Submitted by Tim Barrus, Oct 16, 2007 11:53

The New York Sun insists there is a changing of the guard at art institutions. Were it only so. But it is NOT so. The very word guard implies that the "guard" is there "guarding" the gates and the function is to keep people (le public) out. Agents are guards. Editors are guards. Curators are guards. Assistants are guards. Publicists are the guards. Interns schlep coffee and are guards. Gallery managers are guards. Media Public Relations Experts are guards. Then we have the security guards employed to be security guards. What is amazing is that American institutions (I probably should not suggest this) don't surround their buildings with tanks and machine guns and RPGs and that they don't mine the sidewals with bouncing betties and have Blackhawk helicopters hovering overhead ready to swoop down and eliminate anyone insane enough to approach the institution. Like the public is this horrible burden they have to bear because the public is climbing through the windows because the public wants in, in, in, and the people inside are exhausted by having to deal with the unwashed masses who cause chaos at the institutions (most of whom need to be torn down not because they're arrogant but because they're irrelevant). Have you ever tried contacting ANYONE at MoMA. Good luck.

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