As promised a review of the AGO, in a condensed form of course. The AGO is in many ways an incredible institution. The building, the art, and the people make it a wonderful place to visit and more importantly to be a part of. (Emphasis on public partnership and participation!) Though I tried, and I knew I would fail, I was unable avoid a comparison between the AGO and the ROM, so bear with me for a second.
Though each museum set out to achieve different things in very different ways, the AGO succeeds far more thoroughly than the ROM at meeting its own objectives. If the ROM was attempting a “renaissance” – a rebirth of learning and culture, they have failed. If they were attempting to make an international statement with little more than a building and a world class collection then they have succeeded. Where the ROM has failed, and this is of course its main failure, is in the design of a museum for people. A museum ought not to be the place where “objects go to die”, but rather a place where ideas are shared and circulate freely as mediated through a collection of objects. [End Rant...]
The AGO is lovely, it is wood rather than metal, it is clean lines and curves rather than jagged edges and dark recesses. (Modernist sensibilities much?) It chooses to let light in rather than block it out, something conservators must cringe about. Besides the Frank Gehry building in all its splendor, one of the most important developments at the AGO has been to bring out a far greater percentage of the permanent collection than ever before, yet this development is also my first concern. Whether it be through a token gesture of open-storage in the sub-street level concourse of Inuit Art, shame, or through the twenty plus galleries dedicated to the Thomson collection, an overly grand commemoration of the principal donor(?)- see also his ship models display, many questions remain.
But despite a few things I object to, perhaps “object” is too strong a word, some things that merely cause me to raise an eyebrow and wonder…the AGO is seemingly set for clear albeit challenging seas (pun intended).
In my next post I will go into detail about some of the successes of the museum’s curatorial and collection choices, as well as a review of its small cafeteria below “Frank’s”. A man’s got to eat after all…
If you are interested, a show I curated will be viewable at add-art.org on Dec 4th, which is in about 25 minutes.
