Art Museums and Museum Visitors as Art

The meaning and importance of museums have changed a great deal since the Renaissance. What began as a cabinet of curiosities or a private collection has transformed itself into a massive public institution where the state of art is actively defined and shaped. Granted, museums (especially in the beaux-arts tradition) have long worked to define the parameters of what art could or could not be. Despite the fact that those parameters have become meaningless with the advent of post-modern art, the museum has expanded to envelop this genre of expression as well. No medium or style is outside the purview of a museum of contemporary or modern art; any and all works are subject to its taste.

I don't wish to portray the museum as a monstrosity. They do an excellent job providing intellectual stimulation to the public. As an nascent architect I cannot help but be fascinated by the museum spaces themselves, which tend to be architecturally and stylistically neutral in deference to the art they contain. This seems a little ironic in contrast to their function, which inherently involves taste and choice. The clean lines and pale tones of the Griffin Court of the Art Institute's Modern Wing made an excellent canvas to capture these colorful images of guests moving through the museum space. I hope these images are both visually stimulating but also subtly, if indirectly, critique the museum's neutral facade.

Modern Wing 1

Modern Wing 2

Modern Wing 3

Modern Wing 4