A BRIEF GUIDE TO AN OBJECT(IVE) VIEW OF MUSEUMS

A BRIEF GUIDE TO AN OBJECT(IVE) VIEW OF MUSEUMS

TRAVELOGUE

[My body is static- standing still and silent. It seems to me the objects from the outside world are relatively static, too. But I know I am on the move judging by the constantly changing scenery of the outside world and the familiar mechanical vibration. Between my body and the world beyond stands a slightly curved transparent plane surface, floating on the plane surface I can see a distorted figurative image that possesses resemblance with the body of my own. 

I move my eyes upward, in a ritualistic manner, and my visual focus lands on another familiar image - a seemingly nebulous network constituted of zigzag lines, interwoven either perpendicularly or diagonally at 45 degrees, these lines are coded with distinctive colours with series of signs, nodes, calibrations and annotations. ‘The spacing and position of these nodes do not reflect to any accurate geographical registers, it is an object of re-appropriation - merely a diagram’ a friend once told me. However, after a few minutes of looking, counting and mumbling, I understand I have travelled through 11 of these nodes in the duration of 45 minutes - I know I have reached my destination, on the line of mustard yellow and British Racing Green, which are also juxtaposed to the navy blue line. This network- this map for me and perhaps for my fellow travellers, too, in the subterranean terrain of the city, has become more real than the city itself. 

My body is destabilised - leaning forward whilst I try to maintain my normal posture. The distorted image in front of me vanishes as the planar surfaces shift away from each other with their frames are moving in opposit directions. Stepping through this threshold to the world beyond, I have been here so many times, but I am still searching for signs and images of reassurance to establish my referential position and intended direction. 

My body is dynamic - walking eagerly towards my destination but my eyes are distracted by the act of consuming the sequential images allocated on both sides of this tunnel passage. As per everywhere else in the city, publicity images, advertising posters, have a ubiquitous existence. The density of this visual stimulation is not high compared to other parts of the city but their presence still conveys a sense of confrontation to me. One of these images caught my eyes; the image is like a supernova explosion version of the ‘network of zig-ziggy lines’ I was looking at earlier. Between the first glimpse and the second glance, I recognise it was a painting by American artist, Jackson Pallock. Called the Blue Poles, it is reduced in size and printed on some glossy paper and captured in an A1 aluminium frame. Texts on top say: ‘RA- EXPERIENCE ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONALISM’. The reproduced ‘Blue Poles Poster’ was then repeated once again, two in a row, as if they are some sort of stereoscopic pair. These images go on… and in this passage at the lower terrain of ‘Exhibition Road’, almost like a rehearsal for my anticipation and memory of the next stop…

My body is rhythmic - like a choreographer in his natural habitat, moving from chambers to courtyards, from picture frames to display glass cabinets. My eyes are inquisitive, engaged like a child first arrived at a strange new world full of curiosities and wonders. Walking through the Dorothy & Michael Hintze Galleries and passing by The John Madejski Garden, I exist within a world of proliferation of objects and images - from historical artefacts to works of art, from authentic antiquities to immaculately reproduced casts. Innocent children engaging with didactic digital screens, youngsters photographing the space with technological gadgets, cultured populations socialising and senior citizens collecting treasures from the gift shops. Just like a perfect simulacra of the past empire and (…) mirror of the human condition of this age. Now, my eyes are confronted by the mechanical eye.]

Fall 2016, London.

Text: Issac Leung