In the age of social media, institutions are increasingly designing art exhibits with platforms like Instagram in mind. While photographing artwork is a wonderful way to engage with it, in some cases the “instagrammability” overshadows the artwork. Often institutions overplay the Instagram connection, which denigrate’s the value of the artwork and incorrectly insinuates that young people are unable to appreciate artwork without an ulterior motive.
PlayTime at the Peabody Essex Museum, is a perfect marriage between Instagrammable art, and thoughtful, impactful works. Martin’s Creed’s roomful of pink balloons (pictured above) allows for sheer joy, while Pedro Reyes’s decommissioned weapons reinvented into musical instruments offer timely cultural criticisms.
The team at the Peabody Essex was nice enough to give me an hour in the empty museum to shoot. Of course I took the opportunity to poke around some of the other exhibits like T.C. Cannon: At the Edge of America and All the Flowers are for Me.
PlayTime is on view through May 6.
T.C. Cannon: At the Edge of American is on view through June 10.
All the Flowers are for Me is on view through April 29.