Day One.

Years and years later, after humanity ceases to exist, one look at a museum, and those of the future will know so much about us, as a species. Museums hold our history, our interests, our lifestyle. They contain collections of different aspects of our lives, and collections, as a whole, are a very human thing. It gives us a sense of identity, ownership and possession, individually and collectively. As humans, there are a number of things we don’t understand, like the larger picture, if there is one, and time. We have absolutely no clue about what time is, the beginning or the end, but we have this uncontrollable need to hold on to it. Collecting things, keeping proof of the past, is a core human trait that is displayed well in a museum.

How they started, as quoted by Alison, in class, is simple, “Rich people had cool stuff.” That seems like the most accurate way to describe it. To start a museum, you had to be in a financial position to do so.

When it comes to viewing museums, many believe that “we don’t know how to see”, and can’t distinguish between “looking” and “seeing”. We spoke about “crowds” in a museum, and how they are difficult to deal with, just because of the large numbers. What must be kept in mind is that these crowds aren’t really crowding  and, as Rohit mentioned, “You must cater to the learned and the unlearned”.

Museums and galleries for art are different from the others. It’s all about making the “works work”. “Unlike a concert, in a painting or a sculpture, it’s all there together”. It’s too difficult, the vastness of looking at a painting. We like being guided. So, should a museum tell you what the process behind an artwork is, or let you figure it out? We don’t know. I think it depends completely on the artist. If he or she wants their art to be open to interpretation, so be it.

The reason a lot of art is appreciated is because of the story behind it. As pointed out by Alison, people like Van Gogh, not only because of his sense of aesthetics, but also because his life story is so interesting.

Initially, working in the field of art wasn’t very fulfilling, but with the coming of galleries, it started to be. There were people like Jeff Koons who left investment banking to become an artist. “Taste” became more and more important, and on reaching post-modernism, everything is good, “everything matters, and we are overwhelmed with mattering”, said Alison.

 Thinking about the end of museums, I couldn’t help but think about the Internet. All the information that you could possibly need is already available. What’s there in a museum that you can’t find on the Internet? Yes, on your screens you see only pictures. In a museum, you see the real object, but the distance created with glass, or any other such boundary, takes that away. It’s the experience that makes a difference, so unless a museum gives you that experience that you can take away, it’s pointless.