Why are we so obsessed with taking photos of famous locations or artworks? In this video essay I tried to find an answer to this question, and raised a further argument… You can find the video with the link below!
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM62R2NCG/
references:
Sengor, Ayşe. “On Sharing.”
A really beautiful video! I liked your example with The Book of Kells as I had no understanding of its significance previous to AMS, however, now its history would be enough of a reason for me to visit Dublin. Since people wouldn’t be able to mediatize the artifact, its importance is somehow reduced, and this makes me curious about all the hidden wonders and undiscovered artifacts that aren’t spoken for. This also makes me wonder why the institution decided to implement that restriction, if it’s in an attempt to have their visitors immersed in the history or another ulterior motive.
Great video! Your perspective on the topic is intriguing. The Mona Lisa has attained iconic status, and its popularity could be linked to the allowance of photography or perhaps something more. I can understand that the less crowded room around The Book of Kells is a direct result of the “no picture policy,” as we often assign value to objects based on their frequency of reproduction, whether online or as tangible souvenirs. To play a little devil’s advocate, maybe Mona possesses more qualities to be reproduced into into various forms (online, mugs, hoodies, posters), and therefore attains this legendary status?
Thank you for sharing this reflection. I really enjoyed visiting the Book of Kells myself and think that the curators had to make a choice between conservation and accessibility. In the down stairs exhibit are magnified or blown up images of the book to display its intricate details at a large scale. While these exhibition objects are reproductions of the book I’d argue it was a curatorial attempt to overcome this. Nonetheless humans seem to prefer photographing the original object. Perhaps to connect spiritually with the objects maker, history and significance.