alt Hacker NewsWhat distinguishes an Eames chair on display at the Cooper Hewitt from the same chair on display at MoMA or countless other museums in the world? What distinguishes it from the same chair on display, and for sale, at the Herman Miller showroom?
What, if not the stories that the institutions who collect these objects tell about them?
One of them is near enough to be a visited by me on a day trip. I can understand design museums being essentially franchised showrooms for contemporary culture objects, but I think he asks some reasonable questions about the point of curation and the role of museums in moden society.
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The point is to provide local areas access to such designs in person. What they write on the wall about it is secondary to one's own opinion.
Further, to the quote you selected, a glass of wine’s perceived taste improves when you hear the story and see an old or prestigious label on the bottle.
The context does actually change how people experience things. For me visiting a museum is something I do when I’m particularly curious or observant, and the atmosphere typically makes me more so.