American Furniture/Googled

I’ve penned a review for the Milwaukee Art Museum’s American Furniture/Googled exhibition, and it’s up on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Mary-Louise Schumacher’s “Art City” site. Teaser:

The “American Furniture/Googled” exhibition at the Milwaukee Art Museum through Sunday is a surprisingly interesting show, even if only in its promise.

Little did I expect, when going to what I assumed to be a very tame gallery talk, to be engaged in a discussion about controversial topics surrounding knowledge and research. At first glance, the exhibition feels like little more than a post-curating gimmick: a bunch of slideshows about designers and furniture next to their 19th century counterparts.

But the show’s charming curator, Mel Buchanan – the museum’s relatively newly appointed assistant curator of 20th-Century Design – convinced me of at least one thing: Google gets people talking. As our small crowd at the Buchanan-led chat disputed issues of truth, power and silliness online, our interest exponentially increased. I’d definitely recommend the show; just be sure to bring a friend, or group, who likes debate.

Buchanan was given a tiny budget – even by non-museum exhibition standards – and told to use everyday technologies to access the MAM’s collection of furniture design circa the 1800s. She and her collaborators actually considered several ideas before settling on Google searches for their pieces as its starting point.

These throwaways included, among other things, a Wiki show, where museum-goers could contribute their own information and opinions for each object, and a Facebook show, where each piece got a profile and friends, and we could write on their virtual walls.

…

Read more.