Seventeenth International Conference on the Arts in Society

Abstract

Museums are facing a lot of challenges starting with updating exhibitions and ending with financial deficits. However, despite the struggle, museums are increasingly described as boring and restrictive spaces with lots of don’ts; eat, drink, touch, etc. This paper offers an experimental approach where “Walmart” display strategies are applied to the museum space to allow a more interactive, informative, and entertaining experience. One where visitors can touch, smell, and -why not- eat art. This will arguably help museums attract more visitors and generate sources of revenue. Despite being manifestations of ultra-consumerism, hypermarkets can still educate their “visitors” on various topics ranging from nutrition to different ethnic and seasonal foods. It has also been the ground for numerous studies that aim to understand human behavior and consumption patterns. The paper starts by highlighting the display/ curation strategies used in hypermarkets to maximize visitors’ satisfaction and compares that with the mono-tone experience in the museum space. It then proposes an alternative way of thinking about art-display inspired by understanding human behavior and needs. The approach implies a more proactive role from the curator and emphasizes the quality of artworks rather than quantity. I will conclude by illustrating my point/ approach through creating conceptual 3d renderings to contemporary art exhibitions, using the MoMA’s collection, to help visualize the proposed change. Finally, the paper re-imagines the museum space as it utilizes the power of consumer culture to offer an enhanced, entertaining, and informative experience.