Commerce at the Corcoran

After entering the Corcoran Gallery of Art to see 30 Americans last weekend, I was unexpectedly confronted by “Off the Walls”: The Corcoran’s Annual College Art Sale.  At a number of tables set up in the museum’s atrium, current Corcoran students were displaying their own jewelry, ceramics, and fine art.  But these were not merely for public enjoyment, as each piece was for sale.  Proceeds served to benefit the artists and the Corcoran's Student Activities Programming Board. 

Unaware that this event was being held, I was suddenly immersed in a department store-like environment that completely transformed the space.  As an experienced shopper (with a borderline addiction), I was instantly drawn to this environment and found myself perusing the stands.  The space was temporarily converted into an arena of commerce, aptly located in proximity to the Corcoran’s own gift shop, as the museum and store essentially became one.

This led me to reflect on a line from James B. Twitchell’s article on the museum-department store relationship: “the museum says, ‘don’t touch, you can’t have.’  The department store says, ‘please fondle, it can be yours.’”  I initially found myself doing just that: viewing these objects in a different light, since they had the potential to be mine.  I didn’t buy anything, but the fact that this was an option created a different experience of viewing the various types of artwork.  This further resonates with Carol Duncan’s argument that increasing the commercial space in a museum, in effect, takes away from the “museum’s special status as a commerce-free zone.”  In this space, three of Chris Martin’s large-scale paintings were suspended from the second floor of the museum to the ground.  Despite the overpowering scale of his works, they were even less prominent than the bustling commercial activity that took over the museum space.  This attests to the “erosion” of the museum with commercial activity. 

It is great that these students have the opportunity to display (and sell) their own works at such an established institution.  But it provides an interesting context to consider the function of art objects, which are essentially commodities.  And this temporary shop set up within the museum, itself, provides a unique illustration of the ever-increasing link between the museum and commerce.