Hey, They let you take Pictures!
May 24th, 2010
Had a great time in London with Ivy last week. Thanks to all the great people at UXLondon (hosts, guests, and attendees all) and to the friends who came out on ridiculously short notice to see us.
Swung by the British Museum, among other sites, and was reminded that they allow picture-taking, so I went to town on the sculptures (mostly with my iPhone, but later with a semi-real camera).
I wish all museums allowed snapshots. There are times when a postcard just won’t do, especially when looking closely at the rich textures and beautiful decay of ancient works like these.
Anyway, here are a few I liked.
March 3, 2021
Museums often act as if they held copyright on objects hundreds or even thousands of years old.
Exactly!
Some are cool with it though. Smithsonian is pretty good in this respect, IIRC.
I loved the architecture of the British Museum. And of course there is the Rosetta stone.
Ha ha…”the beautiful decay.”
Decaying works of art tend to take on a life of their own far, far from the artist’s orginal intent as the patina of ruin and antiquity overwhelms it.
As Duchamp once said about art in Europe: “…all those miserable frescoes which no one can even see any more – we love them for their cracks.”
Or as I used to paraphrase to Gary Colabuono ” Ah,Golden and Silver Age comics. We love them for their smell.”
I absolutely adored the Mesoamerican room in the British Museum. So many pieces I’d only seen in books! And not to mention the books! I assume you saw the Aztec codex- all they’ve got on display is a reconstruction, unfortunately, but it was still one of the highlights for me.
Given the freedom of photo taking, it can sometimes be overwhelming as hordes of people struggle to take photos of famous exhibits. The rosetta stone is a good example.