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 [log in to unmask]