Museum Exhibits: A mimetic form of art?

Earlier in class we discussed how certain buildings could be mimetic works of art. These buildings can be considered mimetic if they are architecturally exceptional, such as the Disney Concert Hall. This criterion seems to sufficiently distinguish these buildings from an average one. In this respect, several museums are mimetic works of art. A good example is the Getty, with its modernist design. In addition to the building itself, the exhibits in the museum are also separate, mimetic works of art.

Museums are designed to be a place of reflection and enlightenment. As an individual walks into a museum, the interior is designed to produce this effect. Within exhibits, curators carefully plan the placement of artwork. Without providing captions, curators can design an exhibit such that the viewer is educated by the exhibit itself. Aspects of this designing include viewing angle, lighting, and the relationship with neighboring objects. Each piece of artwork in an exhibit is an individual mimetic experience. However, examining the different artworks in succession is also a larger experience in itself. For this reason, it seems that museum exhibits are mimetic works of art.

In class on Monday we discussed the three levels of nature (is that the right way to term it?). At the highest level is the form, which can be described as the ideal object. For example, the form of a chair is a kind of ‘super-chair’ that all physical chairs are particular instances of. The next level is comprised of all the physical objects we see in the world. For example, the chair I am sitting in right now belongs in this level. The third level corresponds to things that are representations of these physical objects. It is at this level that mimesis is present. For example, a painting of a chair is at this level and considered a mimetic work of art.

If museum exhibits are truly a mimetic form of art, then does this case present a problem for Socrates’ notion of three levels? Could the exhibit itself belong to level two, as all of the artworks in the exhibit are physical objects? Granted, each individual piece of art belongs to the third level. But exhibits use multiple works, such that the individual objects (artworks) produce a new experience. If the museum exhibits belong in level two, then this presents a problem for Socrates, who says mimesis occurs only in the representations of objects.