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INCOGNITO

http://smmoa.org/support/incognito/overview/

The Santa Monica Museum of Art is gearing up for its 9th annual event, INCOGNITO. Another example of the unconventional ways of SMMoA (see my post on Rocky the guard), this fundraiser calls into question the work of art as a mechanism of conspicuous consumption and the artist's identity/name as a symbol of cultural capital. The concept is simple: several hundred of works art are anonymously displayed for purchase in a silent auction for a fixed price of two hundred dollars. The artists range from young up and coming unknowns to Los Angeles giants like Ed Ruscha and each is given a single guideline: a dimensional format of eight by ten inches.

And the games begin. 

Patrons flood the gallery each year looking for "the" piece--whatever that means for them. In an ideal world, in the museum's ideal world, people would choose works based on the ones that they genuinely, and objectively, were drawn to and NOT those that look somewhat like a John Baldessari or an Ed Moses. There are politics involved, things get physical, and at the end of the day, if you pay extra, you get in early for first pick. 

There are some slight contradictions between the concept and its implementation, but it is a fundraiser and thus dedicated to making money. This obligation will no doubt determine the logistics of the event, but inconsistencies aside, it got me thinking about museums as agents of authority and financial capital. Moreover, the interplay between authority and financial capital: the museum must have a certain level of authority in order to make more money (gain more support) and gain more authority--which operates under the assumption that with more money, comes more perceived authority and more agency in the flexibility of resources etc. How museums decide to do this often acts as a symbol of their greater modus operandi and identity. So in this case, the museum is claiming a priority for experimentation and provocation, making the arousal of discussion a primary goal. 

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Redefining roles in the museum gallery: guard, Rocky, at the Santa Monica Museum of Art goes above and beyond his job description

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151348916853008&set=pb.19659628007.-2207520000.1364539647&type=3&theater

The Santa Monica Museum of Art, an institution near and dear to my heart, employs this extraordinary guard who takes it upon himself to learn everything he can about the exhibition on display. His status as unofficial docent has never occurred to me as having a greater significance to museum theory, but I understand now how his participation in engendering knowledge and narrative about each exhibit contributes significantly to the process of meaning-making and the identity of the museum. Through disseminating his subjective, but informed, views about the art work, he remains an active player in shaping the authority and point of view of SMMoA.