They have said that art is one of the most powerful ways of communicating to others. Art may be an indirect way of conveying messages for some, but its intention resonates around one’s mind. Artists and curators have worked well in the past. They preserved the symbols of what makes the person, the ideologies he revolves in, and other things that defined human life. Depiction of art is not just all about aesthetics, but also another way of informing others and sharing motives behind the artistic work. Museums and exhibits across the world have become conduits in commemorating different collections of art. From sporting collections of ancient coins, scientific undertakings, Paleolithic skulls, and to symbols related to the world history, museums served as a time-travelling machine in some sort. Visiting museums would also provide some nostalgic feeling, or it may be an avenue of learning and introducing yourself to the past through different figures.
I have learned and discovered different things as I read the journal provided. People have said that nothing is permanent in this world, and ways of conveying art changed over time. I have come to appreciate the purpose of exhibits and their existence in general. To put everything, museums have become an ideal place to learn, explore the past, and appreciate one’s way of life. Even if museums and exhibits continue to evolve in a cultural, economic, and sociological sense, there is one thing that always strikes me. Some museums and curators vie for the rarest material unearthed, and money would even revolve – just for the museums’ purpose to highlight the rarest material they acquired.
I specifically liked Franz Boas’ approach on how he presents his works at exhibits, to which he approached with great passion and seriousness. He focused more on the real meaning and true purpose of different objects, and not just merely presenting them in the eyes of the public. Boas presented his exhibit of human history with a realistic approach and proved to be enormously popular and interesting in the eyes of the viewer. I also liked the functionalism as a concept used by exhibitors, because they proved that an art could not just appreciated through five human senses. Functionalism proved that one could express art by blending yourself in a specific culture through fieldwork. Functionalism has become an important ideology because it is important to delve on experience, and personal thoughts before one could carve out an artistic/visual approach.
If I were to make changes in museum and making exhibits, I would change a lot but I would only focus on what I feel can revolutionize everything. First, is to apply some concepts of technology. We are living in a digital age, and it would be better if some of its elements were present in exhibits. It might revolve around building a museum that focuses on the history of computers. It might be a museum of what our grandfathers, great grandfathers, and parents experienced during their times with the use of interesting, innovative tools. It might be a high-tech museum focusing on traditional forms of art and symbols of the glorious past. The possibilities are endless. Art and technology will always have something in common, known as evolution. Technology has set some norms and ethics in human life, and it may be deserving to present a technology-related exhibit dedicated to its contributions towards civilization.
