6 February 2009

I would submit that it can be especially difficult for many of us to see past the trappings of any art museum. As much as there are canonical works that populate them, there are canonical notions of the institutions themselves that we are all subject to.

While it is the most obvious point of interaction between great art and the public, the museum is not without its problems. It is, after all, often perceived as an institution for the privileged. Admission fees are too high, the median age must be somewhere over 65, the grand architecture, the respectful silence and the preciousness of the work on the walls denote something inaccessible. So the idea that the institution would reach beyond its austere facade and invade something as new and hip as the internet is almost radical.

Social Tagging is an important -- and democratic -- means of expanding the search capabilities of the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s website. By labeling or categorizing works of art, it grants users the ability to have greater access to the Museum’s Permanent Collection. Social Tagging is a completely open-ended utility: in other words, anyone can add to, or edit preexisting tags.

In order to utilize Social Tagging, click here. Users should browse the collections for a particular work—perhaps one they know well or one that strikes their eye. On any given webpage, for any given work of art, the user can scroll down to the Social Tagging function. By simply clicking on “Add Your Own Tags,” the user can help to make important information available to anyone interested. For example, on Marcel Duchamp's Fountain, I tagged R. Mutt and Armory Show as being relevant.