The Art of the Exhibition
Exhibition titles containing "The Art of...:" if they aren't already banned, let me declare a moratorium on them here and now.
Thankfully, a quick survey of current exhibitions at major museums turns up no such titles. Today, they seem to be relegated to LEGO promotions ("The Art of the Brick") and Internet branding, from The Art of Manliness to The Art of Eating. I have nothing against LEGOS, or Nathan Sawaya (or manliness, for that matter), but I've also long held that a good double entendre in an exhibition title never hurt anyone. The "Art of" trope presents itself as such a clever wordplay, but turns out to be a problematic equation. One implication is that the exhibition in question presents the extraordinary craft behind certain objects, while the other elevates those objects to the realm of fine art.
The "Art
of" trend stems from art museum appropriation of
design, architecture and other cousins of the "fine" arts. Take, for example, an early and prominent example: "The Art of the Motorcycle" at the Guggenheim (1998). The exhibition generated a degree of controversy, as it stirred up thorny distinctions between "high" and "low" art (or fine and applied art, aka design) and raised the fundamental question of whether motorcycles were appropriate to a venue dedicated to modern art. At the time, the "Art of" trope had not yet run rampant through smaller museums, and one can hardly fault the Guggenheim for its (then) originality in employing it as a branding device to assert the aesthetic merit of the vehicles on display. But the title is bound to implode, leaving little more than a defensive assertion that heretofore non-art really is art, that there's art to be found amidst the functional aspects of industrial design. But of course, there's an entire institution a block away dedicated to design (the Cooper Hewitt, National Design Museum), and I don't think they've ever presented an exhibition called "The Design of [insert favorite modern artist or school]."
Unfortunately, "Art of..." titles tend to backfire and cloud the audience's reception of the work presented. If visitors approach such an exhibition looking for the art of the thing, they may miss its essence as a manifestation of form-following-function. The door is closed to the public's exploration of pithy issues of art that is functional versus art that functions as art - historically, both equally valid and not natural enemies.
At the end of the day, it's about context, and art museums should be fined for employing "The Art of..." as code for the elevation of anything and everything to the persistent pedigree of the Fine Arts.
Thankfully, a quick survey of current exhibitions at major museums turns up no such titles. Today, they seem to be relegated to LEGO promotions ("The Art of the Brick") and Internet branding, from The Art of Manliness to The Art of Eating. I have nothing against LEGOS, or Nathan Sawaya (or manliness, for that matter), but I've also long held that a good double entendre in an exhibition title never hurt anyone. The "Art of" trope presents itself as such a clever wordplay, but turns out to be a problematic equation. One implication is that the exhibition in question presents the extraordinary craft behind certain objects, while the other elevates those objects to the realm of fine art.
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| Installation of "The Art of the Motorcycle" at the Guggenheim. allartnews.com |
Unfortunately, "Art of..." titles tend to backfire and cloud the audience's reception of the work presented. If visitors approach such an exhibition looking for the art of the thing, they may miss its essence as a manifestation of form-following-function. The door is closed to the public's exploration of pithy issues of art that is functional versus art that functions as art - historically, both equally valid and not natural enemies.
At the end of the day, it's about context, and art museums should be fined for employing "The Art of..." as code for the elevation of anything and everything to the persistent pedigree of the Fine Arts.
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