You may want to get those #artselfies out of your system now before it's too late. According to The Telegraph, Arts Council chairman Sir Peter Bazalgette has proposed a no-selfie hour at art galleries and museums, equating the idea to that of a "quiet carriage" on a train.
Selfie culture has become more acceptable in public and in various art spaces over the past couple of years, but it's not like these places had a choice. From social media campaigns with hashtags, to installing selfie machines in shuttles and at the New York Public Library, the strategy has been more along the lines of giving people what they want, but making it work for you. If there had been an option to ban selfies before, even for a short while, galleries around the world would have gleefully enforced it knowing that they weren't alone in their decision.
In a LBC radio interview with James O'Brien, Bazalgette expressed that he is "completely in favor" of photography in galleries because art should be shared "as widely as possible," but he also thinks that having the rule would help the employees of the institutions. "Their poor curators and people standing there in uniform have had this rule and they tell people not to take photos and they’re fighting a losing battle and they’ve just given in."
A recent study suggests that people who take photos in museums are less likely to remember the art, but that study didn't consider people who take pictures of themselves with art kind of in the background. Inherent narcissism aside, that portion of the population (aka most of us) may have accidentally unlocked the secret to having a stronger brain, and it would be tragic if someone were to take that away.
[via Telegraph]
