I don't get Janic's point here. How is the Sensation exhibit contrary to
the Brooklyn Museum's mission?  Don't judge this by Phillippe de
Montebello's criteria that says that museums must exhibit only great art.
That might suit the MMA that has an advantage of the sifting process of
time. There is another type of exhibit that has validity: the exhibit that
shows "what's up."  What after all, was the Armory Show, What kind of
exhibits did the Dada artists partake in?  One might even draw a straight
line from the Dada, through Monte Python and Francis Bacon, right into the
works shown in Sensation. My goodness, where is our sense of humor in
looking at all this art. I see a bizarre, wry, very English goulish and
naughty humor here.

Although it may not be an exhibit I wish to see, I think it is an important
exhibit and goes far to expand out notion of how powerful imagery can
really be.  Nor do I believe that the only purpose for exhibiting this
stuff is to live off the controversy. Controversy almost never exists for
its own sake -- except for those who don't comprehend the issues.  And
ironically it is they who often create the controversy. The Enola Gay
exhibit, while admittedly challenging, attempted to broaden our perspective
to something not so narrow as our ritualized parochial nationalism. What is
happening to our ability to stretch? Is the baby boomer generation getting
ready for the geriatric ward?

Robert Baron
[log in to unmask]


At 11:29 AM 11/4/99 -0600, Janice Klein wrote:

>Um, I think it's pretty clear that the Brooklyn Museum didn't "stumble" into
>controversy with Sensations.  I do think that it is incumbent upon the
>Director and Board to think about how each exhibit enhances or detracts from
>the Museum's mission and be able to articulate that, especially when it's
>likely that there will be some kind of vocal negative response.  As my mom
>says, think about what it is you want to accomplish and decide if what you
>are doing will help get you there.
>
>Janice Klein
>DIrector
>Mitchell Museum of the American Indian, Kendall College
>[log in to unmask]
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: William Thornton <[log in to unmask]>
>Newsgroups: bit.listserv.museum-l
>To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
>Date: Thursday, November 04, 1999 10:49 AM
>Subject: Re: preparing for controversy
>
>
>This response is truly off the mark and smacks of what is wrong with museums
>and risktaking today. And The Sennsations exhibit proves how easy it is to
>stunble into a tempest in a teapot.
>Will Thornton
>J.Paul Getty Museum
>[log in to unmask]
>
>
>"I wouldn't host an exhibit like this or touch it with a ten foot poll, in
>other words.   Take a lesson from the Smithsonian and their timebomb
>situation with the Enola Gay exhibit. Controversy for the sake of it is not
>worth it. Find another exhibit and topic that will be educational and
>exciting to your audience.  You really do not want to invite trouble just
>for
>the sake of publicity."
>
>Regards,
>
>Todd Kreamer
>Curator of History
>The Museum of Mobile
>Mobile, AL
>
>=========================================================
>Important Subscriber Information:
>
>The Museum-L FAQ file is located at
>http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ museum-l.html. You may obtain
>detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line
>e-mail message to [log in to unmask] The body of the message
>should read "help" (without the quotes).
>
>If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to
>[log in to unmask] The body of the message should read "Signoff
>Museum-L" (without the quotes).

===========================
Robert A. Baron
mailto:[log in to unmask]
http://www.pipeline.com/~rabaron/

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ museum-l.html. You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to
[log in to unmask] The body of the message should read "Signoff
Museum-L" (without the quotes).