Project title: Determination, Delineation, and Depiction of Time in Art: An Exhibition Catalogue for the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Project URL: timeinart.wordpress.com
Project description: This project is an online exhibition catalogue that features 12 objects from the collections at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that determine, delineate, and depict time. For the Museums and Library Research course (LIS 629), we had to develop a theme and select a dozen objects of varying medium, time period, and culture to illustrate it.
Methods: This exhibition catalogue required in-depth research on each object, including a minimum of 12 references of varying types (catalogues raisonnés, Metropolitan Museum of Art bulletins, journal articles, accession records, etc.). To uncover the key information regarding the objects, I wrote separate literature reviews for each of them. Through a careful examination of a robust number of sources, I determined some of the most helpful references and annotated those in my bibliographies. Many of the sources were available as reference materials in the Watson Library at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, though some had to be ordered through interlibrary loan.
My role: I am the sole author of this work.
Learning outcome achieved: Research
Rationale: Though LIS 629 is a two-week intensive course, this project entailed a two-month intensive research process. Through hours of poring over varied references, I was able to conduct in-depth research about many different kinds of art connected only by the theme I developed: time. In spending weeks examining so many publications about each work of art, I was able to expose myself to the myriad kinds of critical references in art history research and art librarianship. Though the theme I chose was somewhat abstract, I was able to ask a research question (In what ways has the concept of time influenced the creation of artwork and functional objects?) and find quality sources to help unpack the meaning of each piece and discover the answer.