Coming Soon to the Museum's Great Hall
[nggallery id=”53566″ template=galleryview] The Architect’s Newspaper has news about a temporary installation by Situ Studio that’s landing in the Brooklyn Museum’s Great Hall: “The work will transform the hall’s 16 classical columns with nearly 2,200 yards of Sunbrella Canvas-Natural fabric, which is to be folded and stretched over suspended bent-steel tubing and plywood rings with…
[nggallery id=”53566″ template=galleryview]
The Architect’s Newspaper has news about a temporary installation by Situ Studio that’s landing in the Brooklyn Museum’s Great Hall: “The work will transform the hall’s 16 classical columns with nearly 2,200 yards of Sunbrella Canvas-Natural fabric, which is to be folded and stretched over suspended bent-steel tubing and plywood rings with diameters ranging from 5 to 20 feet. Beneath the fabric shapes, Situ will install benches and tables fabricated with LG Hausys HI-MACS solid surfacing, creating the rounded benches with a controlled heat process called thermoforming.” The museum notes that the “project will be the first installation in the Ennead Architects–designed renovation of the Great Hall, which was built in the early twentieth century as a part of the original McKim, Mead & White architecture.”
reOrder: An Architectural Environment by Situ Studio [ArchPaper]
Exhibition Description [Brooklyn Museum]
myself i prefer old stuff too…. best show in years i saw was Veronse, Titian Tintoretto at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts looking forward to seeing new wing this weekend
attendence around the city has been off, new york times piece contained some substantial inaccuracies, yet it is a concern
I love the Brooklyn Museum and will continue going there no matter what. I do wish they had more shows and exhibitions geared to folks who go to museums regularly and like historic art. Current art in a museum context is always a little tough, it should be there as a side dish not as a main course. Gertrude Stein once famously said that the words “modern” and “museum” did not go together. She refused to donate her famous portrait by Picasso to MOMA so she donated it to the Met where it hangs today.
Where are all the wonderful 18th and 19th century paintings in the collection? Why don’t they put them out in some gallery next to the wrapped columns? I know I’m a bit traditional but I don’t think the BM is doing a good job of balancing the old and new terribly well. And I agree that their attendance, especially the paid attendance, is not strong.
I am not an art expert, but the numbers show that whatever they have done over the last 6 years is not working to get more people in the the doors.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/15/arts/design/15museum.html
I agree that art history and art is weird, but other museums in the city seem to have been more successful by focusing on more specific areas and demographics.
I still think that there is only room for one museum that tries to do everything. The rest need to specialize more.
Scott, couldn’t be less accurate statement. Museum has shown all its cultures consistently over the last several years, and included shows related to warhol, hip hop, murukami and others to reach the majority of bklyn art folks, people under 30. They have a plan they’ve executed for years. Just looks weird cause guess what, art history and art is weird.
Let me sum up: to those familiar with and who love the work of Jacques Louis David and yet also feel the same about Kehinde Wiley, take a long look at the latter’s painting in the lobby. This is what Museums have to deal with today. Not easy to cover, no one will be happy (all the abuse Whitney has gotten for 80 years) but tough shit. That’s art. Bigger than all artists and art combined. Can’t be covered.
This looks pretty awful to me, but it is just a continuation of the wonderful stuff they’ve offered ever since they added that high class bus depot to the previously glorious Beaux Arts facade. It why I gave up my membership a number of years ago and chuck all their membership requests since then directly into the recycling bin.
I thought they were giant shaving brushes.
I think ChrisH hit the nail on the head. They were dying a slow and painful death when they focused on “classic art”. I remember going during the week and having a whole floor all to myself, or at least it certainly felt that way. While recent shows may not be to everyone’s taste, attendence is way up since they started branching out and became a little edgier.
I know we’ve had this discussion before, but I think the biggest problem the Brooklyn Museum has is that it does not know what type of museum it wants to be.
For much of its history it has tried to be a world-class encyclopedic museum. It has a lot of assets in that area, and would probably succeed anywhere in the country that was not less than 10 miles from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Since realizing that they needed new tactics to get more visitors, they seem to have tried a bunch of different things with no real connection or overall strategy.
That rendering looks awesome. The scale of it will really impress. Can’t wait to see it.