Between the Pyramid and the Labyrinth: Exploring the ‘Third Condition’

We are, at present, under the influence of significant changes in the contemporarymedia landscape that ask, among other things, that we envision anew whatmuseum spaces and, even more so, what museum experiences can be. We arefaced with what Neil Leach describes as a state of “obesity” produced by thesaturation of the aesthetic. This “absorption of everything into the realm of art,this swelling and distension of the category,” together with the overall increase inthe production of content and the exponential ease of access to knowledge, aresome of the factors resulting from the current shift, factors that challenge conventionalpractices.2Museum experiences have been traditionally determined by the triad contentspace-visitor, where spaces, many preexisting and repurposed, house the contentfor the visitor to access, and be affected by it. This long-established educationalrole of museums is currently being tested by the open access to informationthrough the virtual world of the Internet. However, the virtual medium cannotyet offer the advantages that the immediacy of the physicality of a museum can,it “cannot account for the richness of lived experience.”(2) The immersion of thesensing body into curated spaces and museums still holds immense potential toaffect the experience and assimilation of the work.

Volume Editors
David Ruy & Lola Sheppard

ISBN
978-0-935502-95-4