …show more content…
It has also directed museums into a race of ever-bigger spaces: museums around the world are expanding, promoting their square footage and most avant-garde designs. They all seem to need their superlative: Tate Modern, hosting the ‘largest contemporary art commissions in the UK’ is expanding in a new building and in the Tanks, the ‘most exciting spaces to display art anywhere in the world’. [3] The Whitney Museum of American Art has announced that it will soon have ‘the largest column-free exhibition space of any museum or gallery in New York City’. The V&A is planning to open a new public space for London above an underground gallery of 1,500 square meter, as well as transform the London’s former Olympic park into its new branch. The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is planned to open in 2017 and will be twelve times bigger than the Guggenheim New York. [4]