Saturday, February 26, 2011

Let the Little Children: How to Behave in a Museum


One of the unavoidable realities of going to look at art in a museum is the feeling that you the viewer are being viewed yourself—especially by your fellow patrons. In the current issue of Paper Monument: A Journal of Contemporary Art, Timothy Aubry muses on “How to Behave in an Art Museum.” Aubry wonders what the proper balance of informality and formality might be, and if the typical American is capable of finding that proper balance. As much as adults, especially parents, try to tether children in museums, maybe we have something to learn from how children see the art, see themselves, and behave. Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "Let the Little Children."

1 comment:

Hels said...

My grandchildren will behave beautifully in art galleries if
a] I select the objects to show them carefully and we don't just wander down the walls randomly and

b] if after no more than one hour, we go and have hot chocolate drinks in the gallery coffee shop. Even hot chocolate time is useful because they can review the objects they saw and select one for their special "prize".