#AskACurator

A nice hashtag on Twitter yesterday and tons of museums were on board. I figured I’d toss a few items into the mix. My tweets (plus one I wish I’d tweeted) and any responses I received:

Why don't more museums show information detailing the process of making a piece (underpainting, contact prints, &c)? #askacurator

— nick (@vossbrink) September 19, 2012

@vossbrink It's probably difficult for diverse collections but with a predominately bronze collection we show time lapse videos of castings.

— Umlauf Sculpture (@umlaufsculpture) September 19, 2012

This is something which I see all to rarely. The Fogg Museum* is the only one I’ve visited where I remember seeing a clear commitment to show as much about the process behind as much of its collection as possible. Occasionally an exhibition will have some of the process** but it’s not nearly as common as I’d like to see.

*when I visited it over a decade ago

**SFMoMA’s Robert Frank and Diane Arbus exhibitions both included contact sheets.

With a traveling show (eg Sherman going from @moma to @sfmoma), how much does it get recurated at each venue? #askacurator

— nick (@vossbrink) September 19, 2012

@vossbrink Venues allowed to hang at will as long as they keep 2 spirit of orig show. It's nice 2 vet changes w orig curator #askacurator

— MoMA The Museum of Modern Art (@MuseumModernArt) September 19, 2012

https://twitter.com/SFMOMA_Curator/status/248496735448600577

@SFMOMA_Curator So do shows which start at SFMOMA expand when they travel?

— nick (@vossbrink) September 19, 2012

https://twitter.com/SFMOMA_Curator/status/248569857317167104

This is interesting. While I have noticed how SFMoMA often display related material from its collection when exhibiting a traveling exhibition, I sort of assumed that the traveling exhibition would be mostly consistent. That each museum applies its own curatorial spin—while keeping the intent— is a new wrinkle.

For a show by someone like Mark Dion or Fred Wilson, is it still curated by someone else too? #askacurator

— nick (@vossbrink) September 19, 2012

Similar to the re-curating of traveling exhibitions. If the artist specializes in curation, is there also a museum curator involved?

How difficult is balancing the desire for artistic inquiry/provocation with the need to draw visitors and sell catalogs/merch? #askacurator

— nick (@vossbrink) September 19, 2012

Sadly, no replies to this one. Which is a shame since I think the marketability balance is one of the most interesting things about any arts group.

What level of education and art-literacy do you presume in your audience, does that vary, and if so when/how? #askacurator

— Nick (@kukkurovaca) September 19, 2012

Was disappointed that no one replied to this either. How to approach art and the hangups people have about liking—or having to get—art is a huge challenge to a museum. People don’t like to feel stupid but a lot of times, this is what visiting a museum feels like.

Do you have specific viewing times/attention spans in mind when creating a show? #askacurator

— nick (@vossbrink) September 19, 2012

Mainly curiosity. But it would be interesting to know if there is an intended pace that exhibitions are designed to be taken at.

How much do you communicate with other local museums when planning exhibitions? (specifically thinking of @sjmusart here) #AskACurator

— nick (@vossbrink) September 19, 2012

@vossbrink A lot, actually.For example for our Hung Liu exhibition opening next June we're working with @MillsArtMuseum and @oaklandmuseumca

— San Jose Museum of Art (@sjmusart) September 19, 2012

Something I have noticed which the San José Museum of Art does very well. I really like the idea of multiple museums working in concert to present related exhibitions.

For a museum which has both art & cultural objects (eg the @deyoungmuseum) how often do you flip things between art and craft? #askacurator

— nick (@vossbrink) September 19, 2012

Mainly grinding my art, craft, and function axe. It would have been nice to hear whether this is me in crazytown of it’s something which is actively considered.