# Exploring Scher ## Exhibition Research Process began with researching exhibitions to identify how museum exhibitions highlight parts of the lives of individuals that they focus on. > [!note]- My Exhibition Research > # Calcifer Notes > > https://www.prospect6.org/ > > https://ecal.ch/en/feed/events/1050/norm-its-not-complicated/ > > https://www.metmuseum.org/art/libraries-and-research-centers/watson-digital-collections/metropolitan-museum-of-art-publications > > ## Subject > > At risk of saying the obvious, the subject of the exhibition is always the center point of marketing. Each exhibition selects a single core message from which everything is designed around. > > This subject can be something abstract/universal— see "It's Not Complicated", an exhibit done by Norm that takes a very analytical look at the very basic components used in 2D Design. > > For individuals, there is no one approach. [Christine Sun Kim: All Day All Night](https://whitney.org/exhibitions/christine-sun-kim-all-day-all-night) takes a look of a specific area of her work *centered around a concept*, a content-focused exhibition. Focused on work that draws from the world, the artist's interpretation. > > Another example is [Marlon Mullen's Painting Sources](https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/1153), which, as the name suggests, focuses on the sources of the artist's paintings, putting the two side by side. > > Other exhibitions seek to communicate a specific message and leave an impression on their visitors. [Water: Designing for the future](https://museum-gestaltung.ch/en/exhibition/water-designing-future) is an exhibit showing experimental design concepts that have the potential to make a difference. It's possible to extrapolate that the intent of this exhibit is to show what is possible and to inspire the visitor to take action to help change happen. > > A similar mission is taken by [P.6 The Future Is Present, The Harbinger Is Home](https://www.prospect6.org/), a triennial art festival in New Orleans with a focus on telling the story of New Orleans. The message of this exhibition is encapsulated in it's name. > > This framework postulates New Orleans, along with other more climate-vulnerable regions in the world, as already living in the “future” that other places will experience. > > P.6 uses an abstract but compelling name to intrigue its audience, which then eases them into a more serious topic. > > ## Overview > > The common thread in the most compelling of each of these exhibits are the use of very loud and expressive marketing that are very honed in on a message or impression that they intend to leave on a potential visitor. > > The content of the exhibit is very traditional to what the expectation for museums are: intellectual, somewhat formal. From this, it seems the strategy museums are trying to utilize is to engage younger audiences and “bring them into the fold” of their desired consumer-base: educated, intellectually-adventurous individuals. My thinking was that by studying what other exhibitions do, it would allow us to more easily identify what aspects of Scher’s life that we would want to highlight. In hindsight, I don’t think this was that useful. ## Scher Life Research Essentially identifying what parts of Scher’s personality and life were worth creating an exhibition around. > [!note] my notes > “Data isn’t neutral,” Scher says. “It’s gathered, which means someone is editing it. Someone will make a chart, and it might be right, but it’s not literal fact. You don’t know what factors are included or not included. My map paintings are nothing but opinion. I’m controlling the data any way I want and I’m blatantly open about it. I’m using it to create an impression.” > > https://www.wallpaper.com/art/paula-schers-american-maps-chart-more-than-just-territory > > https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-legendary-designer-paula-scher-started-graphic-design > > https://jemmaeagleson.github.io/PAULA-SCHER/Essay.html > > https://thegreatdiscontent.com/interview/paula-scher/ > > Breaking the rules? > > Skepticism, against the grain > > https://thegreatdiscontent.com/interview/paula-scher/