Wednesday, February 17, 2016

One day in the art museum director’s office

Director: We need new ways of making money…I mean attracting more visitors.

Curator: I’ve had a few thoughts.

D: So what do marketing have to say?

Marketing Manager: It’s a two ‘I’s situation. We need to pull our audience from Independent to Dependent.

D: Don’t you mean to Interdependent?

MM: Exactly, the two Is. We also need to move from demand to participate.

C: I have a few ideas.

D: So how do we do this participation thing?

MM: Living art. It's the way to go. It’s the two ‘P’s - Placing the punters in the picture.

D:
Isn’t that three Ps?

C: I have a couple of ideas.

D: I suppose 'Placing' doesn’t really count …so yes I get it…two Ps…clever. Now how do we do it?

MM: We build a famous painting in three dimensions and let people live in it.

C: That’s a completely stupid idea.

D: I hear what you say but we’re trying to be positive here…. Blue skies ....

MM: No, no it’s OK. ‘In the realm of ideas everything depends on enthusiasm’. Cookie Lyon said that. Empire, season one.

C: (sarcastically) So did Goethe. Late eighteenth century.

D: Sure, sure… but what painting do we build?

MM: Van Gogh’s bedroom.

D: Incredible. Awesome.

C: (even more sarcastically) Yeah, awesome… why don’t you put it on Airbnb?

And that is what they did.