Curator Glenn Phillips at the Getty Center

This week we met with Getty Research Institute curator Glenn Phillips. He took us around his current GRI show, Evidence of Movement, and talked about the upcoming exhibition California Video. The current show includes broadcasts from the KPFK show Close Radio that aired in the 1970's. Have a listen to Cris Burden "Wiretap," where he gets his two dealers to badmouth each other, secretly recording the conversation and putting it on the air.

Some interesting tidbits that came out was that 60% of the visitors to the museum don't go inside to look at the art, and instead spend their time in the garden and checking out the architecture and the views. He also talked about designing exhibitions for viewers who aren't really there to see the art, allowing for "escape routes" through the show.

On the subject of censorship, he said that as far as showing videos, the only policy is "no penetration," which came up from his screening of Andrea Fraser's video. Most of these screenings and shows now come with caveats and warnings, since the Getty is such a litigation magnet. He mentions that folks take the tram up the hill on a regular basis for the sole purpose of slipping, tripping, falling, and sueing, so the lawyers at the center are well versed at protecting their endowment. He told one story of a video screening where it was announced beforehand that the tape contained nudity. Still one viewer sued because she didn't think that nudity would include MALE nudity. Go figure.

My one critique of the place would come from the way they spend their money in relation to local contemporary institutions. Since they have received many notable archives (most recently the video collection of the Long Beach Museum of Art) they are in a position to preserve materials that might otherwise be lost. This is a good thing. They also give money to local art organizations to help them catalog and preserve their archives. This is a good thing too. My only wish is that some of that money would go to help these art organizations be more fiscally stable, rather than swooping in once they falter and acquiring their collections.

Sphere: Related Content