An art museum provides the opportunity to reflect on the most complex things about being human. Artists use a visual language to make concrete what is abstract.
This visual language, however, is not always easily understood. As viewers in a museum gallery, we may be separated from a work of art’s origin by centuries, continents, or cultural understanding. But by unlocking the shared humanity communicated and explored in art objects, we can better understand that the world is both bigger than our individual universe and that it is filled with multiple perspectives. At a time when the world is ever more global, but also increasingly insular, it is critical to grasp this simple yet profound concept.
“To interpret a work of art is to make it meaningful.” — Terry Barrett, Interpreting Art: Reflecting, Wondering and Responding
So, what does interpretation have to do with this? Interpretation is precisely what can unlock that shared humanity; interpretation is what makes a museum a museum. Without interpretation, we would simply be a storage facility for objects. Sharing the stories and layers of meaning inherent in art objects brings those objects alive. Each visitor is invited to consider what that object means to him or her — you are invited to make your own meaning.
Interpretation comes in many forms — wall labels, gallery guides, audio tours, and app content, as well as playful, interactive learning opportunities like a gondola to accompany the recent exhibition Eyewitness Views: Making History in Eighteenth-Century Europe or the Kusama Lounge.
The interpretation department serves as an audience advocate in the content development process, ensuring that visitors will encounter multiple entry points so that regardless of the level of art knowledge there is a way to make meaning of works of art. We believe there is more than one way to look at a work of art, and we want every visitor to find something that sparks his or her interest. This is why we create a range of tools to explore the collection — a “choose your own adventure” approach if you will.
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