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Museum Principals
BY
Jacquie Ang
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Exclusive Highlight on TAXI Design Network
Interview with Jeremy Strick from The Museum of Contemporary Art
Jeremy Strick >> If only it were true! Passion is what drives an engagement with contemporary art but to make a museum work requires a degree of practicality. Balancing the two—passion and practicality—is always the challenge.
TAXI >> Some people likened the running of a museum to managing a business. How do you keep tickets hot and attendance figures high?
Jeremy Strick >> For business the bottom line is the ultimate end. As an art museum, for us the bottom line is only a means to an end. We found that doing what we believe in most, doing the shows that we really care about, ultimately delivers the greatest return.
TAXI >> In an interview with Artnet.com, you revealed that your father is a film director and producer, while your mother was a theater critic and writer. Sounds like drama is in your blood! Why opt for the more static form of arts?
Jeremy Strick >> Well, of course, contemporary art is not always static; think of film, video and other time-based media. I’ve always been captivated by the way ostensibly “static” mediums can contain and convey enormous movement, emotion, and drama.
TAXI >> In your opinion, do you think a museum is a reflection, subliminal or otherwise, of a city?
Jeremy Strick >> Museums are a part of the city’s history; their buildings, their collections are inseparable from these histories. Moreover, I think that a museum should seek to represent the distinctive qualities of the place out of which it has grown. At MOCA, we reflect (and reflect upon) our city by actively collecting work by Los Angeles-based artists and engaging these artists in our exhibition programs. The cosmopolitan, international quality of our collection and exhibitions also reflects that same quality in the city which is so marked. Los Angeles is a place of extraordinary cultural innovation and creativity. The same could be said of MOCA.
TAXI >> In the age of technology, I see that you have harnessed its powers well, with well-informed websites, podcasts and even a digital gallery. What kind of impact do you envision technology has in the arts world within the next 10 years?
Jeremy Strick >> First of all, technology offers artists exciting new means to produce work. Even artists working in traditional mediums such as painting and sculpture have found ways to employ digital technology in their working process. The influence of digital technology on photography has, of course, been especially marked. Many works produced electronically can also be presented electronically and made widely and easily accessible—thus MOCA’s digital gallery. However, museums also remain repositories of physical objects and for that there is no substitute. Museums can do much more to disseminate information and encourage discussion and debate of their programs. I think MOCA’s microsite for WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution—our “WACKsite”—has demonstrated how much content can be made available and how a community of engagement for museums can be created online.
TAXI >> Museums are said to bring people and art together. How do you constantly to engage the public’s interest in art?
Jeremy Strick >> We do it by showing what’s new or by showing what’s less new in new ways. Engaging artists is critical. Artists are the museum’s greatest resource. They keep us meaningful, they keep us relevant. Artists lead the museum and we and our public follow.
TAXI >>What is the WORD, which you think would reside and reverberate in the design world for the next 10 years?
Jeremy Strick >> Hope
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Exclusive Highlight on TAXI Design Network
Interview with Paul Warwick Thompson, Director of Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Paul Warwick Thompson >> A visit to a temporary exhibition that presents its thesis in an exciting, provocative manner or which presents works of fathomless beauty: highlights for me last year were: Matisse’s Textiles at the Met; Holbein at Tate Britain; my first-ever visit to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. But above and beyond the art, I enjoy the ritual of entering an intriguing museum building – new or old – and trying to figure out what emotions and first impressions the architect was trying to provoke in the visitor.
TAXI >> A muse provides a source of inspiration to artists. Do you think museums have the power to change lives?
Paul Warwick Thompson >> Certain lives – yes. The lives of individuals who respond to history, culture, artefacts, the life of the mind.
TAXI >> 1. Do you think art represents the world we live in, or the world we wish to live in?
Paul Warwick Thompson >> Both – or should I say: ‘All three’! Art represents the world as it is; the world as we’d like it to be; and the world as we’d not like it to be – think Jake and Dinos Chapman!
TAXI >> You were one of the creators behind a program that helps children from six to 16 to study design and technology. Could you share with TAXI where innovation comes from?
Paul Warwick Thompson >> I think innovation stems from a ‘Eureka’ moment of inspiration, followed by many hard hours of prototyping and experimentation.
TAXI >> 1. Five years ago, Cooper-Hewitt made headlines when an unsigned drawing by legendary Michelangelo Buonarroti was discovered in the museum. I imagine that must have been an exhilarating moment. If you could speak to a grand master in art, whom would you share a conversation with and what would you talk about?
Paul Warwick Thompson >> I like to discuss man’s capacity for evil with Shakespeare. (Sorry – does that sound too bleak?)
TAXI >> The People’s Design Award is an opportunity for the general public to nominate and vote for a design of their choice. I should think it is also a window that offers a sneak peek into the public’s insights. What does it say about their view of design?
Paul Warwick Thompson >> Thankfully, the choices made in Year 1 of the ‘People’s Design Award’ favored end-use over styling. The 2006 Award demonstrated the public’s view that good design contributes to the wellbeing of mankind! It was very gratifying to see that the winner and finalists were designs which sought to alleviate human suffering – the Katrina Cottage for the Mississippi Delta region, and a water pump for use in Africa.
TAXI >> What is the WORD, which you think would reside and reverberate in the design world for the next 10 years?
Paul Warwick Thompson >> Sanaa …. (Japanese architectural practice).
..........................................................................................................
Exclusive Highlight on TAXI Design Network
Interview with Lauren Parker, Head of Contemporary Programmes, Victoria and Albert Museum
I found the experience of working with contemporary art and design really inspiring and after my graduation from the University of Cambridge I started work at the National Gallery, before a short stint at the Royal Collections. I subsequently completed a Masters Degree in new media curating, before joining the V&A in 1999 to join the fledging Contemporary Team.
TAXI >> The Museum had gone through a long and difficult rough period before 2001, and in 2003, V&A won the European Museum of the Year award. What changes and implementations have taken place to improve the standard of the Museum and garner strong admission figures?
Lauren Parker >> I started working at the V&A in 1999, and have seen the Museum transform itself over those 8 years. The V&A always had a fantastic reputation for the strength of our historical collections and the rigour of the research and scholarship taking place at the Museum; however, a number of ingredients came together at the right time to really lift the V&A to being the world’s greatest museum of art and design. In 2000 the V&A received under 1 million visitors a year, now the museum receives over 2.5 million and still rising. This was in part due to the introduction of free admission in 2001 and due to the V&A’s ambitious FuturePlan scheme to improve the V&A’s galleries and facilities. Highlights over the past few years have included the redesign of the John Madejski garden, the new British Galleries which opened in 2001 and played a key part in transforming perceptions of the V&A at that time, and the stunning Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art which opened in 2006. This process of renewal is continuing, with the new suite of Medieval and Renaissance Galleries due to open in 2009, and, excitingly for me, a new space for Contemporary exhibitions, events and installations, the Porter Gallery, opening in November this year.
The V&A has always existed to inspire commerce , designers and the general public with the best of contemporary design and practice. The launch of the Contemporary Programme in 1999 played a strong part in reinvigorating the perception of the V&A as a contemporary institution – showcasing the work of internationally renowned and young up-and-coming creative practitioners. The V&A’s Friday Lates¸ contemporary themed late night events held on the last Friday of the month, attract a young audience of up to 6,000 people per event, with a range of live performances, one-off events, film screening and music. Our Fashion In Motion features live catwalk shows by designers such as John Paul Gaultier and Alexander McQueen to show fashion as it should be seen on the catwalk. They are free to the public.
The V&A’s programme of contemporary exhibitions has also featured highlights as varied as Milan in a Van – the latest designs from the Milan furniture fair seen a week later at the V&A, Shhh…Sounds in Spaces, an audio journey of discovery through the V&A’s galleries, Brilliant – a stunning exhibition of the best in contemporary lighting design, and Anna Piaggi Fashionology, an homage to the encyclopaedic mind of the influential fashion stylist and writer. The first show in the V&A’s new contemporary space is Out of the Ordinary: Spectacular Craft. A partnership with the Crafts Council, this exhibition showcases the work of eight international artists who use craft skills to transform the ordinary and everyday into installations which are extraordinary – from life-like weeds carved from wood to cascading waterfalls of traditional Chinese papercuts.
TAXI >> The V&A Museum has a long history, do you think there has been a vast change in the function of the museum to the present day? How do you uphold the character and integrity of the Museum?
Lauren Parker >> Actually I think the V&A has remained very true to its founding principles. The first V&A director, Henry Cole, said:
‘Our first object…has been ... to promote all the several interests involved in the improvement of public taste. The interest of the public, as consumer and judge the interest of the manufacturer, as the capitalist and producer - and the interests of the artisan, as the actual workman.'
The role of the V&A as a meeting point between the designer and the visitor continues to this day.
TAXI >> Having handled many art exhibitions and events, what would some of the common pressing issues faced when trying to obtain artefacts for exhibitions?
Lauren Parker >> I am in a very lucky position at the V&A in that we have an extremely strong collection of historical and contemporary material to work with, and also very good relationships with other museums, as well as artists, designers and galleries. The challenge comes not in finding material to show, but in telling the right story, and engaging the visitor. In the Contemporary Programme, much of the work we show is new, and part of our role is working directly with designers and artists to commission special installations and objects for the V&A.
TAXI >> What catches your eye when programming contemporary events and exhibitions at the V&A?
Lauren Parker >> At the moment I am really interested in supporting and showcasing global art and design. The V&A has fantastic collections of Chinese, Japanese, Indian and Islamic art and design, and we are beginning to take a much more global perspective on contemporary design too. In March next year I am co-curating China Design Now, a major exhibition exploring the pioneering generations of designers in China over the past twenty years – particularly looking at the rise of graphic design, architecture, fashion and lifestyle.
TAXI >>Which word do you think would reside and reverberate in the design world for the next ten years?
Lauren Parker >> V&A !
..........................................................................................................
Read OTHER INTERVIEWS on DESIGN LEADERS
Steven Heller, Chip Kidd & Stefan Sagmeister
Sara Little Turnbull & Darrel Rhea
Adelia Borges & Linda Fu
..........................................................................................................
© 2003 - 2007 by TAXI Design Network. All rights reserved.
Interview with Jeremy Strick from The Museum of Contemporary Art
 | TAXI >> Hello Jeremy. First, let’s take a walk down memory lane. When you came onboard MOCA as its new director, you had rather big shoes to fill. Eight years on, are your accomplishments today what you could imagined then? In hindsight, was there anything you would have done differently?
Jeremy Strick >> Coming to a new institution, you bring new ideas which can move the institution forward. But also, the museum has its own history and character. In the end, a director may change the museum but the museum also changes the director. The temptation for a new director is to make dramatic and decisive moves quickly. I would counsel newcomers to take a bit more time, study the situation, and develop a coherent plan. TAXI >> David Laventhol said this of your successful appointment: “He’s passionate about contemporary art, diplomatic; he’s orderly and practical.” What do you think of that description? |
Jeremy Strick >> If only it were true! Passion is what drives an engagement with contemporary art but to make a museum work requires a degree of practicality. Balancing the two—passion and practicality—is always the challenge.
TAXI >> Some people likened the running of a museum to managing a business. How do you keep tickets hot and attendance figures high?
Jeremy Strick >> For business the bottom line is the ultimate end. As an art museum, for us the bottom line is only a means to an end. We found that doing what we believe in most, doing the shows that we really care about, ultimately delivers the greatest return.
TAXI >> In an interview with Artnet.com, you revealed that your father is a film director and producer, while your mother was a theater critic and writer. Sounds like drama is in your blood! Why opt for the more static form of arts?
Jeremy Strick >> Well, of course, contemporary art is not always static; think of film, video and other time-based media. I’ve always been captivated by the way ostensibly “static” mediums can contain and convey enormous movement, emotion, and drama.
TAXI >> In your opinion, do you think a museum is a reflection, subliminal or otherwise, of a city?
Jeremy Strick >> Museums are a part of the city’s history; their buildings, their collections are inseparable from these histories. Moreover, I think that a museum should seek to represent the distinctive qualities of the place out of which it has grown. At MOCA, we reflect (and reflect upon) our city by actively collecting work by Los Angeles-based artists and engaging these artists in our exhibition programs. The cosmopolitan, international quality of our collection and exhibitions also reflects that same quality in the city which is so marked. Los Angeles is a place of extraordinary cultural innovation and creativity. The same could be said of MOCA.
TAXI >> In the age of technology, I see that you have harnessed its powers well, with well-informed websites, podcasts and even a digital gallery. What kind of impact do you envision technology has in the arts world within the next 10 years?
Jeremy Strick >> First of all, technology offers artists exciting new means to produce work. Even artists working in traditional mediums such as painting and sculpture have found ways to employ digital technology in their working process. The influence of digital technology on photography has, of course, been especially marked. Many works produced electronically can also be presented electronically and made widely and easily accessible—thus MOCA’s digital gallery. However, museums also remain repositories of physical objects and for that there is no substitute. Museums can do much more to disseminate information and encourage discussion and debate of their programs. I think MOCA’s microsite for WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution—our “WACKsite”—has demonstrated how much content can be made available and how a community of engagement for museums can be created online.
TAXI >> Museums are said to bring people and art together. How do you constantly to engage the public’s interest in art?
Jeremy Strick >> We do it by showing what’s new or by showing what’s less new in new ways. Engaging artists is critical. Artists are the museum’s greatest resource. They keep us meaningful, they keep us relevant. Artists lead the museum and we and our public follow.
TAXI >>What is the WORD, which you think would reside and reverberate in the design world for the next 10 years?
Jeremy Strick >> Hope
..........................................................................................................
Exclusive Highlight on TAXI Design Network
Interview with Paul Warwick Thompson, Director of Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
 | TAXI >> Hello Paul. Thanks for taking time out of your heavy responsibilities to respond to our interview. Before you were named Director of Cooper-Hewitt, you were the Director of London’s Design Museum for nearly a decade. Given your extensive experience, please define one quality of a distinctive museum.
Paul Warwick Thompson >> Originality. A distinctive museum makes surprising, original acquisition choices; it programs thought-provoking exhibitions which make a museum professional like me, kick myself, and exclaim, “That’s a great idea! Why didn’t I think of it?” TAXI >> These days, visiting a museum encompasses a holistic sensorial experience. In your opinion, what makes an unforgettable museum experience? |
Paul Warwick Thompson >> A visit to a temporary exhibition that presents its thesis in an exciting, provocative manner or which presents works of fathomless beauty: highlights for me last year were: Matisse’s Textiles at the Met; Holbein at Tate Britain; my first-ever visit to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. But above and beyond the art, I enjoy the ritual of entering an intriguing museum building – new or old – and trying to figure out what emotions and first impressions the architect was trying to provoke in the visitor.
TAXI >> A muse provides a source of inspiration to artists. Do you think museums have the power to change lives?
Paul Warwick Thompson >> Certain lives – yes. The lives of individuals who respond to history, culture, artefacts, the life of the mind.
TAXI >> 1. Do you think art represents the world we live in, or the world we wish to live in?
Paul Warwick Thompson >> Both – or should I say: ‘All three’! Art represents the world as it is; the world as we’d like it to be; and the world as we’d not like it to be – think Jake and Dinos Chapman!
TAXI >> You were one of the creators behind a program that helps children from six to 16 to study design and technology. Could you share with TAXI where innovation comes from?
Paul Warwick Thompson >> I think innovation stems from a ‘Eureka’ moment of inspiration, followed by many hard hours of prototyping and experimentation.
TAXI >> 1. Five years ago, Cooper-Hewitt made headlines when an unsigned drawing by legendary Michelangelo Buonarroti was discovered in the museum. I imagine that must have been an exhilarating moment. If you could speak to a grand master in art, whom would you share a conversation with and what would you talk about?
Paul Warwick Thompson >> I like to discuss man’s capacity for evil with Shakespeare. (Sorry – does that sound too bleak?)
TAXI >> The People’s Design Award is an opportunity for the general public to nominate and vote for a design of their choice. I should think it is also a window that offers a sneak peek into the public’s insights. What does it say about their view of design?
Paul Warwick Thompson >> Thankfully, the choices made in Year 1 of the ‘People’s Design Award’ favored end-use over styling. The 2006 Award demonstrated the public’s view that good design contributes to the wellbeing of mankind! It was very gratifying to see that the winner and finalists were designs which sought to alleviate human suffering – the Katrina Cottage for the Mississippi Delta region, and a water pump for use in Africa.
TAXI >> What is the WORD, which you think would reside and reverberate in the design world for the next 10 years?
Paul Warwick Thompson >> Sanaa …. (Japanese architectural practice).
..........................................................................................................
Exclusive Highlight on TAXI Design Network
Interview with Lauren Parker, Head of Contemporary Programmes, Victoria and Albert Museum
 | TAXI >> What responsibilities does the head of contemporary programmes have at a renowned Museum like the V&A?
Lauren Parker >> It’s a very varied job, but the main responsibilities include devising and overseeing an ambitious programme of contemporary exhibitions, artist commissions, gallery interventions, events series and new contemporary initiatives – from high-profile debates programmes to developing national and international partnerships. One of the key objectives of the Contemporary Programmes at the V&A is to support creative design, so I spend much of my time working with really talented international artists and designers which is fantastic. TAXI >> When did you realise you had a keen passion for working in a museum? Lauren Parker >> When I was seventeen I had the great opportunity to work for an independent exhibition consultancy during my university holidays. |
TAXI >> The Museum had gone through a long and difficult rough period before 2001, and in 2003, V&A won the European Museum of the Year award. What changes and implementations have taken place to improve the standard of the Museum and garner strong admission figures?
Lauren Parker >> I started working at the V&A in 1999, and have seen the Museum transform itself over those 8 years. The V&A always had a fantastic reputation for the strength of our historical collections and the rigour of the research and scholarship taking place at the Museum; however, a number of ingredients came together at the right time to really lift the V&A to being the world’s greatest museum of art and design. In 2000 the V&A received under 1 million visitors a year, now the museum receives over 2.5 million and still rising. This was in part due to the introduction of free admission in 2001 and due to the V&A’s ambitious FuturePlan scheme to improve the V&A’s galleries and facilities. Highlights over the past few years have included the redesign of the John Madejski garden, the new British Galleries which opened in 2001 and played a key part in transforming perceptions of the V&A at that time, and the stunning Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art which opened in 2006. This process of renewal is continuing, with the new suite of Medieval and Renaissance Galleries due to open in 2009, and, excitingly for me, a new space for Contemporary exhibitions, events and installations, the Porter Gallery, opening in November this year.
The V&A has always existed to inspire commerce , designers and the general public with the best of contemporary design and practice. The launch of the Contemporary Programme in 1999 played a strong part in reinvigorating the perception of the V&A as a contemporary institution – showcasing the work of internationally renowned and young up-and-coming creative practitioners. The V&A’s Friday Lates¸ contemporary themed late night events held on the last Friday of the month, attract a young audience of up to 6,000 people per event, with a range of live performances, one-off events, film screening and music. Our Fashion In Motion features live catwalk shows by designers such as John Paul Gaultier and Alexander McQueen to show fashion as it should be seen on the catwalk. They are free to the public.
The V&A’s programme of contemporary exhibitions has also featured highlights as varied as Milan in a Van – the latest designs from the Milan furniture fair seen a week later at the V&A, Shhh…Sounds in Spaces, an audio journey of discovery through the V&A’s galleries, Brilliant – a stunning exhibition of the best in contemporary lighting design, and Anna Piaggi Fashionology, an homage to the encyclopaedic mind of the influential fashion stylist and writer. The first show in the V&A’s new contemporary space is Out of the Ordinary: Spectacular Craft. A partnership with the Crafts Council, this exhibition showcases the work of eight international artists who use craft skills to transform the ordinary and everyday into installations which are extraordinary – from life-like weeds carved from wood to cascading waterfalls of traditional Chinese papercuts.
TAXI >> The V&A Museum has a long history, do you think there has been a vast change in the function of the museum to the present day? How do you uphold the character and integrity of the Museum?
Lauren Parker >> Actually I think the V&A has remained very true to its founding principles. The first V&A director, Henry Cole, said:
‘Our first object…has been ... to promote all the several interests involved in the improvement of public taste. The interest of the public, as consumer and judge the interest of the manufacturer, as the capitalist and producer - and the interests of the artisan, as the actual workman.'
The role of the V&A as a meeting point between the designer and the visitor continues to this day.
TAXI >> Having handled many art exhibitions and events, what would some of the common pressing issues faced when trying to obtain artefacts for exhibitions?
Lauren Parker >> I am in a very lucky position at the V&A in that we have an extremely strong collection of historical and contemporary material to work with, and also very good relationships with other museums, as well as artists, designers and galleries. The challenge comes not in finding material to show, but in telling the right story, and engaging the visitor. In the Contemporary Programme, much of the work we show is new, and part of our role is working directly with designers and artists to commission special installations and objects for the V&A.
TAXI >> What catches your eye when programming contemporary events and exhibitions at the V&A?
Lauren Parker >> At the moment I am really interested in supporting and showcasing global art and design. The V&A has fantastic collections of Chinese, Japanese, Indian and Islamic art and design, and we are beginning to take a much more global perspective on contemporary design too. In March next year I am co-curating China Design Now, a major exhibition exploring the pioneering generations of designers in China over the past twenty years – particularly looking at the rise of graphic design, architecture, fashion and lifestyle.
TAXI >>Which word do you think would reside and reverberate in the design world for the next ten years?
Lauren Parker >> V&A !
..........................................................................................................
Read OTHER INTERVIEWS on DESIGN LEADERS
..........................................................................................................
© 2003 - 2007 by TAXI Design Network. All rights reserved.