Museology Seminar Series

Hello All,

Our next 'Museology Seminar Series' talk is on Monday 15th November 2010.

Leeds University Museology Seminar Series V

'The Reconstructed Old Town of Warsaw - a World Heritage Site'

Dr Urszula Szulakowska

School of Fine Art, History of Art & Cultural Studies

University of Leeds

Monday 15th November 2010

2.00pm - 3.00pm

University of Leeds, Baines Wing, Room 3.06

ALL WELCOME

Curating the Old and the New - (and the things that are left behind)

Hello All,

all the MA students have been thinking about Foucault (again) the past few weeks - and whether such opaque ideas are useful at all, (at least for us in thinking about 'museum studies')...(the answer is of course it is!)  In relation to this I thought I'd draw your attention to a recent exhibition I went to at the Royal Museum of the Fine Arts, Antwerp. Closing Time, curated by the Belgian artist Jan Vanriet - (it's unfortunately 'closed' now...I didn't hear if they called 'last orders'.....) -Closing Time is an interesting example of the complex ways in which museums and galleries are 're-thinking' the classifications, conjunctions and narratives of their collections; (perhaps in a 'Foucauldian' way...or perhaps we've always done such things...and..doesn't assigning this process a 'name' subvert the intentions of such a project?...what, indeed, is 'an author' in this context?)
Anyway, Vanriet is a well known Belgian artist (I confess I'd not heard of him...but I'm not usually in such 'loops'..I'll avoid the cliche of 'famous Belgians'...oh I didn't..sorry!).  Vanriet had been given carte-blanche in choosing artworks from the permanent collections of the Royal Museum of the Fine Arts and re-assembled them in the temporary exhibition spaces, setting up conjunctions with his own works and disrupting the conventional taxonomies and classifications of the artworks in the gallery.  As you can see (here), paintings by 'masters' such as Hans Memling (Man with a Roman Coin c.1478) are set in dialogue with the works of Vanriet (Eva, Black Bonnet, 2006). One can see 'echoes' in these conjunctions - across time, across cultures, across visual memory.  I confess it was a beautiful exhibition - a taxonomy of poetics, instead of the 'hard science' of art history..(perhaps); and the exhibition was packed with visitors!
But.....there are, of course, 'consequences' for such interventions; I arrived at the gallery very early on a Sunday morning, and accidentally wandered into the (closed to the public) spaces of the permanent collections, from which Vanriet had rummaged and taken his choice. I was eventually, and very politely, ushered out of these spaces by the security guy, but had managed to wander through quite a few rooms before being 'caught'.

Unlike the Closing Time exhibition (which was downstairs), the spaces in the permanent galleries were rather sad.  Paintings left, forlorn, and propped up against the walls, many swathed in bubble-wrap (this was not just as a consequence of Vanriet's interventions, but also in preparation for the closure of the gallery, which is to undergo a refurbishment for the next 2 years).  But I was struck by the empty spaces on the walls alongside the artworks. 'Holes' in art history if you like - perhaps an inevitable consequence of the re-invigorating 'presence' in the Closing Time exhibition is this 'absence' - but then I suppose such effects are more than a 'necessary consequence' of the disruption of conventions, they are also a 'neccessity'!
Mark

Meet the artists - this Friday

Image : Emma Stibbon, Devil’s Throat, Iguazu, 2009, chalk drawing on blackboard (c) The Artist


This Friday, 22nd October, from 1-4.30, the Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery is hosting an Artist Roundtable for the current exhibition ‘All Over the Place.' If you've enjoyed the show, it's the ideal opportunity to come in for one final time (and I mean final - it ends on Saturday!) to meet the artists yourself, and to discuss the show's themes with them. Three of the artists speaking are from our own School of Design, so it would be a great opportunity to speak to them about their work in the context of the city and campus life.

The afternoon will be chaired by Prof. David Hill. There will be a free tea and coffee break midway through the afternoon, with an open public discussion following the artists' presentations.

The event is free, no need to book, but seats are limited, so arrive on time to avoid disappointment!

The event will be held in our Education Room, which saw two new displays open today, curated by the M.A. students on the 'Interpreting Cultures' module. During the break, we invite you to view their efforts and leave your comments in the guest book for them.

Hope to see you soon in the Gallery!
Layla

Workshop: Drawing Machines with Jim Bond at the Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery

Light Night at the Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery turned out to be fantastic. Thank you for all who came and helped us make our map of Leeds bigger and better! Now, something completely different: Anyone up for kinetic stuff?

István Harasztÿ is the senior representative of kinetic art in Hungary (been around since the end of the 60s, that man). On his website, he talks lovingly about the beauty and meaning of making art literally move. He states that the primary feature of kinetic art is to leave behind superfluous elements, and somehow streamline the enjoyment and understanding of the statement conveyed by the pieces by making the interaction of sound, light, and motion as efficient as possible. This week’s Saturday event in the Gallery is bringing this idea of efficiency to the Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery, with the added bonus that visitors can engage and even compete with artist Jim Bond’s machines, thus becoming part of the process (and have some fun at the same time).

Jim Bond’s work, especially the wonderfully creepy Blink makes him a significant member of the international tribe of kinetic artists. Blink is an ‘eye-machine’, very much in line with Jim’s fantastically Da Vinciesque celebration of the human form and function. No, not the Dan Brown humbug, not an ounce of that: we’re talking the real Vitruvian Man stuff here. You can see the somewhat unsettling contraption made out of a WWII glass eye and brass, as the main image on his homepage. Some Bond-trivia: Bond’s Blink has travelled to Budapest two years ago and was exhibited with the aforementioned István Harasztÿ’s Situation Indicator and Attila Csörgő’s magnetic Drawing Machine. According to Jim’s page, there are two pieces of this work one in a private collection in the US and one in Kilmorack Gallery, Inverness. One wonders whether they will (whether they should) ever meet in a contraption that moves them towards and away one another. Hah. Well, anyway, this Saturday he’s bringing his quirky art to the Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery for the afternoon.

This upcoming workshop brings me back to my starting point, Harasztÿ’s thoughts on the big questions of kinetic art. Not only because of that Kinetica exhibition in Budapest back in 2008, but because he touches on something very important in his web introduction. István (also known as Édeske -'Sweetie' in Hungarian), says ‘when I was a child, I made all kinds of strange contraptions for myself because I could not never find a game that would have interested me more’. Deep down kinetic art, although indubitably one of the more complex and multilayered art forms (or is it a genre?), is about fun, exploration and ingenuity and Jim Bond’s workshop will surely deliver. So come along and be the human factor.

Saturday, 16 October, 2010, 2-4pm
Join artist Jim Bond in the Gallery to test your skills against his 'drawing machines.' Each machine has a different quirk to make the experience of drawing a special challenge! Free, family-friendly, drop-in activity.

'The Location of Value' - Antwerp Workshop

Hello All,

I attended a fantastic 'Workshop' in Antwerp last week, (24th-25th September) entitled, 'The Location of Value' - (trust me, this was directly related to Museum and Art Galleries!...for what is a museum but a material manifestation of series of Values!) - There were just 14 of us, 'hot-housed' I suppose...and it was such a great experience...very effectively, efficiently, (and socially) organised by Bert De Munck and Ilja Van Damme of the University of Antwerp...

.....It was a great collegiate event.  Bert & Ilja had drawn together a seemingly disparate group...Economic Historians, Social Historians, Art Historians to both challenge disciplinary boundaries and approaches and (I think) to share knowledge and open opportunities....I think everyone who attended valued the experience!  As you can see here (picture, above) there were some animated discussions (but no fights!).
The Workshop was framed around overlapping Themes; 'Value of Art', 'Value of the Past', 'Pricing Mechanisms' and 'Negotiating Quality' - with stimulating papers by Ilja and Bert, Tomas Macsotay; Dries Lyna, Anne Wegener Sleeswijk, Phillippe Minard and Christof Jeggle (and me, of course).  There were also papers submitted by Barbara Bettoni and Giorgio Riello (unable to attend).  This was much more than a 'conference' and the dialogue between presentations and responses was illuminating, providing much food for thought.  As catalysts for debate Bert & Ilja had invited some very eminent 'Discussants', including Filip Vermeylen, Beverly Lemire, Patrick Wallis, and Bruno Blonde...and there were some insightful (and amusing) concluding remarks delivered by Victor Ginsburg!...editor of the Handbook of the Economics of Art and Culture. Also present within the group was Annelies de Bie, a PhD student at the University of Antwerp......this was a really stimulating project, there should be more of these kinds of things I think, they are much more productive than conferences - (which are more like 'performances' and can tend to 'fllatten' out the issues)...here, by contrast, I felt that there was real dialogue, both across and within disciplines.......I hope that Bert and Ilja organise another one sometime!
Mark

The Big Draw: 'On Your Marks, Get Set, Design! at the Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery

Ooooh, while I'm at it, have you noticed those banners hanging around the café half of Parkinson Court? Good old Marks and Sparks! One almost gets excited about food rationing and nylon! Well, not just almost… In the spirit of old-fashioned Make Do and Mend and new-fangled Recycle Reuse Reduce the Gallery is bringing you a free, drop-in activity for all ages on Saturday, 9 October, 2010, 11am-4pm throughout the Parkinson Court. This free creative programme is organised as part of the Big Draw Campaign. October 2010 is Big Draw month in twenty countries and on five continents. Launched in 2000, this annual initiative has grown from 180 events in the UK to over 1500 worldwide. The Campaign aims to use drawing to connect visitors with museum and gallery collections, urban and rural spaces – and the wider community – in new and enjoyable ways.

It is, in the spirit of Big Draw, for those who love to draw and those who think they can’t. If you drop into the University of Leeds on Saturday, you can join in some creative recycling and make a sustainable statement for future fashion. Be inspired by the Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery and the Marks & Spencer 'Marks in Time' Exhibition here in Parkinson Court to redesign and customise your cast-offs, or get creative with an M&S eco-bag. Can't be bothered with fashion? You can also create designs and drawings on paper, and think about new ways of packaging and think in terms of industrial design. But if you're into your handbags and gladrags: with all the vintage and crafts fairs going on (e.g. Handmade III right this coming Sunday and the Vintage Fair and Tea Party in Chapel Allerton on 16 October), and amazing student run initiations, like the Peanut Gallery in the Union, Leeds students are probably way savvier in this field than anyone else. If you need guidance and how-to, our volunteers will be at hand with help and stuff you may need: a selection of plain T-shirts, eco-bags, and materials to design and embellish your item will be provided along with help and advice. And, of course, feel free to bring along your own items and materials too. More about this event at our website.

'The People's Map of Leeds' at the Stanley and Burton Gallery

Cartography and the Arts have always been embroiled in a long, sometimes inexplicable, love-affair. And this weird mix seeps into our lives on so many levels. As a footnote and introduction of myself, I have spent four years of my life researching medieval maps for my PhD and here I am newly appointed at the Stanley and Burton Gallery surrounded with what I enjoy most (almost as much as maps!): art at its best, paintings and drawings, and all that jazz! You’ll certainly hear excited noises from my direction every now and then, here and elsewhere, in the future.
Well, to get back to my original topic, it seems it’s high time to re-read ‘The Selected Works of TS Spivet’ by Reif Larsen (also: wouldn’t everyone want to be a child prodigy cartographer, even if somewhat disturbed…?)! I’m very pleased that these two, maps and art, meet once again, and this time everyone is invited to get involved… You can come to see us and play with your city! Join in our free, interactive 'People's Map of Leeds' with artist Louise Atkinson, throughout the evening in the Parkinson Court. Light Night visitors - both young and old - are invited to participate in the creation of a large-scale drawing based on a map of Leeds on Friday, 8 October, 2010, 5-10pm. Referencing the Gallery's current exhibition 'All Over the Place: Drawing Place, Drawing Space,' Louise will led visitors to experiment with drawing and mark-making techniques in response to the daily activities and memories of the places they inhabit. Participants will also be encouraged to bring 2D items such as pictures and letters to contribute to the map, as well as cut-out templates, which will be supplied by the artist. We’d love to see you leave your mark on Louise’s map as your move across the Light Night trail of activities of the city!
In the same vein, and at the same time, Louise will launch her awesome beta site designed to map independent gigs, venues and goings-on in the city: the first demo of the new collaborative geo-wiki www.independentfullstop.com. She'll be on hand to help you share all your favourite places and events in the city. Markers added on the night will receive a limited edition #onthemap badge.
Thinking about mark-making, as well as techniques of representing space and loci is no doubt an excellent pastime. This whole thing ties in wonderfully with the gallery’s Temporary Exhibition and find thinking about spaces in the context of art very inspirational. Take this from a woman who gets excited about the Tube Map.

A Walking Art Gallery... 'What the Flock?!'

This is a follow up on my last blog. What seemed to be a static, one off happening has turned into one that is moving through time and space. Over the last week I have watched the spray painted stencils, which existed on the main route from Hyde Park to the University, become faded under the foot of many a student on the way to lectures. I thought these were the only remains. However, this morning I witnessed the return of the flock, or more precisely of 'what the flock?!' Cardboard cut outs of black sheep on sticks were yet again stuck in the marshy grass of Hyde Park. This time with the date 10/10/10 printed on them. What did the date mean? Perhaps it was informing us of the beginning of the exhibition, proper, or even more interestingly the end-date. This got me thinking about the life-span of exhibitions. Conventional exhibitions usually advertise when, where and how long the exhibit is going to be. We are too often used to planning to go to an exhibition at a certain time and place. However it is becoming an increasingly common occurrence to stumble across artworks in public domains, which, repeating what i said in my last blog, gives us an entirely different experience. It is a much more confrontational kind of experience, we see it and experience it whether we like it not. For example, like in the case of the Mysterious Banksy, who has given rise to graffiti art.

I thought my questions would be answered when I caught a glimpse of a black sheep out of the corner of my eyes whilst sat on the Parkinson steps. I looked up to see a parade of people dressed as sheep with the trade-mark black-sheep-on-stick in hand. They were anouncing the date through a megaphone. I ran over to see if they would shed any light on what the flock was going on, but apparnetly they had no idea either. I was simply instructed to go to http://www.whattheflock.org.uk/ at 10pm on the 10/10/10. The 'exhibition' was now moving to cyber space. This is interesting as the internet is increasingly becoming a platform for new-media art and an art space in its own right. This is reminisent of the previously blogged Art experiment 'Second Life' by Hayley Goodsell. Creating virtual environments in which art can exist, or virtual environments and web pages that are actually art, again bring to mind the question of the art gallery. What constitutes an art Gallery? As you have suggested Mark work by the likes of Christo, who makes huge landmarks such as the Reichstag, Berlin (1971-95) into art objects by wrapping them up, thus making the environmental space surrounding it the viewing gallery. Therefore if the art object exists on your computer screen your bedroom becomes the gallery. It won't be long until an 'art gallery' app will be come available, if it hasn't already, making anywhere you are an art gallery.

After checking out the web page, which is linked to LUU, I began to wonder whether it was an art project at all. It could be anything to do with LUU from elections to the promotion of yet another weird and wonderful society or even a marketing tool for a new product. In any case I think it is an intriguing 'project' that raises issues surrounding what constitutes an art gallery. I can't wait to see what is to be revealed on Sunday.

http://www.whattheflock.org.uk/ ... watch this space!

Alex

Food For Thought

The museum restaurant, a place where once children dreamed of having a Faraday fudge Sundae or a tyrannosaurus Mex burger, now a place of limp pre-packed sandwiches, stewed tea and coffee the colour of dish water. Or is it?

With the recent growth of the stay at home holiday could the museum restaurant be on the rise?

With a recent trip to the Wallace collection, London, I got to thinking about the symbiotic relationship between the museum caterer and the museum itself. Can a restaurant add to a museum? Can a restaurant promote and gain an audience that otherwise might ignore the museums collection altogether? Can a restaurant provide a feeling of ownership and understanding of a collection which is in the nations hands? And can a museum use a restaurant to it's advantage without risks of expenditure?

Ask "who has heard of the Wallace collection?" outside of a set of friends, with whom one would be most disappointed, not many. It's a small national collection in Manchester Square housed in Hertford house. It has some of the best preserved porcelain on show, some fantastic armour, and paintings and furniture to rival any where in the world. Ask "who has seen the great British menu?" and I would suspect a lot more. It has national TV coverage, appeals to a nation that seems to be excessively drawn to cooking programs and contains a panel of three judges, one of whom, Oliver Peyton, is in the centre of the Wallace collection. Literally.

Within the central courtyard of Hertford house lay the Oliver Peyton restaurant, at the top of a google search for the Wallace collection you see table reservations for the restaurant, and as you walk through the collection you see the restaurant, busy, alive, creating an atmosphere of life within a house which, without it, might seem a little lifeless, and the restaurant reviews make sure people know where it is.

Can we learn from this? The Leeds museum has a fine cafe, it might even be more engaging than the museum itself for some adults, the tiled hall has had a fantastic influence upon the visitor numbers for the Leeds art gallery, the terrace at Harewood house gives a feeling of watching a shooting party returning across the grounds in halcyon edwardian days, and there by creating a slightly better understanding of the house, it's architecture and the upper classes. And the royal armouries? Well... not so great.

In the examples of the Wallace collection, the Leeds museums and galleries and Harewood house, rent is paid to the collections, the restaurants draw in a number of visitors who otherwise might pass on by and, in some cases, might allow the public to feel closer to understanding certain collections. All this with little or no risk on the behalf of the museum or collection who are always, especially in the current economic climate, in need of cold hard cash. The royal armouries on the other hand, has no such symbiosis with their cafe. Built as an example of how government and private enterprise could work together it has failed.

The building which houses the national collection is owned by a catering company, so no rent for the armouries, the private company has the rights to hold large functions within the building, using the exhibits as a draw, so no money for the beleaguered armouries, and the armouries has no control of opening times, which leads to complaints about the museum, and the armouries cannot provide catering so no historical food to tie in with joust weekend, or campaign food from the peninsular war. And the food? Yep! Limp sandwiches and cold chips are the house speciality.

So if we treat the museum and restaurant relationship with respect it can bring great rewards for both parties, free advertising, increased visitor numbers, greater income and greater interaction between visitor and collection, a relationship greater than the sum of its parts. And if we get it wrong? Well let's just not! Food for thought......

Now where did I put that Gauguintuan burger?

New Technologies in Museums

Crossover Summit

Wednesday 3rd November

For those interested in the application of technology in museums and galleries, this is an interesting session being offered as part of Sheffield Documentary Festival:

'There will also be a special showcase of how archives, museums and galleries are exploiting new platforms to enhance public access to launch a new Crossover Lab programme designed to forge collaborations between film-makers, games, web or mobile developers and archive holders.'