Day two of MW2008 began at 8 am this morning, with the ‘Birds of a Feather’ breakfast. Our self-created table ‘Enhanced Museum Events’ inspired an interesting dialogue with Jonathan Bowen, who is presenting Wiki Software and Facilities for Museums in the midday session. Before that, I visited talks about Web 2.0 Metrics by the ever enthusing Seb Chan, and Web 2.0 tools by David Greenfield from the Loyola Marymount Universit.

The afternoon schedule brings a much anticipated and needed discussion on openness, by ’solutions architect’ Mike Ellis and Brian Kelly. Hopefully there will be time for lunch and more in-between-the-lines-discussions about the Semantic Web, public-private-ventures and enhancing actual museum visits by means of ultranew media.

Due to rather unfortunate circumstances I have not been able to send in my paper to MW2008; however the organisation has been kind enough to give us a slot at the demonstrations on Saturday. If you are interested to hear about the Amsterdam Museum Night, physical museum events and interactive media, social networking in the context of a museum festival and other ‘interreality’ examples, join us tomorrow at 9.30 am at booth 16.

Although the Guggenheim Hermitage Museum exhibited works of great artists, its contract with hotel resort the Venetian in Las Vegas won’t be renewed. (Photo: Las Vegas Sun)

The Las Vegas Sun reports on the announcement by Guggenheim officials that the museum foundation will close down its Guggenheim Hermitage branch in the Venetian, a large scale hotel and casino in the world’s gambling capital Las Vegas. The Guggenheim opened two Las Vegas museums, designed by Rem Koolhaas, in October 2001. The Guggenheim Hermitage, a partnership between the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, was the smaller of the two.

The museum’s official statement emphasizes the predetermined life-span of seven year for the project, and that number has been reached. Critics argue that the museum simply failed in terms of visitor numbers and commercial successes and therefore had to be closed. They blaim it on a combination of uninspiring, second-rate exhibitions, and the the fact that the nonprofit museum was housed in the for-profit hotel-casino which made it difficult to raise extra money within the local (business) community.

The Guggenheim’s (overseas) expansion plans have been hit hard in recent years. The Bilbao museum changed the face of museums, but grand plans to create a brand as distinctive as Coca-Cola - to put a Guggenheim everywhere from Mexico to Taiwan - proved too ambitious. The 63,700-square-foot Guggenheim Las Vegas closed its doors 15 months after its opening in 2001 because of lack of funds and low attendance. Its only show was “The Art of the Motorcycle.” Back in 2005 the British newspaper the Guardian already reported on the epic rise and (predicted) fall of the Guggenheim empire and its flamboyant director under the telling title ‘Is this the end of the Guggenheim dream?’. Notwithstanding all the troubles the Guggenheim is experiencing, plans for a large museum project in Abu Dhabi will be pressed forward as Thomas Krenz vividly described in a recent interview.

The Chanel Mobile Art by Zaha Hadid raises curiosity and provides a stunning contrast to the local skyline.  (Photo: Tony Sze/Chanel)

A few weeks ago, a squat, white structure, designed by architect Zaha Hadid, took shape on a car park rooftop in Hong Kong. The container houses a major international art show, which is called Chanel Mobile Art and is being financed by the French luxury goods company. The exhibition in Hong Kong, the first stop of a two-year world tour, runs until April 5 and showcases the works of 20 international contemporary artists.

Chanel required all the artists to produce work inspired by the quilted handbag, the “2.55,” for “February 1955″ when it was designed by Coco Chanel. Exhibit highlights include a film by Nobuyoshi Araki of Japan of a (Chanel) chained woman; tattooed stuffed pigs and matching purses by Wim Delvoye of Belgium. The exhibit moves to Tokyo in July and New York in September. The Chanel boutique nearby sells a limited-edition Mobile Art 2.55 bag in black for about $3,000.

Personal reactions to the show have ranged from comments like “a very nice escape” to “very French, pretentious, verbose, bossy.” However, the show has been fully booked up to the closing date. In 2009, it will be shown in London and Moscow, and will end in Paris in July 2010.

Overview of the the Chanel Mobile Art pavilion on Hong Kong’s harbour front.

Read the in-depth review in the International Herald Tribune (March 24, 2008)
Go to Chanel Mobile Art website

In a public address Nicholas Penny, the new director of the National Gallery, said that the museum will no longer show blockbuster exhibitions and will focus on its duty to display art with which the public is unfamiliar rather than yet another parade of a famous artist’s greatest hits.

“The responsibility of a major gallery is to show people something they haven’t seen before,” he said. “A major national institution should be one that proves a constant attraction to the public. What is important is encouraging historical and visual curiosity in the general public.”

Read full article (The Times, February 27, 2008)

The Klein Matterhorn (photograph: Johanna Huber)

If Heidi were alive today, the likelihood is she would no longer be skipping in the mountains with grandpa’s goats, but taking a lift to a cabin-pressurised viewing tower and conference centre in the Alps.

The once untouchable Alps are being turned into a huge and haughty playground for the rich, featuring luxury tower blocks, pyramids, and revolving hotels, as Switzerland’s cantons seek to produce ever bigger and better tourist attractions in a bid to outdo each other.

The latest project involves “stocking up” the Klein Matterhorn. Already home to the highest cable car in Europe, the smaller neighbour to the Matterhorn is soon to be topped with a 117 metre steel and glass pyramid which will take it to a height of 4,000 metres.

A so-called “four-thousander” is considered by alpinists to be the magic height for a mountain - because it marks a level most mere mortals will never reach. There are currently 76 of them in the Alps. Klein Matterhorn is set to become the 77th and tourist chiefs hope it will lure the visitors attracted by the hitherto distant prospect of conquering a four-thousander - albeit a manmade one.

Read full article (Guardian, September 20, 2007)

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Cool, cerebral and formidably focused, Mark Jones hides his erudition beneath an easy affability. In his six years as director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, he has overseen the transformation of a venerable if quaintly eclectic institution into one of Britain’s most dynamic and ambitious museums that is rarely out of the headlines.

As the V&A celebrates a century and a half since its founding in South Kensington, Jones is determined to keep the focus on the museum’s original mission – to bolster the best of British design.

Recent headlines have not always been friendly: the V&A has come under sneering attack over its Kylie Minogue exhibition, and Jones has been accused of dumbing down, pandering to pop culture. Unruffled, he insisted that the V&A, like all museums, must broaden its views and its range of visitors. Next summer the V&A will host a similar glitterand-dresses extravaganza devoted to the Supremes.

Read full article (The Times, August 1, 2007)

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Phil Mooney’s office was a virtual museum when he started 30 years ago as archivist for the Coca-Cola Co. So many people tramped through to look at the vintage bottles, trays and calendars that he had it all removed so he could get some work done.

“I said that if a museum was important, my office wasn’t the place for it,” he remembers. “We needed a real museum.”

He got his wish. Twice.

Read full article (AJC.com, May 21, 2007)
World of Coca-Cola website

Something I have been watching for some time now is the collection of incredibly insightful talks that is called Ted.com. The conference started in 1984, with demos of the newly released Macintosh computer and Sony compact disc. But it took another six years to organize a second one: despite its erudite lineup, it lost money (as happens so often when nice people start organizing something out of passion).

Since 2001, Wired chief editor Chris Anderson has been the curator of the event. TED has had such speakers as Richard Dawkins, Jeff Bezos, Daniel Dennett, Malcolm Gladwell, Jane Goodall, Stephen Johnson, Steven Levitt and many more. All of the aforementioned names are shown online, in an elegant interface. It forms a wonderful collections of bright minds, a museum of Great Ideas.

Visit Ted.com