SOUND MUSEUM

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 UbuWeb Sound originally focused on Sound Poetry proper, UbuWeb's Sound section has grown to encompass all types of sound art, historical and contemporary. Beginning with pioneers such as Guillaume Apollinaire reading his "Calligrammes" in 1913, and proceeding to current practitioners such as Vito Acconci or Kristin Oppenheim, UbuWeb Sound surveys the entire 20th century and beyond. Categories include Dadaism, Futurism, early 20th century literary experiments, musique concrete, electronic music, Fluxus, Beat sound works, minimalist and process works, performance art, plunderphonics and sampling, and digital glitch works, to name just a few. As the practices of sound art continue to evolve, categories become increasingly irrelevant, a fact UbuWeb embraces. Hence, Ubu artists are listed alphabetically instead of categorically. UbuWeb embraces non-proprietary, open source media. As such, most of the newer files are encoded in the more universally readable MP3 format. However, when a recording is still in print and available, Ubu only serves it in streaming RealMedia; Ubu doesn't wish to take whatever small profits might be made from those taking the efforts to gather, manufacture and properly distribute such recordings. Instead, Ubu hopes that by streaming these works, it will serve as an enticement for UbuWeb visitors to support the small labels making this work available. All MP3s served on UbuWeb are either out-of-print, incredibly difficult to find, or, in Ubu's opinion, absurdly overpriced.

Paleontology & Adults Only Events Marketing

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This story on Robyn Williams' The Science Show on Radio National has an element that should be of interest to the serious marketers of museum programs. It alerts us to what can be done – rather what is being done – to attract audiences to museums and engage with them.  

Yes it is rather audacious to be letting rock bands into paleontology exhibitions or serving 'adults only' slap up dinners with an after dinner speaker talking about the sex lives of bonobo chimps but apparently it works a treat for income generation.  

It appears that this is beginning to happen in Australia with the Melbourne Museum and Questacon  in Canberra too with them occasionally organising Adults Only nights. Its likely to be happening in a museum near you soon or maybe the museum will close down due to the lack of funds.

Museums are beginning to learn about marketing and advertising. ,The first rule of marketing is "HAVE A PRODUCT." Also, apparently the best way to kill a bad/ordinary product has proven to be "ADVERTISE IT." Watch this space! 

VENDING CULTURE

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Vending machines are almost omnipresent in the so-called 'Developed World' with all levels of technology manifesting themselves in these machines.  When it comes to 'low-tech, high-concept Art-o-mats'—refurbished old, mechanical cigarette machines selling small pieces of artwork for $5 – its almost unnerving. Art-o-mat is the brainchild of Clark Whittington of Winston-Salem, N.C., who has sold about 100 of the retro machines, now scattered around the country in museums, galleries, hotels, restaurants and shops. Colorfully customized by Mr. Whittington, the machines sell about 30,000 pieces a year and the 300 artists who supply the inventory receive $2.50 for each piece sold. Scott Blake, an Omaha-based artist known for giant portraits constructed from bar codes, says the vending machine gives artists wider exposure as well as additional revenue. "It's easier to sell a million one-dollar things than one, $1 million thing," says Mr. Blake. "I'm working my way up to $1 million, one dollar at a time." Its about time Art Museums got on board this one. This looks like a real 'cultural experience' ... Click here to read more

10 Most Bizarre Vending Machines in Japan ... With one vending machine for every 23 people, Japan has one of the highest vending machine densities in the world. You can hardly walk 100 meters without finding a vending machine in Japan. Japan has a dense population, limited space, and a decreasing number of working age people. Vending machines have proven to be a convenient solution to the problem. Almost any good you can purchase in a store, you can find in one of Japan’s 6 million vending machines ... We might imagine these machines collectively as street museums purveying the culture  of now. 

Exposition Sol LeWitt - Wall Drawings from 1968 to 2007

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 Sol LeWitt The Centre Pompidou-Metz is organizing a major project around the American conceptual artist Sol LeWitt (1928-2007). In the 13,000 square feet of Galerie 2, the Centre Pompidou-Metz is hosting a retrospective of Sol LeWitt's wall drawings on a scale never seen before in Europe. The selected thirty-three wall drawings, the largest group ever exhibited in Europe, span the artist's career from its beginnings to his final works. Chosen from the 1,200 wall drawings which LeWitt created between 1968 and 2007, they reflect both the extraordinary consistency of his systematic explorations - with rigorous sets and combinations of geometric elements - and the remarkable diversity of his practice, both in the evolution of forms from simple geometric figures to what the artist called "complex" or "continuous" forms, and of the materials used (from pencil and crayon to ink washes, acrylic paint and graphite). Through a remarkable partnership with local schools of art and architecture, the execution of these wall drawings at the Centre Pompidou-Metz fully conveys the spirit of collaboration and generosity advocated by the artist. In partnership with the Centre Pompidou-Metz, and as a chromatic counterpart to this retrospective of wall drawings in black and white, M-Museum in Leuven (Belgium) will show, from June 21, twenty wall drawings in color. In 2013, the Centre Pompidou-Metz will show Sol LeWitt's personal collection. This second exhibition will reflect LeWitt's extraordinary career not only as a prolific artist but also as an insatiable collector. The LeWitt Collection, built up largely through trades and gifts rather than purchases, contains, alongside a selection of LeWitt's own works, over 4,000 works by other artists. With over 250 works and documents, the presentation at the Centre Pompidou-Metz will be the first major showing of the LeWitt Collection in Europe. Curator: Béatrice Gross, independent curator and art critic, New York ... Sol Le Witt Obituary New York Times

THE MUSEUM OF THE FUTURE: A Curatorial Intensive in China

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Independent Curators International and the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art announce Curatorial Intensive in Beijing Program Dates: August 5–11 Application ... Deadline: May 9 www.curatorsintl.org ... Independent Curators International (ICI), New York, and the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA), Beijing are now accepting applications from curators working around the world to participate in The Museum of the Future?: Curating Institutions, the first Curatorial Intensive to be held in China ... Organized from August 5–11, 2012, the short-course training program will use curatorial thinking to examine strategies for creatively building infrastructures for contemporary art that respond to the changing needs of artists and new art publics. Since the "Experimental Institutionalism" that arose in Europe at the beginning of the new millennium curators have increasingly taken on directorial roles to establish new precedents for programming institutions and challenging traditional exhibition formats. Now, worldwide we are witnessing the development of an incredible range of institutions—from the smallest and most itinerant to vast exhibition halls amidst the mega-complex—that are responding to the social and political contexts through which they arise ... This 7-day program will explore the historical precedents, new models, and emergent curatorial practices that are influencing the infrastructures for art through an intensive schedule of seminars, site visits, individual meetings, and round table discussions. Faculty include Zdenka Badovinac (Director, Moderna Galerija, Ljubljana), Tobias Berger (Curator, M+ Museum for Visual Culture), Zoe Butt (Curator and Director of Programs and Development, San Art), Yu Ding (Vice President, School of Humanities and Director of Arts Management Department, CAFA), Kate Fowle (Executive Director, Independent Curators International), Wang Huangsheng (Director, CAFA Art Museum), Rodrigo Moura (Curator, Instituto Inhotim), Zhou Tiehai (Director, Minsheng Art Museum), and Philip Tinari (Director, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art). The Curatorial Intensive at UCCA is organized in affiliation with the College of Humanities at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing ... CLICK HERE FOR MORE ABOUT ICI

Sydney's MCA Reopens – March 29

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The MCA's 2012 Reopening Program Launches with Marking Time, Christian Marclay's The Clock, a new presentation of the MCA Collection, new commissions, performances and more. March 29, 2012 10am–5pm Daily, 10am–9pm Thursday Museum of Contemporary Art Australia 140 George Street The Rocks, Sydney, NSW 2000 mca.com.au ... On Thursday 29 March 2012 a new and significantly expanded Museum of Contemporary Art Australia will be unveiled to the public. The redevelopment transforms the MCA, with spacious new galleries including an entire floor dedicated to the MCA Collection; the National Centre for Creative Learning with state-of-the-art technology; public spaces that embrace one of the world's most famous locations, and a series of site-specific artists' commissions. Architect Sam Marshall in association with the Government Architect's Office has created a contemporary building that responds to its unique location and meets the needs of the Museum, bringing together old and new to create a context for engaging artists with audiences for the 21st century. The new MCA opens with Marking Time, which explores the ways in which artists visualise time, from family history and the failures of memory, to the ancient time of the planet or cosmos, to calendar cycles mapping the duration of the exhibition itself and its passing, across diverse media. Marking Time features works by: Edgar Arceneaux (US), Jim Campbell (US), Daniel Crooks (AU), John Gerrard (UK), Lindy Lee (AU), Tatsuo Miyajima (JP), Rivane Neuenschwander (BR), Tom Nicholson (AU), Katie Paterson (UK), Elisa Sighicelli (IT), and Gulumbu Yunupingu (AU). The highly acclaimed 24-hour video installation The Clock by Christian Marclay will occupy the largest gallery, Level 1, in the new wing. The Clock will be shown in its entirety on the MCA's opening day, then played continuously during regular museum opening hours. Every Thursday there will be a special 24-hour presentation of this work. The new MCA opens with a focus on its Collection, works acquired since the MCA was established in 1989. Volume One: MCA Collection, includes more than 150 Australian artists. Selected by MCA Curator Glenn Barkley, Volume One: MCA Collection reflects the diversity of Australian contemporary art over the past 20 years, including work by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, the consolidation of film and video practice from a marginal to central position; the emergence of diverse cultural voices; as well as ephemeral and performative practices. Artists include... click here to find out more and read more

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MUSEUM MEMBERSHIP: The Tate's model for success

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There’s a great deal museums everywhere can learn from a program like Tate Members when we’re talking about 'online community building' and other activities where we want people to get together in an organised way around a cause. Here’s a couple of things to take away from repeating the Tate Members story at least 50 times:

1. Have clear benefits ... invent things people can get FREE
2. Keep repeating why people should join ... Because there are always new people being born that need to know 
3. Outreach versus engagement ... Its as much about finding new members as keeping the old ones happy. 
4. Treat different people differently ... Not everybody wants the same benefits ... Simply repeating your marketing message all the time might scare members away that have grown past being a member for the benefits. 
5. Build a tribe ... The best thing about Tate Members is the welcome package– it makes you feel that you are part of Tate. These things are gold. 
6. Be very, very serious about it  ... The moment people get together magic happens, and the moment they are invited to get together and the host isn’t in it for 120%, the party is ruined... We can bet on it that you remember such parties
7. Click here to read more and get more

MUSEUMS: Who bloody well needs them?

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Museums today fill a different space in the imagination of people – especially people in the so-called developed world. With sites such as this one, and the myriad of others that fill the same kind of gap, who needs to visit a collection of dusty exhibits to satisfy their curiosity or even to spark it? Just who is going to a museum to stimulate themselves? Who is doing it more than every now and then?

Museums and art galleries operating on a 19th cum 20th Century model (mindset?) when colonialism was relatively fresh in our collective consciousness, and that celebrate the status quo, are arguably redundant. Children, by-and-large, are streets ahead of museum functionaries' thinking and very often are pretty much unimpressed by what they see in front of them. 

SOME people find new and unexpected ways to engage with these dusty places called museums – and sometimes takeaway interesting things. Likewise SOME museums and art galleries actively look  for ways blow away the dust and for new ways to engage with their audiences – children, students, researchers, citizens of all ages and cultural backgrounds, etc –and deliver culturally engaging  programs. 

Sadly too many museums and art galleries funded by 'the taxpayer' are loosing their credibility, their social license to operate, their sense of purpose, their vitality and whatever it was they once could rely upon to win the accolades of the communities they belonged to.

Albeit two quite different kinds of visitation, if your brain is hungry there is a choice of collections one might visit. For many they are just a 'mouse click' away and for others you may need to drive to town.

Jack Bauer

CHAMBERLAIN AT THE GUGGENHEIM NEW YORK

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February 24–May 13, 2012 

 Often identified as the artist who successfully translated Abstract Expressionism into three dimensions, John Chamberlain wound through Franz Schubert, the U.S. Navy, hairdressing, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Black Mountain College poets on his path to art. In Chicago, Chamberlain admired the work of Willem de Kooning and David Smith and learned to weld. Black Mountain instilled in him an intuitive collage sensibility and an approach to language that favored the visual appearance and sounds of words, dissociating them from their definitions.

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A PARADIGM SHIFT IN FURNITURE DESIGN

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The New Computing Paradigm on the Horizon and Museums

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Well we can probably look forward to the day when every exhibit can have its own computer and able to afford it. Also there is the promise of little robots cruising about in museums enriching the musing  and goodness knows what else. The sceptics say "its a way off yet" but there you go these same people said the same thing about iPODs and all kinds of things. 

One museum, the Santa Cruz MAH has worked out how to get iPODs in the museum – and very very cheaply. They are asking their community to donate their old iPODs to them. If you upgrade to an iTOUCH or an iPHONE you'll, as likely as not, you'll have a redundant iPOD. If you're not sure what to do with that iPOD that was such a big purchase back then, well you could give it a museum who wants to engage with its audience. 

That museum would offer you a way to redistribute your resources instead of throwing away something that has more technology in it than most things in your home and has an enormous amount of musing life left in it. ALL THIS CAN HAPPEN RIGHT NOW

Museums need iPODs, old and new, to play music, deliver sound bytes and more still in the galleries. MoNA in Hobart has started to work out what can be done with this kind of technology.  So take your forlorn and lonely iPOD to the front desk of a museum near you and test its relevance to the 21st C.  Your museum may well give it a new life, or  have a solution for you that supports local art and history in your community. 

A 21st C museum should be able to offer you a way to redistribute your resources instead of throwing away something that has more technology in it than your microwave. A 20th C museum would look to their collection policy and wonder if you iPOD would fit their collection policy.

Indeed yo may well have other superseded technology that could still do a job in a museum beyond being an exhibit!

28 Things To Do With New Media In A Museum

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The Museum of Islamic Arts ...  Last week Jim Richardson (Sumo/MuseumNext) and I hosted a 2-day workshop to help the Qatar Museum Authority (QMA) develop their digital engagement strategy. After two intense days of gamestorming, project design and requirement discussions I left Doha with the strong feeling we might have to look east if we want to discover what the museum of the future looks like ...  Click here to read more ... Click here to watch the video 5stars

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What art museums should learn from Christianity

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What art museums should learn from Christianity 

Alain de Botton ABC Religion and Ethics 22 Feb 2012

 

 "Christianity never leaves us in any doubt about what art is for: it is a medium to teach us how to live, what to love and what to be afraid of ... You often hear it said that "museums of art are our new churches." In other words, in a secularising world, art has replaced religion as a touchstone of our reverence and devotion ... It's an intriguing idea - part of the broader ambition that culture should replace scripture - but in practice art museums often abdicate much of their potential to function as new churches (places of consolation, meaning, sanctuary, redemption) through the way they handle the collections entrusted to them ... While exposing us to objects of genuine importance, they nevertheless seem unable to frame them in a way that links them powerfully to our inner needs. The problem is that modern museums of art fail to tell people directly why art matters, because Modernist aesthetics (in which curators are trained) is so deeply suspicious of any hint of an instrumental approach to culture ... To have an answer anyone could grasp as to the question of why art matters is too quickly viewed as "reductive" ... We have too easily swallowed the Modernist idea that art which aims to change or help or console its audience must by definition be "bad art" (Soviet art is routinely trotted out here as an example) and that only art which wants nothing too clearly of us can be good ... Hence the all-too-frequent question with which we leave the modern museum of art: what did that mean?" ... Click here to read & watch more

A Homage to John Cage

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