All these comments hinge on assumptions because as far as I am aware no on the list knows for sure what the actual factual circumstance are. In that case of assumption Innocent until proven guilty. naturally not saying its ok unless you get caught. If they did wrong then they should be punished. But to say 100% expression that breaks the law is wrong is 100% wrong. SEE NORTH AFRICA. SEE BANKSY. If it comes to make legitimate social comment for the sake of the betterment of humanity then there are no bounds. there may be consequences but there are no bounds. This creates tension because some peoples idea of betterment will directly contradict others idea of betterment. So those willing to make bold statements have to be prepared to what will follow but thats doesn't mean don't do it. Randy S. Little http://www.rslittle.com <http://reel.rslittle.com> On Fri, Feb 25, 2011 at 10:45, Deb Fuller <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > On Fri, Feb 25, 2011 at 12:00 PM, Jason B. Jones <[log in to unmask]> > wrote: > > > The following hinges on: I don't believe the dresses were museum objects. > As explained before. > > But unless you poked around on that site, this isn't obvious. Some > people aren't going to poke around enough or just assume it is true. > > > Considering they took it down off the original site, the way I see it: > this group of museum professionals just helped to censor an artist's > creative expression. An expression the wasn't harming anything, but the > museum professionals' own sense of decorum regarding the sacredness of > language about collections. Even if it was "real", shouldn't museum > professionals know how important it is to challenge popular conceptions? > Were would we be without artists and academics challenging our beliefs? > > Look at it this way, what if it was real and it was YOUR collection? > What if you were the curator who is now faced with trying to get grass > stains and sweat stains off of 100 year old fabric? > > And what "popular conception" are they challenging? That museum > objects can be used for dress-up or taken without permission? > > > I find condemning artist expression of this nature to be a very slippery > slope. Were does it end? No more loaning of objects? No receptions in > galleries? No more visitors in the museum? > > We aren't condemning the expression, just the thought of a museum > worker taking objects without permission, subjecting them to the > environment and then making cutesy blog posts like it was all a game. > Would you be upset if a friend took a family heirloom out of your > house without permission and blogged cutesy photos of it all over > town? What if it came back damaged? What if they "borrowed" your kid > or your dog for such a blog and for a few frantic hours, you didn't > know where s/he was? > > > How do we use our objects to educate, if we can't use our objects (or in > this case the idea of the object)? > > Apples and oranges. Museum curators and educators carefully evaluate > using museum objects for either display or educational programs. Many > times the actual objects are not used because they are too fragile. > Again, this is up to trained professionals, not the whim of college > students with a creative writing bug. > > > We should protect artistic expression (especially challenging > expression), and find ways to use to create an educational dialog - not keep > it from being seen. > > I agree. I don't think we should jump down the bloggers throat but > politely educate her about the importance of caring for a museum > collection and why museums don't play dress up with their costume > collections. I really don't think the blogger meant any harm but has > no clue about museums and collections. I doubt anyone would have been > been upset if the blogger has said, "We found these dresses in > grandma's attic when we were cleaning it out and decided to take some > pictures of us wearing them." > > > I'm 100% for protecting our collections. I'm 100% for protecting artistic > expression. I'm 100% for using objects and ideas to educate. > > I'm also 100% for not using objects without permission for either > education or artistic expression. > > Deb Fuller > > ========================================================= > 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). > ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . 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