"The No. 1 unspoken rule in an art museum: Don’t touch. Museum guards are strategically placed throughout museums to ensure harmful oils on visitors’ hands won’t corrode artwork.
But at the current exhibition at the Museo del Prado in Madrid, touching is encouraged."
Read the article here.
How cool is this interpretation for an art museum? They are not acutally touching the real pieces of art, but what do you all think of this concept?
As someone who can see pretty well (with the help of contact lenses), it's hard for me to imagine walking through an art museum and not being able to see the what is hanging on the walls- the colors, the facial expressions, the shadows, the shiny frames... I experience art visually- my other senses are hardly involved at all. Maybe I can smell fresh paint from a recent gallery installation, or listen to the murmurs of other patrons/ tours. However, most of the time, experiencing art is 100% visceral based on my eye sight as I am not allowed to touch, let alone taste, a painting.
It is interesting to me that I want to use my other senses, specifically touch, to experience the art based on what I am looking at. How badly have you wanted to touch the silk or fur of a gown in the fashion gallery? Or, wanted to run your fingers on the grooves of paint on Louis McElwain's painting upstairs (I can't say I've ever wanted to lick a painting, nor smell one, but I'm sure some other bold patron has tried at least once when Security isn't looking)?
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| Felix Gonzalez-Torres. Untitled (Portrait of Ross in LA) |
Granted, some artworks do ask you to use your other senses. For example, Felix Gonzalez-Torres's "Untitled" (Portrait of Ross in LA) wants you to take a piece of candy and eat it. Video works of art have sounds to accompany the work. Some installations and sculptures want you to play and interact with the art, too ("Fireflies", anyone?). Art is not exclusively for the eyes only, but can you fully grasp the content and the context for the piece without seeing it?... What do you think?
What are your thoughts about this exhibition in Madrid? Do you think that it can provide a true likeness for what a painting looks like for those who cannot see it? If you described your favorite painting to a friend who had no idea what it looks like, do you think you could covey what it looks like by describing how you interpret it with your other senses?
Leave your thoughts in the comment section! I would love to read what you think.
When I first read the headline on this, I had a panic attack! Like, why are you touching that painting???!?!?!?!? However, I think this program is brilliant. The Prado is truly onto something. I know the whole thought of allowing people to touch things in art museums is scary, but if handled correctly, it could be a great success for the museum. It will require extra signage and extra vigilant staff, but I love the innovation I see!
ReplyDeleteI want to go to this exhibition. I fight the urge to touch paintings everytime I look at one regardless of where the painting is.
ReplyDeleteThis is SO COOL! I want to try it myself to see what I would "see" when I touch them. I wonder what the response has been from the blind patrons that have been to the museum? -Allie
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I'd like to point out is the cost of such an innovative project. A large institution like the Prado can afford the expensive 3D printing that this exhibition requires, but what about a smaller institution like the Phoenix Art Museum? Can smaller museums compete in terms of innovation if the funding doesn't match? Is that really a fair competition? Food for thought!
ReplyDeleteI think this is an awesome idea! It is very intriguing to see an open exhibition where one is allowed to touch pieces. You'd see a piece quite different when allowed to touch and feel. We are so used to the fact (well most of us) that we are not allowed to touch works ever. Big no no!! So the fact that it is allowed there for a certain exhibition is very creative! Would be so awesome to see it in person!
ReplyDeleteThis was Katie ^!
DeleteJAYMEE
ReplyDeleteWhy didn't the Prado have this feature when I was there!? :( I think it's totally outrageous and necessary. It's a childlike thing to do, and whether or not we want to admit it, there is a part of each of us that wants to run around the museums and dab our pointer on the noses of the beautiful subjects in the paintings just like we want to touch a stranger's shirt to feel the material and get a better understanding of that person. It's great that they're exposing the inner feelings we all have! Thanks for sharing Kali!
Mental note... don't wear luxurious looking fabrics around Jaymee.... :P
DeleteI really like this idea, in the sense of making art more accessible to those who would not previously have been able to "see" it, but I would like it more if it was its own museum for the visually impaired instead of in a gallery in a large museum like the Prado. A lot of people see situations in black and white and I think it could be problematic allowing touching in one part of the museum and not in others. -Gina
ReplyDeleteI kind of think it's horrifying to think of people touching actual works of art but I do like that museums are starting to implement programs like this that utilize replicas of popular works of art. One of the big London museums (maybe the V&A?) has a tour for blind patrons where they can touch samples of some of the furniture and banisters they have on view. I also really like the Alzheimer's group we do here. And the Prado is amazing.
ReplyDelete--Alicia :)