Comment | Why museums should tread carefully with audio and video in exhibition spaces

A commentator reflecting on co-curating Tate Britain’s 2014 exhibition “Kenneth Clark: Looking for Civilisation” argues that museums should be cautious when adding audio and video to gallery spaces. The show used wartime National Gallery concert recordings by performers including Myra Hess, Elena Gerhardt, Kathleen Ferrier, and Benjamin Britten, but the “scratchy” sound drew the exhibition’s main visitor complaints and negative reviews. The article cites the exhibition “James McNeill Whistler” (running until 27 September) as a more extreme example, describing a loud, actor-staged argument between Whistler and patron Frederick Leyland played every five minutes in a Peacock Room recreation, plus a full-length projected monologue, which visitors and staff said made it difficult to view nearby works such as Whistler’s Nocturnes.

Read the full article at The Art Newspaper - International art news and events