Art Museum As Ritual Analysis

Art up close and personal is a profound experience that is unique compared to looking at art through a textbook. Art can express emotion, have a political meaning, portray history, and bring people together as not only a community but a generation. Art can change a society, and that is one of the reasons I find art compelling. I can lose myself in one painting for hours; forgetting about the world around me. Art can be found outside, or inside; art is universal. However, after reading Duncan's "The Art Museum as Ritual," I find my general ideas of art and art museums changing. I find myself looking at the entire concept of art museums differently. That is why this assignment was challenging for me; analyzing the interior design of the Barrick
I chose UnBalanced because I became interested in trying to decipher the message. I completely ignored the title and tried to comprehend why I found myself drawn to this particular piece of art. I looked at the lamps on top of the table, and noticed the room had minimal furniture giving the illusion of space. Next, as I looked closely, there was a strange shape behind the lamps that gave of a shadow on the ceiling. As I tried to analyze more, I noticed the lamps to the right and a few on the left side of the table had no light, which made me think they were damaged and no longer able to give off light. Another important aspect was the highlights given by multiple objects, as well as the shadows created by the lamps. Then, I recognized there was only one bold, red lamp that represented the focal point of the entire piece. I also noticed the lamps in the dark could be the focal point and I concluded the piece to be asymmetrically balanced. I figured the artist tried to give off the illusion of the print being unbalanced, but upon closer look it is in fact
Wall color, ceiling heights, and lighting are also a way to form museums as a ritual site by contributing to the interior design of isolating artwork. Duncan states Germain Bazins' insights on modern installations form museums as a ritual site by placing statues in isolation, placing paintings apart, and having only one object at a time appear in the line of vision (19-20), which I completely agree with based on my experience. Especially looking back on visiting The Albuquerque Museum of Art and History, the outside was decorated with statues as I walked towards the entrance, and the interior was decorated modern with a gracious greeter who gave me a map and told me the rules. As I entered the exhibits, each room was dimly lit with bright lights only fixed on the artwork that was spaced out forcing me to focus my attention on one painting or sculpture at a