Rethinking the Museum, One ‘Zine Library at a Time

Architizer News

Rethinking the Museum, One ‘Zine Library at a Time

March 22, 2012

There are big questions surrounding the role of the art museum in the digital age. Maintaining relevance in today’s unending stream of information and entertainment is a challenge for cultural institutions whose programs operate on a larger scale. One strategy museums have found success with is the digitization of the museum-going experience itself: podcast tours and interactive websites globalize an otherwise local show. Another strategy is the construction of a new building or addition built by a big-name architect, attracting civic and international attention. Examples of this abound. The most striking is perhaps the MAXXI in Rome, designed by Zaha Hadid, which had its grand opening without a single piece of art on view.

Still, a key part of the museum experience seems to be missing: a focus on the experience of the museum-goer as a social, engaged participant.

Philadelphia-based duo Megawords is broaching the topic of the post-digital museum with an installation currently on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. At the PMA, the duo turned a dark alcove that once housed an ATM and a payphone into a carefully-curated book and ‘zine store. In an adjoining space, previously used as a green room, Megawords installed a reading lounge with pillows and chairs for comfortable perusing – complete with a soundtrack played through a speaker on the floor. According Anthony Smyrski, who makes up one half of the Megawords team, their work at the PMA is concerned primarily with “the activation of unused space” within cultural institutions. Click through.

Images (c) Constance Mensh.

Smyrski says that people’s reactions to Megawords’ installation “run the gamut from people asking ‘what is this, is it Art?,’ to people assuming the bookstore and reading rooms are an installation in the sense of the period rooms in the museum – they look at it from the outside and don’t want to cross the threshold, sit in the chairs, or touch the books. Other people get it completely and come in read a magazine, write on the board, talk to us, ask questions and get excited about the space…Its interesting to see what preconceptions people come to the Museum with.”

Another key concern of the installation is creating a sense of place within the museum. “When I was a teenager going to punk rock shows,” begins Smyrski, “there was one venue in Philadelphia – and many underground music venues probably very similar throughout the United States. You knew where you were going, you knew who you were going to see there, and you had an emotional attachment to that place. There was a real sense of where you were. Places like that were always interesting to me in the way that they aren’t overdesigned. They aren’t over-considered but they still has traces of all the things that have happened there and the people that have been there.”

To that end, the duo introduced a large chalkboard for visitors to write messages on. They’ve also staged an ambitious range of activities around the space, including dance parties, zine-making workshops, and panel discussions. On some days, the space hosts a notary public, stretching the civic function of the Museum.

Every Friday, the duo is present at the installation, relaxing, reading, and talking with whoever comes to the space. Says Smyrski, “for us, that interaction isthe art.” Many current artist seem content to leave behind their audience, and Megawords is refreshingly concerned with the experiences of museum-goers. In the end, Smyrski says, “…what we are doing is really pretty simple. We aren’t asking people to jump through hoops.” Sometimes it’s the simple solutions that make the most sense.