The development of blockbuster shows has become a national and international phenomena. Blockbuster exhibitions are designed to not only increase status and profits of the museum, but to also educate and attract the general public. The positive connotations of the blockbuster can be summed up as follows: “the blockbuster exhibition is a scholarly endeavor which serves to educate and entertain the public, bringing prestige and profit to the host institution in the process” (Barker 127). However, there are also a number of integral problems that formulate a blockbuster exhibition, creating significant controversy over their real and inherent worth.
Blockbuster exhibitions are very costly endeavors that often require sponsorship from a variety of sources. Large corporations often help finance blockbuster exhibitions with the underlying expectation and goal that they will be perceived as a responsible and conscientious business who has the public’s greatest interest in mind. Unfortunately, this fundamental goal often supercedes the importance of the artwork, contrasting the museum’s original intentions. Furthermore, the emphasis on increased profits and status for the host institution and its sponsors may be antithetical to true scholarship and education of the public. The focus on monetary gain significantly limits the range of subjects that can be shown, limiting the range to such popular movements as Impressionism and artists such as Picasso. Moreover, the large crowds that ensue severely inhibit the ability to “have any meaningful or even enjoyable contact with the works of art” and are even contrary to educating the public (Barker 127). Another viable concern is the inevitable commodification of art through the reproduction of artworks for sale as souvenirs and the like.
Although blockbuster exhibitions raise a number of relevant concerns, I don’t feel that the inherent problems are solely a product of their implementation. Blockbuster exhibitions have arisen from the cultural philosophies at hand, which in and of themselves promote materialism, commodification, and commercialism. Our current society is obsessed with spectacle and delights in the frivolities of materialistic pursuits. The blockbuster is a natural progression of these cultural sentiments and merely provides a venue for contemporary culture and art to converge.
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