Seizing the Production of Meaning
Presentation (Faculty180)Overview
cited authors
- Cox, Jason M; Lewis, Lillian
description
- <p>This essay explores the paradox of creating a game (Mantles in the Museum) that engages in the democratization of criticism and curation in art museums while also running headlong into financial, logistical, and institutional challenges that prevent the game from being circulated. The authors explore known and speculative reasons that these barriers persist despite institutions claiming they invite broad demographics into their spaces. The accompanying revision of the game embraces counternarratives that directly confront the hegemonic collection and exhibition practices of US art museums.</p> <p>Art museums and academic publishers are aware of the issues surrounding the monetization of arts collections, their use as tax breaks for the affluent, and their role as social capital in cleansing a collector's public image. Prior to the covid pandemic there were numerous publications that echoed a call for such institutions to invite disruption of their status quo and move to a community-focused model, however since that event they have largely employed a more authoritative model and rebuffed previous “best practices”. While academic publishers claim a stance that is open to critique, they have exhibited little interest in publishing such critiques of either themselves or the institutions that they are connected to. </p> <p>Mantles in the Museum: Counternarratives disrupts this hegemonic system both in its premise and its publication. Within the narrative of the game an unavoidable disaster is imminent and the characters (and players) are given the authority to determine what works will survive a museum’s destruction. It is an embodied publication that circumvents paywalled academic publications and is presented as a living document that can and should be altered to meet the moment- a living critique of the institutions it investigates.</p>
authors
publication date
- 2025