Argument 08
The Canon
Surveys, syllabuses and acquisitions cite one another until a sequence starts to look inevitable. The interesting question is who the loop routed around.
Photo: Nothing Ahead / Pexels
Entries
One cause, one consequence, each
- 01
How a list gets made
Survey books, museum acquisition and teaching syllabuses reinforcing one another until a sequence looks inevitable.
- 02
Who was outside the frame
Whole practices left out because of who made them or what they were made of, and what the record actually shows.
- 03
Revision and rehang
What changes when a collection is hung by theme rather than by date.
Hung floor to cornice, a picture placed high was said to be skied: admitted, and effectively unseen.
Photo: Shakyamuni Buddha with Avadana Legend Scenes - Google Art Project · Wikimedia Commons