Follow Up Friday
A little summary of the week that’s just been!
Including art history news, DIY tips, exhibition & literature reviews, auction announcements, etc.
Email me with your ideas. I’d love to hear from you.
1. What did disability look like in the 19th C?
There were apparently clubs for ugly people, ear trumpets designed for mourners, mesmerism was used as a cure. There is an new digital database featuring texts and images from this overlooked aspect of the Victorian era. The database will focus on both cognitive and physical disability and is slated to be completed by 2015. Read more about this on Hyperallergic here.
2. Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables
French supermarket chain Intermarché launched the Inglorious Fruits & Vegetables, a film, print, poster and radio campaign to raise awareness about food waste. It celebrates the beauty of grotesque produce by making it cheaper by as much as 30% and giving serving solutions for the imperfect produce. We are a culture obsessed with perfection and it’s lead to tons of quality produce being binned. Check out their campaign here.
3. Should photography in museums be banned?
I’ve spent my fair share of time in museums both for pleasure and study. With the invention of the camera phone, and compact digital cameras people seem to be looking more through screens than at the actual picture. The British Museum’s Rosetta Stone is a great example of an object ruined by this phenomenon. I’ve never had the opportunity to actually look at it, it’s inevitable always surrounded by hoards of sight-seerers wielding the biggest cameras they can afford. It’s my belief that the museum has the resources to take better quality photos of the works I enjoyed and so I usually buy postcards and museum catalogues to help me remember what I’ve seen — which also supporting the institution. Apollo Magazine discusses this hot topic:
Photography – the act of capturing, reproducing and often manipulating an image – is about ownership and record-making; which is why a camera in the wrong place at the wrong time can be such a provocative instrument. In a museum context, this is most obvious when observing visitors wielding cameras and smart-phones in front of art objects. It’s both endearing and frustrating to see the enthusiasm with which some people frantically click-click-click: endearing, because their excitement at being in the space and surrounded by the collection is palpable; and frustrating because the presence of the camera can negatively mediate the experience of the museum.
It’s not only about capturing the image, but proving you were physically there. Should this be such thorny debate in the digital age? I am sure you have your own opinions on this, read the full Apollo article here.
4. Why you can’t stop looking at Ruin Porn
Photos of abandoned buildings and landscapes ravaged by extreme weather and other natural occurrences are littered all over the internet. I’m even guilty of sifting through images of Pripyat after the Chernobyl disaster and being riveted to documentaries featuring the plight of Detroit. Fast Co. has explored the Six Scientific Reasons You Can’t Stop Looking at Ruin Porn and it is fascinating:
Some reasonable opinions have been offered for why we can’t stop looking at ruin porn, but few have informed their positions with behavioral science. The evidence is admittedly thin, and the individual motivations too varied and complex for any easy explanation. So we identified six psychological concepts that might give at least a little insight into why that dilapidated warehouse is so awkwardly appealing.
Read more about the reasons behind our fascination here.
5. Lanvin’s new campaign a family affair
Edie Campbell stars in the new Lanvin Fall 2014 campaign and there are a few familial faces appearing alongside her. Edie’s father, Roddy Campbell put it best on Twitter:
Lanvin Fall 2014 campaign starring me and three of my kids and their boyfriends and their granny and my ex wife …
He forgot to mention there’s a horse and a brief appearance by Alber Elbaz as well. Edie has modelling in her blood. It makes sense this is a family affair: her maternal grandmother is Joan Hicks and her mother is Sophie Hicks, a former editor at British Vogue. This campaign lightens the stuffiness of regular high fashion advertising. The Fashionista has more details, including the television advert here.
