Framing (Museums and Architecture)

"first, that the museum's works can't be circulated or put on open shelves; and second, that while most of those who use a library know how to read, most of those who visit a museum don't know how to see (Goodman)"

I agree with Cameron, do the people running a museum read these articles before planning a layout of a particular exhibit. In my experience with museums (which have so far been purely scientific or naturally historical in nature) I always seem to understand at first glance in a way that is unique to an exhibit. You learn and see more clearly and idea or some aspect of scientific theory in application and practice or by some visual aide, and museums help to do this. In a way, they FRAME the work to make it more easily understood in a particular context thus reducing any ambiguity and concentrating solely on that aspect which is meant to be understood. This unique ability makes me wonder, how do they do it?

"The museum has to function as an institution for the prevention and cure of blindness in order to make works work. And making works work is the museum's major mission (Goodman)"

This idea of framing comes back again, it is necessary to aide understanding. We cannot understand something if we do not first learn how to see it, and also, the way we see works can greatly influence the way we percieve other works in the future, framing not only the work in question but also our view on the worlds outside the work.

"What we see in a museum may profoundly affect what we see when we leave; and this is as true for nonrepresentational as for representational works (Goodman)"

In Elgin's book, she talks about symbols and metaphors which give a better understanding despite percieved inaccuracies or falsitudes, but these symbols help to guide understanding and understanding is our true goal right? I therefore would agree with Goodman that it an important role of the museum to frame works and to "make works work".

What makes works work? How do they influence understanding?

"Works work when by stimulating inquisitive looking, sharpening perception, raising visual intelligence, widening perspectives, bringing out new connections and contrasts, and marking off neglected significant kinds, they participate in the organization and reorganization of experience, and thus in the making and remaking of our worlds"

Works work when they help to inspire the whole picture, and therefore help us to understand every aspect of their subject. This is what understanding is. A great thing about the museum is that it allows us to build apon past experience or understanding to greater "see" or to visualize the works purpose. The museum provides the framework for understanding.

I do not undestand why Goodman points out that we have lost the museum. Does he mean to say that we have lost the museums purpose? Does he mean that because the museum is static and inaccessable it prevents us from accessing works and realizing their true meaning?


How do buildings mean?

Architecture is a unique art because it does not serve to portray its subject or to describe it in some way, however Goodman suggests that buildings an still have meaning and that they can still effect a view on the world.

Is there still a symbolic function?

"we may read of buildings that allude, express, evoke, invoke, comment, quote; that are syntactical, literal, metaphorical, dialectical; that are ambiguous or even contradictory! All these terms, and many more, have to do in one way or another with reference and may help us to grasp what a building means. "

This article brought to mind "The Fountainhead" because the architecture in the book was described in an artistic way, and the buildings with the most meaning were maybe not the ones most conventionally beautiful but they meant something in the way that they melded with landscape and mixed this with functionality and appreciation of materials. This showed a love of building and an appreciation of the natural landscape and natural architecture. These buildings meant something and in the story they helped to aide Rands theory of objectivism.