Museum as a Site of Negotiation. Mediating High and Low Culture

The Curatorial Landscape in the Face of Challenges

Essay , 2013 , 31 Pages , Grade: Distinction

Art - Installation / Action/Performance Art / Modern Art

Between high and low culture, there was once a deep and wide gulf. The clear division was never a natural phenomenon, but rather a result of a cultural act. Throughout the history, the conflict in-between had taken a long way to resolve and the whole subject matter had caused marathon debates among modern cultural critics. Museums, as institutions once with absolute powers in its operation, had been forced to face a worldwide revolution. There were much more mixed emotions towards mass culture - questioning, inquiries, struggles, seduction and temptation at the same time - which constituted a push-and-pull situation. What were museums for? Was it a time for museums to reconsider their role and democratize themselves? What kind of resistance and temptation had museums encountered? To what extent would curators act as pioneers to eliminate the gap in-between taste diversity in art and design? These questions are worthwhile to take a look into. This essay aims to unveil the ways curators liberated themselves from a singular-voiced museum practice, which resulted in revolutions of curatorial models that incorporated multiple voices. Cases include: High and Low: Modern Art and Popular Culture (1990-91, MOMA), The People’s Show (1990, Walsall Museum and Art Gallery) and Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970-1990 (2011, V&A).

Contents

Introduction

Discussion

Section 1 Critique on Singular-Voiced High Culture:Museums as Shrines

Section 2 When Museums Met Mass Culture
2.1 Threat and Temptation of Mass Culture: Mass Critics’ Views
2.2 Design as Merely Reproductions? Or a Transformative Force?
2.3 What are museums for? A Turning Point : Revolutionizing Curating Modes

Section 3 Case Studies
3.1 High and Low: Modern Art and Popular Culture(MOMA, 1990-91) Curating Mode : A Symbiosis of High and Low
3.2 The People’s Show(Walsall Museum and Art Gallery, 1990)Curating Mode : Collections by the People. Democratization from Below
3.3 Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970-1990(V&A, 2011)Curating Mode : A Revisit of Mediation. Now All Becomes history

Conclusion

Appendix - Image Sources

Bibliography ( word count : 4,994 )

• College: Kingston University London (Kingston University London, in Partnership with the Design Museum, London, U.K.)
• Course: MA Curating Contemporary Design
• Grade: Distinction
• Author: Margaret Choi Kwan Lam (Author)
• Publication Year: 2013
• Pages: 31
• Catalog Number: V266355
• ISBN (eBook): 9783656569626
• ISBN (Book): 9783656569565
• Language: English
• Tags: Curating, Museum, Exhibition, Contemporary Art, Musuem Culture, Culture, Contemporary Curating, Curator, Curatorial, Moma, V&A, Walsall Museum and Art Gallery, Postmodern, Artist-curator, Cross-disciplinary, Interdisciplinary, Museum Studies, Art, Criticism, Theory, Critical, Installation Art, Pop Culture