Saturday, 24 January 2015

David Byrne and heads talking about museum signs and music working

Came across this blog by Tom Hewitt about the vexed issue of information plaques beside paintings and artworks in museums - should we or shouldn't we?

https://tomhewittphdresearchblog.wordpress.com/2015/01/21/to-be-told-or-not-to-be-told/comment-page-1/#comment-11

Of course, nowadays we all have to throw our tuppence h'penny at it, in the interests of a full and informed debate on the issue of course (nothing to do with a desultory Saturday afternoon, dog snores dominating the kitchen soundscape) -

Martin McGinley says: [Your comment is awaiting moderation.][I didn't actually say that]
January 24, 2015 at 3:34 pm

I think the focus should be on the encounter with the artwork but, as we can’t all be experts, it’s often a help to have some good notes to refer to as well. A lot depends on the ‘expert’ who’s providing them. The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam took it a stage further last year, putting up bright yellow posters beside the works suggesting how they illustrated life lessons – the ‘Art as Therapy’ show curated by Alain de Bottom and John Armstrong. Could have been awful but was different and thought-provoking.
Here’s something I’ve now stumbled across – singer David Byrne (I presume) giving his own context for works in the Rijksmuseum. http://davidbyrne.com/an-unexpected-history-lesson-at-the-rijksmuseum
And, to bring this discussion of commerce into the 21st century, here’s news that you can now use images of artworks in that museum to create your own mugs and tshirts (shock horror) -http://www.openculture.com/2012/11/rijksmuseum_puts_125000_masterpieces_online.html
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As Róisín Ingle has been talking in the Irish Times magazine today about celebrity encounters, I can exclusively reveal that I met David Byrne, or 'Dave' as he was introduced, in Hughes' pub in Dublin a few years back. I joined the company and we had a couple of drinks before heading off to Lillie's Bordello, then the acme of the city's social scene. It was only when we got there that 'Dave' stood revealed as, in fact, the Talking Heads singer who had done a big concert somewhere or other in Dublin earlier that evening. Suddenly, there was a dazzling bright light, a spotlight, and it shone directly on him, and Ant and Dec appeared as two cherubic angels, fingers pointing at 'Dave'. Only joking about that bit. Dave was actually a friendly down-to-earth sort. He's well-known now too for his book "How Music Works", which is on my Kindle to be read at some date so far unspecified. 
'Dave', as he may have appeared after some particularly silly comment across the table in Hughes's's in Dublin

"How Music Works" by David Byrne was published in 2012. It may have come as a surprise to John Powell, who explained why ten violins only sound twice as loud as one in his 2011 book, "How Music Works".

In sharp contrast, here's David Byrne's book -

(that's enough about music working - ed.)

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