from The New York Times
With Irreverence and an iPod, Recreating the Museum Tour
go to article

We are used to seeing people holding official audio guides wandering round the museums. How about getting an unofficial guide to the same museum exhibitions which, instead of a sonorous voice giving you facts which may be somewhat dry, you listen to a recorded exchange of a group of people discussing the art piece with pop music blaring in the background?

Dr David Gilbert and a group of his students have come up with an unauthorised audio guide to some artists' works in MoMA as a way to "hack the gallery experience" or "remix MoMa". They have also invited anyone interested to submit his or her own tour for inclusion on the project's Web site.

Interestingly, Dr. Gilbert said his larger point was to try to teach his students to stop being passive information consumers - whether through television, radio or an official audio guide - and to take more control. This goal of encouraging active information consumers seems a worthy one and it may be interesting to hear what intelligent remarks (hopefully) other museum-goers have to say about art but one can't help wondering, by encouraging people to listen to these podcasts, aren't the creators perpetuating passive information customers as well?