Kills Museums Dead

Our assignment was to analyze the similarities between the two articles on the future of museums and answer the questions that would help us explore the issue further. However, I cannot proceed without pointing out the differences as well because these two articles, while addressing very similar subjects, are oriented on two slightly different paths. Joel Garreau’s Is There a Future for Old-Fashioned Museums is an intriguing article that takes an overall view on how all museums are changing and how the internet it changing how things work. It addressing the question of “Well… what exactly constitutes a museum? A Webster’s dictionary definition of what a museum actually is.” It focuses on what makes a trip to a museum so satisfactory and in others opinion, why the Internet is a better choice. Garreau finished his article with the gist that the Internet may be more convenient, but something about human nature and the desire to explore will continue to bring tourists to museums.
Blake Gopnik has a more specific focus in his article, Art Museum Expansion: A constructive Trend? He starts off as though he’s perched himself up on a soapbox, but his cliché beginning suddenly changes into irresistible humor. Gopnik studies wholly how museums today are expanding and how it can be damaging the whole museum experience while Garreau explored this issue only briefly. He claims that by adding on more wings, the quality of the art shows are lowered. What was once a place of quiet reflection is now a business focus mainly on how many people passed through the doors and how many cappuccinos where sold in the museum’s café.
I agree with both articles completely. Throughout the 21st century museums have been a place of exploration and human interaction. Personally, I think that technology is a wonderful tool, but we’re seriously treading a thin line. Where are museums a commercial monster and where are they a personal place that makes the visitor welcome but at the same time manage to support itself. We have to be careful to not lose the human element of interaction.