Essay On Museum Hours

When one goes to a Museum, it is easy to assume that they will go to the most famous and well known pieces that are showcased, look at them, and then be well on their way. Although Museums are a part of the spectacle, when looked at in the right context they can also enable to viewer to gain a new perspective. What better a place than to think “otherwise” than a museum? The setting upholds works of art that are categorized and characterized by certain attributes. But these institutions can also view the everyday in a new context – take a look at the Surrealists or the Stituationalists. In Museum Hours, by Jem Cohen addresses how people should look at art through a different lens, and how value legitimizes collections of art in museums.
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His works of art in Looking and the Institution portray direct experiences that are temporary and not at the same time. Wall captures fleeting moments and portrays them in a photographic context essentially making them last forever. Also, he illustrates what subjects are like rather than what they are. Many forget that David, The Mona Lisa, The Creation of Adam, and many other famous paintings are simply representational. Just like in Museum Hours, Jeff Wall emphasizes the blurry line that is between life and art. Many of his works such as Overpass, Figures on a Sidewalk, and Siphoning Fuel, illuminate the everyday as something worthy to be characterized as art. In the movie there were many instances where Anne explained to Johann something peculiar or beautiful she noticed on the street. But more importantly, there were many scenes throughout the movie in the Kunsthistorisches Museum that seemed like authentic footage. For these moments it is up to the audience on whether or not to interpret if the footage of the kids playing around, the school children passing through exhibits, and ordinary people observing famous pieces of art were candid or scripted. The feeling of unsureness that Cohen brings forth emphasis how the banal can be art equally to pieces by Bruegel or