Have you ever visited an art exhibit and thought, "I could do better than that"? Soon enough, visitors to Seattle's Frye Art Museum will get to see whether or not that inkling is right thanks to #SocialMedium—an exhibition built entirely through selections made via social media.
Earlier this month, the museum asked users of Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter to select their favorites from the museum's collection of 232 paintings. Starting in October, the most popular of those pieces will be put on display as part of #SocialMedium.
"In 2009, I curated an exhibition at the Frye on the Munich Secession, drawing on paintings from our Founding Collection," says museum director Jo-Anne Birnie Danzker. "Someone in Britain saw the list of artists online and posted their own improved, virtual exhibition with different artists and works. This led me to think about 'citizen curators' exchanging their ideas, personal preferences, and expertise to build our exhibition program."
This year's #SocialMedium is actually the third such crowdsourced exhibition the Frye has produced. Birnie Danzker admits that, originally, there was some concern about opening up the gallery to the masses, but jokes that "preliminary voting results show that the internet has exquisite taste."
#SocialMedium is also just the latest example of the Frye's attempts to modernize and adapt for contemporary audiences. The free-entry museum—the only free art museum in Seattle—opened in 1952 and remains based around the private collection of Charles and Emma Frye, who were business leaders and art collectors in the area in the early 20th century. For the campaign, Frye staff worked with Seattle-based agency Civilization and social media consultant Dylan Neuwirth. "In reinventing the Frye for the 21st century, we're all about embracing uncertain outcomes," Birnie Danzker explains.
Amongst that uncertainty is the way exhibitions are displayed in the museum itself. When it opens Oct. 2, #SocialMedium won't just feature the chosen artwork on the walls, but also the names and chosen social networks of those who chose them. "The exhibition's title wall will feature the names of thousands of curators who voted online," Birnie Danzker says. ("My name will be there, too," she says, "but I'm not saying which paintings I voted for.")
With more than 17,000 votes cast before voting closed last week, Birnie Danzker says that the Frye was "encouraged by the tremendous response from the public and media alike—everyone loves the campaign and the fact that we're taking this risk." Above, you can see some of the most popular paintings from the campaign—as well as some of the images people got to "heart" in order to curate the exhibit.
