Hello Benadette et al.:

Bernadette Jones wrote:

> We at gammaSPACE, a contemporary commercial gallery, have
a
> comments book and we get a huge variety of different marks
> and comments; good, bad and downright ugly.  We also get
an
> array of wonderful drawings in the book.

Same here at Joslyn.  Our comment book during the Dale
Chihuly exhibition (Feb-June 2000) was filled with a huge
variety of comments: positive, mediocre and negative.  We
did not remove pages if they simply had negative comments
about the exhibition.  I am referring to removing pages
containing profanities and sexual comments, wholly
unconnected to the exhibition -- along that lines of "Would
you **** me?"  and "I love the penis-shaped thing."  These
are nothing more than infantile and unconstructive reactions
by school children, serving no purpose but providing the
thrill of (potentially) getting caught red handed.

> All of it is valid and all contributes to an interesting
> compedium to be archived and cherished, even the offensive
> bits.

The offensive bits were recorded, but not left out for
public display.  Similarly, we do not post negative
commentary about the paintings of nudes hanging throughout
Joslyn -- "Oh, I'd love to **** her!" or "Wow, he's got a
giant ****!"  Surely you are not suggesting such comments
remain in public view, when children (not to mention
sensitive adults) are around?

> The best outcome of the book is that it creates an  open
forum
> for people to express their responses much like going to a
> football match and yelling at the umpire.  If people feel
> comfortable enough to openly express how they are
responding
> to the work on display then surely this is an indicator
that you
> have reached your audience.  I think expecting them to
always
> agree with you is a bit presumptuous.

This has nothing to do with simple agreement or
disagreement.  It has to do with commentary that is
inappropriate -- gratuitous graffiti serving no purpose but
the thrill of wrong-doing by school children.  We, at
Joslyn, do not edit out negative comments, as even they can
be poignant, interesting and helpful.  We remove those
comments which are vulgar and pointless.

Sincerely,

Jay Heuman, Visitor & Volunteer Services Coordinator
Joslyn Art Museum, 2200 Dodge Street, Omaha, NE, 68102
342-3300 (telephone)     342-2376 (fax)
http://www.joslyn.org

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

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . 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).