Imagine we were in the year 2052. Museums are on the verge of complete extinction and art as we know it is disappearing more and more from society. What would we lose if museum collections disappeared? What do fine art, museums and their collections mean for our cultural identity? This is the question addressed by "The Imaginary Museum", now the third exhibition at MMK 2.
Once again, the focus is on the collection, but this time not only that of the MMK; but also that of the Tate and the Centre Pompidou. These three renowned European museums of modern and contemporary art have joined forces to use selected pieces from their collections to take a look at a future in which art no longer has a place in our society, inspired by Ray Bradbury's 1953 science fiction novel Fahrenheit 451 and its legendary film adaptation by François Truffaut.
In nine chapters, each named after a novel (The Time Machine, The Neverending Story, etc.) based on the theme of the book Fahrenheit 451.), using more than 80 major works of contemporary art from the 1920s to the recent present, illuminates two questions:
1. If art were indeed threatened, what would our society lose, what would we miss, and what would we want to preserve?
2. How would it be preserved?
The answer to the first question is offered by a tour of the exhibition, which includes works by Louise Bourgeois, Marcel Duchamp, Isa Genzken, On Kawara, Claes Oldenburg, Sigmar Polke, Bridget Riley, and Andy Warhol.
The second question will only be answered by visitor participation at the end of the exhibition: Just as Bradbury's "book people" can only keep literary works from disappearing by memorizing them, the exhibition invites visitors to memorize the works on display. Viewers can take the work labels and add their personal memories in the form of sketches, notes or drawings.
After its run, the exhibition opens one last time for a grand finale weekend on September 10 and 11. The artworks will then almost all have been removed and replaced by people who, through their personal memories and interpretations, will reflect the exhibits and in this way bring them back to consciousness. Visitors become ambassadors of the art, "picture people" who transform the exhibition into a living museum.
Further information:
http://mmk-frankfurt.de
