Light Fright: Great view of Washington’s horse. Not-so-great view of George.
(This photo was taken without flash.)
With all this talk lately about Museums 2.0 and “apps,” I’ve been inspired to inaugurate CultureGrrl 2.0 with a new technological innovation. (Well, it’s new for me, anyway, but I’m a late adopter.) I’m also pleased to note that Arianna Huffington‘s much discussed (above-linked) “Museums 2.0” column has now been transformed by Copy Editing 1.0. (The gaffes that I noted in my post about Huff’s post have now been corrected.)
By now, like it or not, you’re all very well acquainted with CultureGrrl‘s Irreverent Photo Essays. Now, thanks to my souped-up new computer and its upgraded photo-editing software, I bring you the first CultureGrrl Irreverent Narrated Slideshow! My first victim…I mean, “subject”…is the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
Having taken you around the outside of the expanded museum, with its spacious new wing designed by Norman Foster, I’m now escorting you inside, to give you my impressions (many of which are quite favorable) of the interior architecture and art installations throughout the four floors of galleries in the new Art of the Americas Wing.
Since I’m new at this, you may find that you’ll need to adjust your volume up and down a bit. I think I need a souped-up recording microphone to go along with my other technological upgrades. (Unfortunately, CultureGrrl Donors appear to have taken a holiday, after kicking in one-half the cost of my new computer. New Year’s resolutions, anyone?)
This slideshow is followed by a brief CultureGrrl Video exploring a few vexing installation gaffes that I encountered during my visit (including the one pictured above). Although I don’t mention it in the video, the installation of the Cole that I decry at the end of the second clip below was personally ordered by the museum’s director, Malcolm Rogers. (As writers know, sometimes even the editor-in-chief needs an editor.)
CultureGrrl Narration Gaffe: In my voice-over for the video below, I mistakenly state that Gilbert Stuart‘s “George” and “Martha Washington” are jointly owned by the BMFA and National Gallery in Washington. The co-owner is, in fact, the National Portrait Gallery.