On Mon, 14 Aug 1995 Krist E Bender <[log in to unmask]> said:


>The Rice University Art Gallery uses 56".  I prefer 54" in my own work.
Houston
>is heavily under the influence of Walter Hopps who likes to hang work very
low.
> A New Yorker article described this with some hyperbole a couple of years
ago
>and there was no mention of eyes as the anatomical reference point! I must
add
>that the Menil Collection knows how to hang an show.

Indeed, the correct hanging height depends upon so many factors that it is
impossible to generalize unless both form and function of items to be hung
have been defined and set by tradition and expectation or by lack of
imagination.

Here are several examples of purposeful deviation from the norm that so
many previous posts to this thread have tried to define.

1. Currently (until Sept 8) at the Jonson Gallery at the University of New
Mexico in Albuquerque is an installation by Charmaine G. Brown.  The short
catalogue sent out to museum members notes that she has deliberately
altered the perspective by which objects are seen in order to replicate the
awkward distortions that wheelchair occupants experience when viewing
standard exhibits.  Some of the objects (the one cited is a towel rack) are
hung too high for comfortable normal viewing.  The catalogue by Joseph
Traugott, the Curator of the Jonson Gallery, notes that this artist's works
attempt to arouse the feelings of tension and anger that accompany being
forced to assume a disadvantageous viewing position.

2. The above example brings to mind another exhibit that Joe Traugott
mounted some years ago in the Art Museum of the University of New Mexico.
This was his "Tie and Sock" exhibit.  Neckties were hung at neck height
(not eye level), and the socks, well, you guessed it, they were hung at
foot level.

There are many other obvious examples of necessary and purposeful deviation
from the norm.  Ceiling paintings, such as the Getty's Honthorst belong on
the ceiling.  Large cycles, such as Rubens' Medici Cycle, or his Triumph of
the Eucharist Tapestries establish a position for the obeserver's eye in
their treatment of perspective.

To sum up, in order to determine how high to hang any object, that object
must be individually considered.  The creator's implied instructions must
be given weight.  To force any painting or print into an inflexible formula
will do justice neither to the individual piece nor to the totality of the
exhibit.  Deviations from an expected norm may force observers to regard
these materials in totally new ways.
--
______________________________________

Robert A. Baron
Museum Computer Consultant
P.O. Box 93, Larchmont, NY 10538
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