According to the prevailing art-museum attitude, visitors taking selfies are failing to properly appreciate the work. Heaven forbid a tourist in sensible New Balances gets to admire their own eyebrows alongside the works of Pamela Council or Sondra Perry or, whatever, Van Gogh.
Adam Weinberg, the museum director of the new Whitney, feels differently. During a Q&A at the Miami Beach Edition, Weinberg explained that museums, very obviously, “shouldn’t be necessarily cloisters that are separated.” This means: Take your selfies proudly and share them far and wide. “I think a lot of people’s instinct is to photograph what’s there often before they even [look at it closely],” he said. “I think that’s OK. I think every generation has a different way of doing it.”
Selfie sticks, on the other hand? Make sure you don’t get caught vogueing with one of those. Selfie sticks are currently banned at the Whitney as well as several other institutions. Just gotta work on your free-arm technique.
