New York Times Article: Time-Traveling with the Muses in Boston

In the New York Times I found an article by Holland Cotter who remembers about his two favorite museums during his youth. He revisits the Museum of Fine Art of Boston and the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum of Boston both favorite museums to visit in his youth. In his article, Time-Traveling with the Muses in Boston: On the Fenway, a Habitués Secret Map Uncovers a universe you can Inhabit, he compares the past museums that he knew in his youth to the updated versions of these museums. The two museums are vastly different but both have changed with the times while keeping the museums the same as they were when Holland was a youth.
Holland was first attracted to the museums thought his family and through the Egyptian art in the Museum of Fine Art. By visiting the museum regularly he was able to explore all of the exhibits thoroughly. This museum was a playground where he could spend days observing the art that was on display. He was able learn from the museum “taught me what perspective was. And it taught me what art and specifically painting, was or could be: an embodiment of order, a universe that you could, just through looking, move into and inhabit, where you could set up a life, live and ideal”. Over time from his youth to his older age he still is able to see the old museums exhibits and the new additions to the old museum he remembers.
While the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum started out as an eclectic women’s privet collection and later turned into a museum. Was another stomping ground for Holland during his youth in Boston where visiting this museum was chaotic mixing of masterpieces. He remarked that when he was young this museum was like a “wonder cabinet, exciting exactly for its untrammeled mix of images and styles for the abundances so relentless that no single piece ever came fully into focus, everything was more or lea on a par with everything else” nothing was as grand as the object next to it but still aw-inspiring. It is a pleasant mixture of ‘funky and elegant’ in this museum from all the “Renaissance paintings, to Roman statues, medieval objects and Asian nick-knacks” all of the world arts crammed into a room. Even in Holland’s adult life this museum still has this certain feeling and look that he remembers from his youth walking the halls gazing at the art. But the new things he finds in the museum just add to the wonderful atmosphere of this organized chaos. For this museum still needs to keep up with the demands of the world by adding new wings and section but never taking away.
This article is a definably a time-travel of Holland Cotter back to his childhood experiences in a museum. He is hoping to impart to people that even thought the world is changing, by walking into a museum your able to experience by “looking with love” at art of the world.

Architecture of Museums

Architecture of a museum does not really influence my experience that much because I was more focused on the exhibit at hand. Yet in hindsight I have had experiences where the architecture was both positive and negative e effect on the museums I visit. But comparing the Little Big Horn Museum to the Museum of Natural History museum in New York would be unfair in my opinion, for both have very functional architecture compatible for the purpose of the museum. The Little Big Horn verse the Natural History in New York museums is vastly different in architecture. While the Little Big Horn museum is right by the Battle field and valley thus the architecture is more harmonious with the surroundings. Big windows overlooking the valley gives the museum the natural lighting and feeling of the continuation of the museum through the windows and out to the valley. The architecture purpose was to immerse the visitors with the surrounding area. While the Natural History museum is a large building with large rooms that are lit by artificial lighting. It gives the exhibits a roomy feeling while looking at the artifacts. Also the natural lights of windows might harm the artifacts on display. But sometimes because of the enormity of the rooms it detracts from the exhibit. The bigger the museum the more lost people can get in them takes away from the overall experience if the display because the only thing the visitors would take away from the museum is the lost experience. The architecture of a museum is a double edge sword of having a good influence or a bad experience at a museum. This fine line can be reach but hard to stay on when the exhibits are always changing in the museums.

Effective Museum Aspects

There are so many museums that I have visited each was effective in their own way besides what is on exhibit it is in my opinion is the staff that makes a museum very effective. In many ways the staff can make or break a visitors experience to a museum. Yes museums usually have the representation of ‘ssshhhh show respect this is a museum you need to be quiet’ with security and guides giving the glare of death if you make a loud sound. But I have never run into any staff of a museum acting like that. Very friendly, helpful, full of information of the exhibits and of the museum these museum staff is there for the visitor regardless of what museum a visitor is at.

With large museums there still is the helpful staff that is there to help but I find that smaller museums (that are out of the mainstream) or when visiting a bigger museums on none eventful day both have better staff. Yes going to a museum you is there to appreciate the exhibit you wanted to visit but the staff is able to give you a more in-depth look at the exhibit and answering your questions. Depending on the staff you can get a personal tour of the museum. In my personal experiences I can rightfully blame my mom for many of those tours and I’m grateful in hindsight for they were very insightful. My favorite private tour was when I visited the John Steinbeck museum in California on a Wednesday morning (with my mom) and Aaron one of the staff at the front desk took us around to each exhibit including all the extra tidbits. Funny thing was before I visited the Museum I have only read one of his books after that visit I have read five more.

Contextual Approach in a Museum

Creating a museum needs to be set around the objects used. But the use of these objects needs to be within a context to share the rich legend surrounding the objects used in the museum. Yet taking those objects out of context is taking a big risk in stretching the truth and retelling a completely different story. Pearce is explaining in her article to keep all objects within the contextual approach within the exhibits of a museum and not the by classification that was used before. The classification approach was helpful in the past for museums to show objects in a grouping way of telling a history of common objects. While the contextual approach grouping objects together which have the same intellectual significance. Without the contextual grouping the meaning or story being told will be disordered and misleading to the visitors at any museum. So yes I believe that a contextual approach should be used in museums to effectively to show the objects on exhibit there. I have seen the Bodies exhibit but I was not interested in looking at the dead spices of body parts. But that is the only museum that I can think of which I have been to which is where the contextual approach is very usable in. It was an informative exhibit in which people can observe what the inner parts of a body looks like. Without any derogatory objections or protests in which the use of the human body in the exhibit is used. By keeping the information as a third person and basic facts of the bodies used kept the exhibit educational. I think the people creating the exhibit in the museums were able to achieve the goal of informative exhibit. Even though I didn’t enjoy the exhibit I saw their accomplishment.

Seeing a Muesum

All kinds of history, from any culture, that ranges from natural to technological to civilization people can learn from a book. But a book can only give a person only a part of a historical experience. By going to a museum the physical experience of the artifacts brings about a new outlook of a subject. Reading about an ancient Egyptian mummy being discovered in a book is magical. Yet, actually seeing a real mummy in a museum while walking around it, looking at the hieroglyphics decorating the sarcophagi and viewing the linen wrapped body brings about a better appreciation for the mummy. By viewing physical artifacts brings awe and admiration to the preservation of knowledge. This is a physical and visual reassurance of history to me.

Whenever I go to a museum I usually have an interest in one or more exhibits of which I have done research about or have learned about. Seeing those artifacts is like putting a face with a name but its experience the readings to physical artifacts. I get a feeling of amazement and satisfaction. That is what I experience whenever I visit a museum and see artifacts that I probably would never have a chance to see.

Not only do I enjoy my experience at a museum but I also like to people watch in a museum. To see how they react to something new or exciting like observing little kids with wide eyes who say ‘wow’ when they are told that an Egyptian mummy is over thousands of years old or hearing people exclaim “I never knew that”. That brings a smile to my face. Because not matter how much I already know I am still learning as does any visitor who decides to spend an afternoon visiting a museum.

Photo is a image from the Royal British Columbia Museum Exhibit Treasures : The Worlds Culture of the Britsih Museum. http://www.blogaholics.ca/wp/uploads/Coffin.jpg

The Spiral Jetty was made by artiest Robert Smithson in 1970 located in the Great Salt Lake of Utah. This earth art is a large spiral extending into the lake allowing visitors to admire this art whenever this lake water is high or low. Yet there is a debate on if the Spiral Jetty makes the Great Salt Lake a museum or not. I do not believe that the Great Salt Lake qualifies as a museum in which this piece of art is located at which is a public place.

A museum is a place which houses ordinary object to help explain to contemporary people the knowledge and truth of the world. The museums are buildings with the purpose of preservation of objects which is designed to engage the public in an informational manner about the objects and furthering the knowledge of the world. Museums are dedicated in the preservation of all objects from art, to clothing, to everyday tools from past civilizations around the world.

Unlike Great Salt Lake which is just a public space where an artist placed his work for the public people to enjoy and observe the natural course of his art. Yes there are people working on documenting and preservation of the Spiral Jetty but they are not a part of a museum. Yet the Spiral Jetty is just a piece of art that is not contributing to furthering the knowledge or truth of the world. As I have stated earlier the Great Salt Lake is not a museum it is a natural location where Robert Smithson placed he work.

~SLW