The Atlantic explores the growing tension between Instagram-friendly experience-oriented art:
The old processes of “intellectual legitimation” that once defined experiencing art are traded instead, [Alexander Alberro, an art history professor at Barnard] argues, for “simple visibility.” In other words, there’s a lack of quality control. Large-scale art installations, especially those in festival settings, are able to bypass the old structures that determined good and bad art by capitalizing on collective attention. But while the art establishment may look down on larger-than-life art because of its lack of subtlety (a characteristic much desired by critics in general), the spectacular, emotional nature of festival works […] ultimately makes them more accessible to viewers who may feel excluded from the conceptually aloof art found in many institutions.
With Immersive Exhibitions Like ‘Wonder’ and ‘Rain Room,’ Museums Are Appealing to a New Demographic (The Atlantic)