Horst, etc. (or why I am glad that I've moved from the tangible to the intangible)
Thanks to the generousity of a V&A employee, I got to see the Horst exhibition on Wednesday. So it seems a bit mean to give such a negative review, but here goes.
Horst was a photographer. An exhibition about his photographs offers various opportunities, including
a) talk about how brilliant he was as a photographer, and use each image to say 'and here, Horst ....'
b) talk about what he photographed (objects = fashion), and use each image to say 'and here, designer X ...'
c) talk about who he photographed (models), and use each image to say , 'and here, model Y ...'
d) talk about any other narrative line you might want.
But no. When I ranted on this to ExMemSec, who had visited the Constable exhibition, he commented, he said, it was just the same, the the opportunity to
a) talk about how brilliant he was as a painter, and use each painting to say 'and here, Constable ..'
b) talk about what he painted, and use each image to say 'and here, you can see changes in pollarding techniques...'
or any other narrative line ...
was lost.
As someone who
a) like taking photographs
b) likes wearing clothes
c) likes quite random stuff
d) likes Horst
I am _really_ disapointed. The Cafe and Shop remain much better than the exhibitions. And there are better places to eat and buy. Which makes me glad that I have moved from working in the tangible heritage world (art, documents, objects, castles, etc.) to the intangible (songs, stories, beliefs, skills). Because at heart, I'd far rather know how Horst made one photograph than see a hundred photographs, without understanding.
Horst was a photographer. An exhibition about his photographs offers various opportunities, including
a) talk about how brilliant he was as a photographer, and use each image to say 'and here, Horst ....'
b) talk about what he photographed (objects = fashion), and use each image to say 'and here, designer X ...'
c) talk about who he photographed (models), and use each image to say , 'and here, model Y ...'
d) talk about any other narrative line you might want.
But no. When I ranted on this to ExMemSec, who had visited the Constable exhibition, he commented, he said, it was just the same, the the opportunity to
a) talk about how brilliant he was as a painter, and use each painting to say 'and here, Constable ..'
b) talk about what he painted, and use each image to say 'and here, you can see changes in pollarding techniques...'
or any other narrative line ...
was lost.
As someone who
a) like taking photographs
b) likes wearing clothes
c) likes quite random stuff
d) likes Horst
I am _really_ disapointed. The Cafe and Shop remain much better than the exhibitions. And there are better places to eat and buy. Which makes me glad that I have moved from working in the tangible heritage world (art, documents, objects, castles, etc.) to the intangible (songs, stories, beliefs, skills). Because at heart, I'd far rather know how Horst made one photograph than see a hundred photographs, without understanding.