This is precisely why I am not in favor of contemporary art museums putting
a whole lot of effort and expense into collecting.  If one wants to truly be
"contemporary," i.e., reflect the zeitgeist of the day (or half-decade), one
should focus almost exclusively on temporary exhibitions.  Let the
general-art museums decide what of today (or of the last 30 years) is likely
to have impact on the future and let them collect and preserve it--once it
has truly achieved the status of cultural patrimony.  Trying to make this
kind of decision at the moment the art is produced is like trying to grab
hold of water.

Julia Moore
Indianapolis Art Center


-----Original Message-----

Consider, though, the hapless museum of contemporary art, which goes on
forever acquiring what is current -- until enough time and change has
elapsed so that 90% (and climbing) of its collection is not
"contemporary" at all, but relics of the past!  Two hundred years hence,
will the year 2201 contemporary art museum boast that it only collects
art made since 1945?

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