Archives for April 2009

Aside from whether the Annenberg Space for Photography, which I wrote about here, is a joy to visit and a good place to view photography, it poses a larger question: Will it have any impact on other museums and galleries that aim to showcase photography?

That’s what the Annenberg Foundation set out to do: create a new paradigm. ASP is unquestionably more interactive, more in tune with the trend to combine the educational aspects of a museum space with viewer engagement than other spaces devoted to more static displays of photography. And I think that’s great.

But it is treading a fine line, and I hope it doesn’t lean too much toward entertainment — which is different from engagement.

Since I haven’t yet been to ASP, I would be curious to hear what those who have think.

 

This is photography season in New York — with the AIPAD Photography Show at the Park Avenue Armory over the past weekend, followed by auctions at Sotheby’s and Christie’s (both achieving rather lackluster results).

But on the West Coast, there was photography news, too. Last Friday (following a Wednesday night red-carpeted party), the Annenberg Space for Photography debuted in Los Angeles — and, while I haven’t been there, I think it probably deserves more notice than it has received so far.

ASP (an amusing acronym, no?) is an attempt to go beyond traditional displays of photography. In 10,000 sq. ft., along with images in print format, ASP will project images
using a “state-of-the art” high-definition digital presentation system — with slide shows, simultaneous displays of multiple images, multi-media presentations with music and computer graphics, and so on. Nearby, the artist may be seen discussing his or her work for today’s ADD-afflicted multitaskers.

In some cases, visitors will be able to see — and contast — the same image in print and digital formats.

And Annenberg, using Microsoft technology, will have 30-inch “Surface tables” that allow visitors to pick images from a collection, using their hands and gestures to interact with them. I think you have to be there to understand this completely, but it sounds neat.

The first show, guided by Houston Museum of Fine Arts curator Anne Wilkes Tucker, includes work by 11 artists, like John Baldessari, Lauren Greenfield and several photographers from the Los Angeles Times.  

LA Times critic Christopher Knight reviewed it here, saying he liked it because it was free and eclectic, approved the selection of artists but not the incoherence of the show, and panned its corporate feel and problematic lighting. I hope to see for myself sometime soon.

Here’s a link to ASP’s website.

Photo: Annenberg Space for Photography