Trevor, The "American Wing" just opened this Fall here at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. It reeks of politics from the name itself, the narrow scope of the collection makes that laughable, to the dull architecture by committee - looks like a transit station. Anyhow, I'm still glad it's there. Their important collection is, of course, American Colonial and Founders stuff. The wonderful thing about public art museums is the enrichment opportunity given every citizens throughout their lives. The galleries they buzzed through when they were younger become new and exciting as they mature. One of my faves at the moment is way-early, starting with Paleolithic, Korean sculpture. It boggles the mind. No politics. AZ LOOKAROUND - Since 1978 http://www.panoramacamera.us > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: [SPAM] Re: museum collections? (now OT) > From: Trevor Cunningham <trevor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Date: Wed, January 26, 2011 8:50 am > To: List for Photo/Imaging Educators - Professionals - Students > <photoforum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > > > I was wondering when this would get political. > > On 1/26/11 3:21 AM, mark@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote: > > I really don't object to politics in art per sey, but I do have a > > problem with using tax dollars to do it /*(left or right)*/. No one > > should be taxed to advocate a position, especially one with which they > > do not agree. > It's a paradox, really. If we itemize the costs of integral social > institutions, we find considerable cause to strike our own development > from the budget. My standard arguments for "I don't want my tax dollars > paying for [insert budget consideration here]." fall along the lines of: > 1) "What ever happened to the social contract?" 2) "That's what voting > is for." [followed with more about the social contract] 3) "Why don't we > just all move to Indiana and live in the perfect society where everybody > agrees with everybody else?" > > Once public money is introduced, it should either be balanced or left out. > Considering the uncertainty principle, there's no such thing as balance. > With your model, we can do one of two things: ban all public funding of > art (including that in schools and any other public institution), or > decide what people may or may not see/experience/discuss/etc. > > "(left or right)"...I guess we only have two hands, so there it is.
