How museum gift shops decide what to sell
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- Опубліковано 12 чер 2024
- And how what’s in a gift shop affects how we see art.
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Gift shops are like the final exhibit of an art museum. They’re often located toward the exit and are unmissable on your way out the door. Souvenirs inside can range from Vincent Van Gogh socks to giant stuffed soup cans to Mona Lisa rubber ducks. But how do gift shop curators decide what to sell?
Stocking decisions often revolve around how curators want visitors to perceive the art lining museum walls. When you see a certain piece of art on a lot of merchandise, that usually means curators think that artwork is important. And thanks to a psychological phenomenon called the mere-exposure effect, the more you see that art, the more you begin to think it’s important.
Read more about this from Micaela Marini Higgs at Vox: www.vox.com/the-goods/2018/11...
Additional links:
www.metmuseum.org/
philamuseum.org/
npg.si.edu/
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What was the last thing you bought at a museum gift shop?
Absolutely nothing :D
Hey
A tote bag with a print of Van Goghs Almond Blossom on. It's my favorite bag :)
June Paik’s postal cards
a pencil set at the Frick collection
Nothing like the sheer joy of being a child let loose in a museum gift shop
nothing like the sheer joy of being an ADULT let loose in a museum gift shop
Oh yeah, I would run to the nearest hot wheel car, or something that would resemble that.
@@digojez Just say you're the descendant of Michelangelo, if they don't believe you, strike up a pose befitting of his works and they'll be convinced 100%
@@ambertasniem7245 Honestly, you're so right
LMAOAO when my fam went to the museum of natural history my toddler nephew went in the store and took out an $80 lego set 🤣🤣 we just walked out the museum along with other things 🤣🤣🤣
The older I get, the more I appreciate silly socks.
Oh, how I relate to this
Oh no.
I feel this! The older I get the more I love socks, I ended up making a company selling socks!
I got some amazing socks at an Andy Warhol exhibit
Pair of Thieves is my jam!
It's the most heartbreaking feeling when you fall in love with a painting and then they don't even have a postcard of it in the giftshop 💔
no replies???
yes
YES
I know i cant buy the painting, but not even the post card.... 😭💔💔💔
this is really interesting. however, on the contrary, sometimes I'm actually put off when these masterpieces are printed on every possible item. it cheapens the art for me and gives off an impression of tackiness. mona lisa on a cup, notepad, pencil, toilet seat, slippers...
+++
Agreed, yeah
Excuse me, did you say "toilet seat"?
You might be interested in reading John Berger's chapter on reprinting art in Ways of Seeing. It's short, and very interesting.
Yeah, it's so,, commercial and soulless. Yeehaw capitalism
imagine having a meltdown tearing off your own ear and years later, the museum who "represents" are selling silly jokes with your ear. how great
he was loco
@@PHlophe no he wasn't 🙄 He just had a tough life
Which artist is that
@@angelo.strand van Gogh, man. They f sell ear magnets and every kind of estupid ear stuff in Amsterdan museum.
Maybe I'm to sensitive but ....I'd be hurt by that. I would feel like a moment of great pain was a joke to today's people. I've had break downs. They are never fun. I didn't cut off my ear but I cut up my arms. Even if I expressed that in art I wouldn't want it on a mug. I'm no longer a cutter now. But my scars remind me I survived. Any art I made about it would do the same. Therapeutic even. If I decided to share it, it would be away to reach out and connect.
Never notices the boats in The Great Wave painting
Never noticed Mount Fuji in the background of The Great Wave painting.
@@12phys Same, thought it was another wave for some reason.
Same
@@hjj9269 u r not alone
theres always something to discover with that painting. i guess thats partly why it still captivates, hundreds of years later
Wait, what? Tell me more about those expensive tiny chairs!
These fancy wooden chairs are handmade and sit in a cave for 5 years and shipped from Sweden.
They're the equivalent of paintings having 'reproduction prints' but for high end designer furniture.
You can't afford the full size piece because they're worth literally thousands of dollars, so instead here's a doll's house miniature for a few hundred.
My father has a collection of those in his office, and he never let me play with them when I was a child XD
They just leave us hanging there.
They’re made by Vitra if you wanna Google it more
am i the only one that never noticed mt. fuji in the background?
nope. also wonder if I ever saw the boats. lol
SAMEEE I ONLY EVER NOTICE THE WAVE LOL
This is my pet peeve, that's the whole reason he made that work of art and no one even looks at it 😭 it's beautiful!
The wave is just that beautiful.
As an adult it cheapens the art.
As a kid, it's the only way to closely look at the art without security telling you to not get close to the art (I was curious on how they painted it).
So the net value is positive
Now that Vox has mentioned it, I can now see boats in that Wave.
I never thought I’d be so interested in a video about a museum gift shop
No matter how young or old you are you can never hate going to the museum gift shop
same
*Totally interesting!*
Hokusai wouldn't have minded, he literally designed versions of it to go on hair combs (although it was probably a complicated political point which nobody understands). And they do this in Japan so much and not just in places foriegn tourists go (I'm talking on top of mountains and not the famous ones).
Can you elaborate on that hair comb story?
Japan is famous for every prefecture/significant town having its own unique gift, because if you travel as a Japanese worker, you have to buy something to give to your family, friends, and maybe coworkers.
@@WellBattle6 that is so their culture... especially for new years, and for many countries in Asia too.
Not to mention ukiyo-e prints were historically created to be ephemera in the first place! They were meant to be stuck on the wall and replaced frequently since the colors do fade with repeated exposure to light. Historically ukiyo-e prints have actually been used as packing material for porcelains and were said to be sold for as cheaply as a bowl of noodles. In Hokusai's time it was a great achievement for one's design to do well and sell since that was the whole purpose for him creating the prints in the first place.
P0)
This...this is the answer to the question I never knew I wanted to know.
Classic Vox.
Classic Vox
i love museum gift shops but i find it irritating when they all are full of the same stuff, and not related to whats in the actual museum/ gallery
Exactly. It’s like someone decided that that painting or art piece symbolizes that museum and so now that’s the only memorabilia I get to have to remember my experience there. It’s very limiting.
I agree. There's a museum in my country that I love and the gift shop is full of stuff with art that wasn't even in the museum on it. Pretty disappointing
I was at the museum and I asked a worker if I was allowed to take pictures
He said no, they had to stay on the walls
lel
Its because your camera will damage the canvases
@@rainydaysinaugust4715 joke
Thanks! 😂 My gf and I play Lovely Parting Gift before we leave an exhibit. You get to chose which art work you are taking home. Whoever calls it first gets to leave with it. BUT you can call something else later on, and then the other person can swoop in and claim your original LPG. You only get to have one. Sometimes we will quickly rewalk an entire exhibit just to make sure we have our right LPGs. We used to not play around the guards, but we've played for years, and now we just throw caution to the wind. lol
Make something about Myanmar. So many people have died today during the protest.
There has been a coup.
Make what? The news covers it
@@brad5426 Vox has its own way of covering it
@@LuLu-fo9ul interesting, I'll keep a look out
Woah yeah a whole 10 people died..?
This has reminded me that I miss going to the museum.
That waves 🌊 it’s an emoji. It’s the best art piece I wish to replicate it.
I for one would love to see a longer video on this. Would love to know more about their sourcing and who makes this merchandise!
so basically the reason is "people buy famous looking things". thats not really suprising
All I can think about is the plethora of items that can be found with a starry night on it
0:18 Fun fact: for anyone who's played Ghost of Tsushima, the first two of three kanji that come up at the start of every side quest are the one for ukiyo (浮世). The full kanji is "浮世草". I don't know what it means though.
Hello! A Japanese historian here:
The full kanji you're referring to - 浮世草子 ("ukiyozoushi") - refers to a type of popular literature about realistic, everyday stories. The genre reached peak popularity during the early Edo period. It's a fair ~400 years later than the Mongolian invasion "Ghost of Tsushima" is based off, but I think it's used appropriately despite the period difference.
@@henry_1997 interesting. I've been trying to figure out what it meant for a while now. Now I know. Thank you very much
浮世 is a Buddhist term meaning "world of the living" or the mortal realm
😂😂😂 The MET sells a Vincent Van Gogh mug with the handle shaped like a ear 😂😂😂 that’s really dark ☠️☠️☠️
Who else was today's years old when they realised Mount Fuji was on this image, and not just the wave? Just me? :D
Actually it’s funny, because the wave was part of a series of other woodblock prints of other images with Mount Fuji in the background. These were actually created because of the amount of tourists coming to see Mount Fuji. So all the great wave merch is basically a souvenir of a souvenir.
About the "The great wave...". In Moscow, Russia we literally have a huge apartment building complex with the painting on it. It is one The Great Wave off Kanagawa on your house
А где это?) всю жизнь живу в Москве, и даже не знаю, что такое где-то есть!)
@@Angie_suv В Южном Бутово, на Старокрымской улице. Я его сам несколько раз проезжал
Interesting that they chose Hokusai as the example piece since it's a print that's all about being copied and spread widely. If Hokusai saw how well known and appreciated his pieces are he would be absolutely thrilled.
I LOVE museum shops! Sometimes I visit museums just to go to the shop. They can have the most fun, unique and beautiful items, and always a good selection of books. My favorite earrings are from the American Museum of Natural History.
I guess this works for some, but for me if I see an artwork on everything imaginable it kind of ruins it and makes it super tacky. I remember many times going to an art exhibit and then being put off buying anything because how over-pushed a particular piece or artist was in the gift shop.
Personally, I would buy any and every item with the Great Wave of Kanagawa on it. Its just such a cool print.
Check out pbn
@@ertfgghhhh what is this referring to, i don't see anything specific when i search up "pbn"
@@eighthu paint by numbers.... The company "canvas by numbers" has this artwork.
The mountain in the background?! MOUNTAIN?!!!
I never noticed Mount Fuji in The Great Wave, until now.
*I always get sold whenever I see fridge magnets of my favorite artworks, I loved hearing from my visitors saying that my fridge looks like a an art exhibit 🥰*
the mere exposure/familiarity effect works for ads too
2:59 Please update your google chrome. Important security update. 😂
I've seen that wave so many times before, now I know what it's called
I've seen it everywhere and it don't know its name even though my class did an art project on it about 6 months ago
well, the miniature chairs are probably expensive as they are iconic pieces of furniture, for example the cheir No.14, the thonet chair, which is one of the earliest mass produced chairs in the world, like the model T of furniture. plus they are from Vitra, a famous German furniture company. so it is like paying for a high quality scale model car, but it's a chair :)
for me who love strolling around the museums, buying merchandise from the store is just like self-gift and a memento that I have been visiting those places :D
Honestly, I love gift shops. I wish more of them around the world would sell online and ship overseas. And I REALLY liked that blue mug.
I’m not convinced about the mere-exposure effect, because i know for a fact that there are many songs and tunes that I have grown to hate after listening to them repeatedly.
I literally start a job at a museum gift shop next week. this was a cool video.
When they had an exhibition about Hokusai at a museum in Stockholm, they had even built a cardboard replica of The Great Wave, so that one could take a photo being "in" the wave
Me runing from my imaginary monster at the store:
*''Im speed''*
I like Museum Gift Shops but have you ever had to play Canon in D a million times? Overexposure doesn't work there.
Especially if you're the cellist playing it!
When I was at the Kennedy Space Center, I bought a “Space Shuttle Atlantis snow globe”. I still have it to this day and I love it.
One of the best museum gift shops I have been to is one for the British museum exhibition on Manga, so the gift shop had the poster boy (an old black and white character that I don't know his name or what manga he came from), on magnets and other things. The shop was selling other things as well. Plus they were selling actual mange in the British museum gift shop of this exhibition, sure the manga was princess Jellyfish (and maybe some other ones but this was back in 2019.) But still this was the biggest exhibition of manga out side of Japan!
When I worked at the deYoung museum in SF I was hella disappointed that the store didn't feature more local makers and artists. Would have felt more intentional and genuine.
I'm sorry did you just say "yuki-u-ay" for "U-ki-oh-ey"? 😂
Every japanese word here was beautifully butchered.
Wow, can you believe that Japanese people say “boh-ru” for “bahl”. Its almost like they speak a different language with different phonotactics
@@rykloog9578 I am acutely aware.
@@fourthpanda very good
@@rykloog9578 why the sarcastic douchery?
I'm an opera singer, and I recognized the music at the beginning of this vid immediately! I love all your vids, but just having this opera reference automatically made this my fave vid you folks have ever made. :D
My girlfriend bought me a shirt of that art but with Magikarp drawn in the same art style jumping from the big wave. I love that shirt.
Well now I know why I have so many body pillows in my room now.
Last time I was this early, it was just the Mediocre Wave of Kangawa
hahahahaha dad jokes are the best
As someone who loves going to aviation and transportation museums, I’m endlessly disappointed by the gift shops. Usually cheap toys or overpriced wooden models. Knowing all the great model options out there at a reasonable price point, amazes me how poor their offerings are.
so true, usually the same generic pieces
They for casual buyers or kids, probably. Though they should have at least one jaw-dropping piece with corresponding price.
This explains why I have so many miniature versions of relics in my room
I was just at the Met and thought it was remarkable and funny that they had a whole gift shop section just for the Hokusai wave...
Trivia: All known prints of Hokusai's _The_ _Great_ _Wave_ _off_ _Kanagawa_ are reproductions.
Japan didn't have copyright law, and woodblock prints were considered cheap.
It was found because each new woodblock introduced new imperfections, and copies ones from the previous generation.
I just keep thinking of James Acaster describing museums as places to display stuff stolen from others, & the unusable souvenir erasers.
This was very interesting!!
This was a very empty story, unless I simply lost concentration and missed something
Yep, seemed to circle around and go nowhere.
Had the same impression :/
“Ukiyo-e” , I am sorry you’ve been butchered 🤧
ikrrrr
There's an interesting theme here about how the museum curators help determine what the public perceives as important. If they plaster a work of art on all their merchandise, we the people say, "Oh, so I should care about this one?" The museums & galleries & gift shops play an important role in shaping the public opinion, for good or bad.
That Van Gogh sunflower soap do be looking like a steal tho
I like how obscure some of the Vox videos are. But it's still good knowledge ☺️
the great wave is so amazing, i just, love it
Now i want a "The Great Wave" mug.
this editing is heavenly good lord
I totally get why pieces need to be so heavily commercialized; it is essentially a way to subsidize the other, less famous pieces in a collection. But it still seems weird to see these pieces on a phone charger or whatever. I wonder what these artists would have thought, knowing their art would be so famous it would be put on all sorts of stuff!
Those miniature chairs are one of the gateways into collecting actual art. They might just be one of the most important items in the store for the art market in general!
One gift shop item I can recommend is the “Tate Time Line” from the Tate Modern. It is a chart of all the art movements since 1900. Mount it in your hallway for example, and every time you look at it, you’ll probably find an artist or art-movement you don’t really know very well, and you’ll go and find out more. It’s kind of self-educational!
I've gone to dozens of museums in many countries and must say the most fun part is the gift shop
I’ve been wondering this for a while. And some gift shops have the same items in them which I find intriguing
more museum related videos please!
I think it's the same concept used in amusement parks, after we finish the roller coaster we go to shops filled with merch.
The last thing I got was a poster from Vincent van Gogh from the Amsterdam museum. Not currently having it hung up, but hopefully soon again! Even though the wave is so reproduced, I still love it!
3:00 That Mona Lisa Duck has me sold already.
just the journalism i needed
Super excited for this video when I read the title. Less so after watching it.
I was always curious about this.
if I see it on a daily, my brain no longer process it as art but extorting authenticity
my faveourite thing to do is buy a postcard of one of the paintings in the exhibits i go to! such a great way to remember what i've seen :)
I agree that paintings tacked onto every possible surface cheapens it for me.
Also, there is nothing of interest in a gift shop anyway. I already have umbrellas, scarves, cups, tote bags, etc. If for some reason I felt like just buying stuff for stuff's sake, gift shop prices are way too high so I always walk right through to the exit.
4:44 The cup looks great =D
I felt the same way about those Thrasher jumpers, I see them everywhere! and now I think theyre kinda cool
Feels like the video was building up to an insight that never materialized.
I wonder if any museum has ever considered offering on-demand prints or posters from its collection?
softly giggling at that van gogh mug with ear shaped handle
Wait is Google watching me...? I literally just got and am wearing a shirt of that famous wave painting...
That Vincent van Gogh mug was very clever.
No one:
Vox: how do museums decide what to sell?
Not a topic that’s ever crossed my mind but definitely a fascinating one. Why I love Vox for asking obscure questions
"This week on 'Questions you Never Knew you Wanted to Know Until Right Now'..."
Vox can get me interested into anything!
I remember the first few times I went to an art museum gift shop looking for something of that artwork I just saw and really liked. The art was hosted in this particular museum, of course they're going to have something on it, right? But the store was just filled with tchotchkes of Hokusai, Dali, Picasso and other very famous artists, and only of their most famous works. Works that weren't even in the museum. The same stuff I can find easily in any online art store. So I don't even bother going into the gift shops anymore.
That explains why I rarely buy things at gift shops. The mere exposure effect does really on me. If I'm overexposed to something I begin to despise it.
hi from Kanagawa but I can't see the sea and the Mt. Fuji here lol
3:57 "...to drive STOCKING decisions"
I see what you did there!
3:28 I'm still pretty confused as my ears are used to the german pronounciation and this sounds not at all like anything close to "Van Gogh", even after repeating that part more than ten times i still can't hear anything else than "an go paintings". Do all native english speakers leave out the first and last letters in that name?
I also keep hearing "an go" But if you listen very carefully and closer to your ear, she's actually saying Van Gogh, but the "V" sounds really subtle.
U.S. English speaker here. We do say V (upper teeth near lower lip, not the sound we call F) but not the gh. So it is very weird, I know.
Yeah when she said Ukiyo-e I had to replay it so many times bc my Japanese ears couldn't fathom how it was pronounced in the video lol
Native English Speaker here, the emphasis is placed on the 'V' (as in 'Vuh') and 'an' sounds in Van, the last name is pronounced 'Go' (as in 'Guh' and 'Oh') however yes, the 'gh' is dropped and is silent.
The van is pronounced the exact same in Dutch as in English, but yes, English drops the -gh sound (/x/ in IPA).
I really liked that cup and would totally buy it
I was once at an art museum that was selling authentic antique kimonos in the gift shop! Just hanging on the rack! Like, shouldn't those be on display, not for sale?
There are a lot of antique kimonos in the world. I was once in a store in Berlin that only sold antique kimonos they’re not that rare. Worth a lot nonetheless but not worth of hanging in a museum
It depends.some are so common you can buy them by the barrel load for cheap cuase they were mass produced.
Others are extremely rare and expensive cuase only a small number was made.
i feel like i need more. it was great, but just didn't give me enough. but i guess that's what i can expect from a 5 min video haha!
Thank you for making informative videos
This has been out for 9 mins and its got over 4,000 views good job vox (also 529 likes)