Entrance Museum of Everything
Charmant en liefdevol zijn niet de woorden die bij me opkomen als ik aan musea denk, maar dit zijn de woorden die Londens nieuwste museum omschrijven – Museum of Everything - in de chique Primrose Hill. Het museum is een kunstmuseum voor ‘outsiders’, voor kunstenaars die buiten het systeem hun kunst maakten, of in de woorden van de initiatiefnemer James Brett, “For these artists there are no studios, no press junkets, no art fairs, no magazine spreads. Instead there are treasure troves of untrained work, discovered under rocks, in basements and attics, its creators often unaware their art would ever see the light of day.” En ondanks het feit dat de persoonlijke situatie van veel van de makers erbarmelijk was, heeft het museum ook iets vrolijks en humoristisch. Maar een museum voor ‘outsider art’ is op zich een contradictie en het feit dat het open ging tijdens de laatste Frieze Art Fair was ongetwijfeld bedoeld als een provocatie.
Het museum bestaat uit kleine celachtige ruimtes, smalle, soms doodlopende gangen en lage doorgangen. Zoals de Financial Times het omschrijft, ‘It’s this sense of the otherworldly that the museum is particularly good at evoking. Housed in a dilapidated former dairy near Primrose Hill, its labyrinthine interior has been left unrefurbished – all exposed breeze blocks, rusting pipework, crumbling plasterboard – to create an atmosphere of rawness and mystery, but also the feeling of something slightly dysfunctional.’
Bijzonder aan het museum, behalve de huisvesting en de kunst die zo perfect op elkaar zijn afgestemd en de ruwe en intense impact die de kunst op de kijker maakt, zijn de tekstborden over de kunstenaars en de kunstwerken. Niet de gewone museumteksten, maar teksten van beroemde ‘insiders’, kunstenaars, musici en curatoren, die vaak bijna kunstwerken op zich zijn. In de woorden van Kunstbeeld, ‘Het is moeilijk dit liefdevolle samengestelde Museum of Everything te verlaten, alsof ook de uitgang naar ‘NOTHING’ leidt.’
- Museum of Everything sign
1 Reactie
Stephen · 10 februari, 2010 om 10:49
THE MUSEUM OF EVERYTHING FINAL DAY
FINAL DAY THE MUSEUM OF EVERYTHING
Dear Comrade,
It being 2010 we wanted to let you know that everything has to come to an end. Exhibition #1 at The Museum of Everything is closing.
Can it be true, we hear you scream!? Sadly yes. The tiny epic that legendary tall artist John Baldessari described as <> is almost history.
We close on Sunday 14th February – Valentine’s Day for some, Chinese New Year for others, and for Peggy who runs the tea shop, the Feast Day of St Cyril and Methodius.
That’s less than ONE WEEK AWAY …
So hoist up your skirt, pull a sickie and race down Primrose Hill waving your hands in the air for your very last chance to see the show which Time Out crowned the Homecoming Queen of 2009.
And this weekend cancel lunch with the in-laws and get naked at our secret closing day jamboree, featuring an all-star cast of lounge lizards, hula-hoop girls and bible-bashers – with free everything if you make a paltry donation to our meagre fund of funds.
The details are:
AU REVOIR SHINDIG AT THE MUSEUM OF EVERYTHING
SUNDAY 14TH FEBRUARY FROM 11AM UNTIL WHENEVER
If you cannot make any of this, fear not: The Museum of Everything will re-emerge, whether it be here in the capital, at your the local village Post Office or perhaps somewhere a little more ambitious.
Next stop … sunny Torino, Italy where we open on April Fool’s Day.
Finally, don’t forget to visit The Shop of Everything where you can buy some of our lovely cheap tat – including an amazing George Widener limited edition print, box sets of glossy piccies and a signed photo of Nicholas Serota wearing one of our hand-embroidered sunhats in Tenerife. Just email se@musevery.com for details.
As ever and in everything: The Museum of Everything
The Museum of Everything
on the corner of Regents Park Road
and Sharpleshall Street London NW1
http://www.musevery.com
PS This Wednesday, come to the ICA at 6:45pm where it’s all about The Museum of Everything.
We’ll be there with Jarvis Cocker, Ekow Eshun and many others anoraks. For more details click on this rather unwieldy link: http://www.ica.org.uk/Don%92t%20Call%20Me%20Crazy:%20How%20we%20Fell%20in%20Love%20With%20Outsider%20Art+23537.twl
PPS If you haven’t already, please send us your details and we’ll keep you in our confidence.
WHO YOU BE ……………………………
WHAT YOU DO ……………………………
WHY YOU DO IT ……………………………
WHAT YOU’RE INTO ……………………………
WHERE YOU’VE BEEN ……………………………
WHERE YOU’RE GOING ……………………………
PPPS The Museum of Everything is something of a ramshackle organisation. We do not sell our email addresses; but sometimes we do email people by mistake.
If you are one of them, we apologise. Please send an email to me@musevery.com with REMOVE ME TOOT SWEET in the subject line.