Future Museum - Artist’s Apartment & Studio in Queens NYC
Arriving at the apartment:
You enter the artist’s apartment, which is in a yellow-brick row house and walk up to the 3rd floor. In front of the apartment door you pick up an audio guide from the shelf which will give you geo-specific audio information throughout the museum. You are told not to start the audio guide until you have entered the apartment and finished eating. On the door to the apartment you find a note: “please take your shoes off, you can wear slippers.” You find clean slippers next to the door and enter the apartment.
Entering the apartment:
Upon entering, you learn that the artist shares it with 2 friends from college. You are in the kitchen. You look to your left and see a bowl of beef stew with garlic bread and a plate parmesan kale salad. You eat the meal with whoever else is in the kitchen. While you are eating you look at the map on the table which shows the artist’s home and studio. You think about where you will start the tour. While you finish eating you look through the artist’s personal recipe book and her pile of cookbooks all on the table. When you finish eating you turn your audio guide on and decide where to begin.
In the bedroom:
When you enter the bedroom you learn that the artist also uses her bedroom as an office. The artist tells you about her freelance work and how it supports her personal photography. The first thing you see is the artists work computer and her to-do list. Her to-do list includes working on photo retouching and packing her equipment for an assisting job. The computer is open to an architectural photograph that she is retouching, you can click through the images to see before and after shots. In the bedroom you also see the artist’s personal possessions including books, objects, art on the walls and plants. You can also see the artists closet where you learn about “uniform dressing” and “slow fashion”.
In the living room:
When you walk into the living room you sit on the couch and look through food and photo magazines that are on the table. The audio guide tells you about the artist’s experience living in New York City as a young person and as an artist.
Getting to the Studio:
The studio is a couple of blocks from the artist’s apartment. You follow the map that that you see by the door. As you walk to the studio the audio guide tells you about that some artists in New York City live a couple of blocks from their studios while others live a 45 minute subway ride from their studios. The artist also tells you about her experience exhibiting her work in New York City and elsewhere, she explains her experience working with curators and applying to competitions and open calls.
In the studio:
When the you walk into the the studio you see a still life set up in front of the artist’s 4x5 camera. You can look through the camera to see what the artist would see. Through your audio guide you learn that this type of photography is antiquated and it is unique that she still uses this technology. The artists talks about why she chooses to shoot on a 4x5 camera and why she uses film. She also explains where she gets the film developed, how much it costs, where she prints her photos and who frames her work. She tells you about the photo project that she is currently working on and the inspiration behind it. While she is talking you look around her studio and see a table with books the artist uses as inspiration. You see the artists note book where she is writing about her current projects. There is a shelf with props for her photos and photo equipment. On the walls you see test prints.
Leaving the studio:
When you are ready to finish the tour the artist gives you suggestions of what exhibitions to go see and which restaurants to try. While the audio is explaining this, a printer prints out the list of suggestions. You leave the audio guide in the studio and head out.
The Feeling:
The museum will feel comfortable and welcoming. Visitors will feel like they have been transported back to the year 2020 and see a day in the life of the artist.
The Purpose:
The purpose of this museum is to show a visitor in the year 2120 what the life of an NYC artist is like in the year 2020. Drawing on the tactics used by the Tenement Museum, this museum uses personal artifacts to tell stories. The experience is not meant to glamorize or fictionalize the life of NYC artists, rather it is meant to express the deep commitment artists have to their work and what they do in order to make their art. It would be interesting to see this museum in conjunction with a similarly set up museum about an artist working in NYC in the 1970s — a lot has changed. Because of the NYC cost of living in 2020, most artists need to have day jobs in order to afford their practice.