{"id":1999,"date":"2016-03-01T14:13:04","date_gmt":"2016-03-01T22:13:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/?p=1999"},"modified":"2016-03-01T14:13:04","modified_gmt":"2016-03-01T22:13:04","slug":"time-has-come-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2016\/03\/time-has-come-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Time has come today"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"still<\/a>

99 144\/2,5<\/p><\/div>\n

At the Washington Post, Philip Kennicott looks at changes in how people work and play<\/a>, and implications for cultural organizations, especially museums. I’m not sure all of the claims made by people he cites add up.<\/p>\n

First, from Elizabeth Merritt, of Center for the Future of Museums. Kennicott writes:<\/p>\n

A transformation in how we work, says Merritt, will affect both how museums employ people and how they may need to change to attract new audiences. \u201cIncreasingly we see people who had regular full-time jobs who are now picking up pieces of work,\u201d she says. It\u2019s called \u201cwork-life blending,\u201d which in some cases means people may feel they are working all the time, while others, especially younger workers, mix work and play throughout the day and through the whole week. The \u201cwork week,\u201d with its two days of downtime on the weekend, is already a thing of the past for many Americans.<\/p>\n

And these changes, she says, could well impact the entire work force, not just people who, for example, drive for Uber, or specialists with highly sought-after skills who thrive in the new \u201cgig economy.\u201d Museums may begin to employ more of their staff on a piecemeal basis, whether that\u2019s relying more on guest curators, or contracting specific services only as needed.<\/p>\n

But what about how that affects audiences? When will they come? Does it make sense to charge $25 for admission if your audience is increasingly made up of frenetic work-life blenders who may only want to visit for an hour, here and there? Merritt says that many museums are only now catching up with the need to have more flexible hours, opening earlier or staying open later to attract audiences. But the emergence of the new labor economy has happened so quickly, it has taken many institutions by surprise. \u201cMore museums are just now saying we should have alternative hours. Just as they are getting that, the game is changing on them.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0Well, a few things come to mind here. First, it’s people with traditional working hours who find old-style museum-hours policies frustrating, not the new variable-schedule folk. It seems odd to change museum hours now<\/em> if in fact it is becoming easier<\/em> for people to find a few hours during a weekday to visit. Would have been nice for our parents if more flexible visiting hours had existed back in the day, no? Second, just because a ‘gig’ economy has arrived in some sectors does not necessarily mean it is an optimal arrangement for hiring museum staff. Contracting out services has always been an option, with costs and benefits relative to simply hiring employees. Not clear how the costs and benefits on this issue have changed recently. If anything, I think many large organizations are starting to find the quality-costs in contracting out are perhaps higher than they have bargained for.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Kennicott continues:<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

It\u2019s not the focus of the TrendsWatch report, but Merritt does touch on the question of leisure, citing John Maynard Keynes\u2019s prediction (in 1930) that progress in society would ultimately lead to a 15-hour work week. That obviously didn\u2019t happen. Automation didn\u2019t lead to a society that valued leisure, but simply more increases in efficiency and productivity, and more profits for those who owned the means of production.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more we are able to work efficiently the more work we are expected to do,\u201d says Merritt.<\/p>\n

The question for museums is whether they can do anything about this. Do they merely adapt to attract people who have less and less time to visit, fighting harder for a more scattered and frantic audience? Or do they address the issue head on?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I do enjoy Keynes’ essay – you can read it here<\/a> – but of course what is most interesting about it is how he got his prediction wrong. First, to say that increased productivity since the 1930s all went to more profits is silly: real wages have risen enormously<\/em> since then as a result of increased productivity (if you understand the concept of ‘cost disease’ you already know this). Merritt gets it wrong. Hours worked are a function of the intersection between what works best in terms of the operation of businesses and<\/em> what works best in terms of individual preferences. Employees are generally good with a work-week in the 40-something hours range; that’s why we have that instead of, say, a 25-hour week as the standard (If you think I am wrong, go tell all your employees that from now on there will be a 25-hour work week, and a commensurate reduction in weekly pay, and see if you get applause). Look at the weekly hours of the self-employed for further evidence. What Keynes got wrong was that he thought we would turn our productivity gains into more leisure rather than into more money. We chose, for the most part, to keep leisure the same, and take the cash.<\/p>\n

But are<\/em> we working more? Not really. Here<\/a> is the Gallup Survey on hours worked per week since 1989 (you have to scroll down a bit). Since 1989 there has been remarkable consistency, with the work-week varying slightly with the business cycle between 42 and 44 hours per week. No trend, and not much change given all the shifts in the economy. Some<\/em> high wage earners might be working more, but then people with high wages have a good incentive to do so.<\/p>\n

So, we might not feel we have much free time, but hours worked isn’t the culprit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the Washington Post, Philip Kennicott looks at changes in how people work and play, and implications for cultural organizations, especially museums. I’m not sure all of the claims made by people he cites add up. First, from Elizabeth Merritt, of Center for the Future of Museums. Kennicott writes: A transformation in how we work, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2002,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1999","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-issues","8":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/time-clock-punch.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3dIW5-wf","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2186,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2017\/04\/metrics-at-the-museum\/","url_meta":{"origin":1999,"position":0},"title":"Metrics at the museum","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"April 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The Washington Post's Philip Kennicott decided to try visiting the popular Kusama exhibit at the Hirshhorn not as a critic, with all its special viewing privileges, but as an ordinary member of the public. The crowds and the rush, as we might expect, reduced the quality of the experience. We\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"too many people pulled and pushed around","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/too-many-people.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/too-many-people.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/too-many-people.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/too-many-people.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3653,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2024\/12\/art-politics-trump\/","url_meta":{"origin":1999,"position":1},"title":"Art, Politics, Trump","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"December 5, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"A favourite old book of mine from my childhood is Kenneth Clark\u2019s\u00a0Civilisation, which goes along with his television series. It is old-school history of western civilisation, observant and wise. In his first chapter he travels to those monasteries around Ireland and Great Britain - Skellig Michael, Iona, Lindisfarne (pictured above)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/image-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/image-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/image-1.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/image-1.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/image-1.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/image-1.png?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2926,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2023\/08\/museums-are-not-expensive-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":1999,"position":2},"title":"Museums are not expensive","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"August 2, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"New Yorkers who are interested in seeing the film Barbie at the local multiplex will pay $25.49 per ticket. If, on the same weekend, they wish to also see Oppenheimer, as I read, in about one hundred and forty-seven news reports, people were doing, then we are up to $51.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1838,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2015\/03\/on-the-return-to-public-investments-in-museums\/","url_meta":{"origin":1999,"position":3},"title":"On the return to public investments in museums","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"March 3, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Arts Council England has released a new report that seeks to quantify the 'economic impact' of museums. It estimates that to be\u00a0\u00a31.45 billion. That doesn't matter much - there are no insights to be gained, no policy implications, from the estimate's being \u00a31.45 billion or \u00a32.07 billion or \u00a31.03 billion.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"maybe this time?","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/sisyphus.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":610,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2013\/04\/paywalls-at-newspapers-and-museums\/","url_meta":{"origin":1999,"position":4},"title":"Paywalls at Newspapers and Museums","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"April 5, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Felix Salmon investigates how newspaper paywalls are evolving: In the early days of paywalls, some content was free, while other content you needed to pay for; the meter, in theory, replaced that system with one where the determination as to whether an article was free or not was a function\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"is the meter running?","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/newspaper-250x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2287,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2018\/01\/should-museums-have-free-admission\/","url_meta":{"origin":1999,"position":5},"title":"Should museums have free admission?","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"January 9, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I won't link to all the stories on the Metropolitan Museum's new policy of charging out-of-state residents $25 for daily admission - if you're reading this you've seen them already. Here are few additional considerations: A common refrain is that the museum can \"afford\" to have free admission for all,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"I see an externality","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/crowded-museum-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1999"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1999\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2004,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1999\/revisions\/2004"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}