It seems once an element of pop culture is aged enough, curators deem it worthy of the museum. In 2010, Seattle Art Museum mounted “Kurt,” a completely serious exhibition on “Seattle’s greatest cultural export,” Kurt Cobain. Last week, Pac-Man and other arcade games opened at the MoMA.
It’s been over a decade since MTV stopped airing just about any music videos on television, which means time’s ripe for the first major retrospective on the form.
The Museum of the Moving image announced yesterday the opening of “Spectacle: The Music Video.” Curators Jonathan Wells and Meg Grey Wells of Flux bring together 300 videos with props and artifacts from the last 35 years, alongside “interactive experiences” featuring work by Radiohead, Arcade Fire, Johnny Cash and Björk. Other artists named are Bowie, Madonna, Beasty Boys, Devo, White Stripes, Kanye West and OK Go. The Times is excited.
“Spectacle: The Music Video,” Various, Apr 3 – Jun 16, Museum of the Moving Image, Queens
