Walked through the Portland Art Museum yesterday and noticed something weird

I spent about 3 hours there last Saturday and what caught my eye wasn't the paintings themselves but how people interacted with them. Almost nobody stopped to read the little wall labels next to the art (you know, the ones with the title and artist). I watched like 20 people just glance at a piece and move on in under 10 seconds without reading a single thing. Has anyone else noticed this at museums, or was it just a weird day?

2 comments

2 Comments

adam_robinson1mo ago

Guilty as charged, I'm usually that person just walking by because my eyes are worse than I want to admit and squinting at those tiny labels hurts my pride. I figure if a piece really grabs me, I'll look up the artist on my phone later, but half the time I just nod at the painting like I get it and move on. Maybe we should all start carrying magnifying glasses to museums and really commit to the bit.

hernandez.morgan1mo ago

Copied that "nod like I get it" move from @adam_robinson more times than I care to count.