I’m havin’ an ‘art attack
At the risk of once again laying siege to the unenviable blogging niche of MASS MoCA apologist and New York magazine scold, I’ll note the magazine once again gives short shrift (whether intentionally or carelessly, I hesitate to speculate) to the museum.
The April 7, 2008, issue of New York magazine featured a profile of photographer Gregory Crewdson by Amy Larocca. In her piece, Ms. Larocca wrote,
Crewdson produces large-scale, elaborately constructed photographs taken in and around the town of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where the Crewdson family has forever had a small log cabin in the woods.
She went on to note,
Crewdson’s method of photography is highly unusual; he has not taken a picture all by himself for the last ten years, save the occasional snapshot of his kids. He works with a crew of about 40: lighting, set, production designers, and even a director of photography.
Interestingly enough, it turns out there is a large contemporary art facility in the vacinity of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, that has hosted Mr. Crewdson and his crew in the past.
As always, let’s remember that correlation does not equal causation. The fact that New York magazine failed to acknowledge MASS MoCA’s positive contributions (such as supporting Mr. Crewdson’s work, or being the first site to exhibit Cai Guo Qiang’s Inopportune) while commenting critically on its challenges (as with its one-sided and rather judgmental coverage of l’affair Büchel) does not indicate a conspiracy on the part of the magazine against the museum. On the other hand, we all have our biases. While mine run in favor of scrappy museums in rural New England, it’s not surprising that New York magazine has a vested interest in preserving New York as the center of the art universe, and indeed of projecting and championing the image of New York as the center of every conceivable universe.
Where I have a problem — not just in the case of New York magazine, but in every corner where this lamentable facet of the human condition rears its ugly head — is with the notion that one person or organization’s success somehow threatens someone else’s identity. Is New York, the city, the magazine, or the concept, really lessened if something wonderful didn’t originate there? Are the museums, galleries, and theatres of the city truly diminished just because some museum, gallery, or theatre might get there first from time to time?
