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Photography in Modern Art at Oxford
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Thank you for letting us post these so called "sneaky" photographs in this pool; I certainly was not alone at the Stella Vine exhibition, where it seemed everyone was taking photographs quite openly, somehow appropriate as her subjects often were about celebrity and stolen moments and press images.
I see The Van Gogh Museum had a Flickr day from Wikipedia, I would have thought the museum could look into a similar event for photographers at some point. It could be a fruitful way for the public at large to engage with contemporary art, and most people taking these images have no wish to print them illegally in books or for picture postcards. In the case of Stella Vine it was a colourful show that begged for details and different takes.
Technology and its rapid advances including high resolution images on mobiles will mean it an almost impossible task to prevent such image taking...possibly a positive way forward would be to engage with people who take photographs bringing about the dialogue so often talked about in artists' statements etc. No one is suggesting hordes of tripods or flashguns. The Ashmolean seem to have accommodated the idea very well.
Anyway I hope the project goes well.
Best wishes Martin Beek
Originally posted at 11:33AM, 27 February 2010 PDT
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Martin Beek edited this topic 27 months ago.
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Hello Martin, thanks for posting up your images and thanks for your comments.
I think it is a great idea for Modern Art Oxford to consider holding a Flickr day, or even creating a longer-running project which complemented a particular exhibition. It would be a question of finding the right artist, who was up for it, and the appropriate exhibition and then, as you say, it would be a great way of engaging with visitors.
This Flickr campaign is a taster of the kind of thing we want to do more of. We are just in the process of overhauling our website - and, in fact, the building itself - so that it invites comment and feedback, which is where this particular campaign fits in. We don't just want to be a one-way organisation and, as you say, it is fruitless to pretend that we are fully in control of our imagery. Far better to embrace visitors' own reactions.
Thanks for your comments. We'd love to hear from anybody else with views on how to engage with visitors keen to supply their own take on our exhibitions.
Please look at www.modernartoxford.org.uk from next week where we will be letting visitors know about the changes happening at the Gallery over the next month or so. Look forward to hearing more of your thoughts.
Kirsty Kelso, Head of Marketing
Posted 27 months ago.
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Thanks Kirsty,
I think many artists like me would like the chance to do takes on other artists work and exhibitions, I think it can lead to a very fruitful exchange. I am aware that not all artists' work is appropriate and certain shows photography would be thoroughly intrusive, however I do feel passionately that the elitism that Modern Art sometimes is accused of is partly because some tend to treat gallery places as sacred areas where the public do not know how to respond. The success of Tate Modern (although No Photography policy hold sway) has been that contemporary shows have captured the imagination and have been welcoming.
I think we live in a fast moving digital age for sure, and art in all its many forms may be well served by artists and photographers, the casual snappers and the more serious intellectual viewers, by allowing a photographic response to what is presented.
Both the Museum in Antwerp and Van Gogh Museum have used my work in an official way and it is really great to respond to original art by digital means, there is quite a bit of discussion now on groups like Flickr concerning paintings and visual art in general, the forum appears broader than one could have expected years ago when galleries were like churches an no go areas to so many.
I live in Oxford so would be most happy to discuss such matters in a public forum with other interested parties face to face.
Kind wishes Martin Beek
Originally posted 27 months ago.
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Martin Beek edited this topic 27 months ago.
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domtak [deleted] says:
Some great images in here. I too agree that with advances in cameras and mobile phones it's going to be very hard to police the sneaky photographer.
Does the no photography rule come down to the artist or the gallery?
Interesting that artwork is put out there to be experienced but not captured. More surprising when you consider some of the quality in these photographs.
Maybe future artists & galleries will lower their guards?
Dom
Posted 27 months ago.
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It can be both artist or gallery or agent. However I think in the last ten years we have seen a sea change or revolution in the way we experience the world. I think galleries will have to get used to the fact that people wish to record events and as I said above many artists are only too eager to get some sort of dialogue going with the public at large. Art if it is anything at all has to communicate, and that must go on well outside the four walls of a gallery space.
Posted 27 months ago.
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