International Journal of Art and Art History

The Museum of the [Interactive] Spectacle
Johanna Morgan Boyes

Abstract
This paper examines the museum in relation to Guy Debord‘s concept of the society of the spectacle, contemporary elaborations upon Debord‘s work, and theories of postmodernism. I argue the museum is a critically important site of proximity to the realm of representations and appearances. As Debord and others argue, the realm has eclipsed authentic social life. It is more absorbing, meaningful, and contains a greater sense of truth than the real. Though this theory is traditionally linked with the mid-to-late 20th century, I argue elements of the spectacle are present in techniques of display beginning in the mid-19th century in a partial form, and in a hyper-accelerated form in the digital age.

Full Text: PDF       DOI: 10.15640/ijaah.v10n1a1