Following the introduction of digital- and social media, the landscape has changed for museums and other cultural institutions. The focus has shifted from the objects in their collections, to the public they serve. Predominantly text-based social media has previously been researched but within visual and multimodal communication (of which Instagram is a large part) research is far less common - especially how art institutions make use of Instagram as a communication channel. Through qualitative interviews with communications officers in charge of social media from four different art institutions in Sweden, an analysis of strategic documents and the application of Russmann and Svenssons (2016) model for researching Instagram on specific Instagram posts, this study finds that there are vast differences not only in what is posted in Instagram, but also how and why these four art institutions make use of Instagram in their communication with their audiences. Surprisingly, it was not too uncommon for there not to exist any strategic documentation and a clear vision of what to publish on Instagram and why it is used. The study also warrants further research on not only Instagram as a whole, but also more specifically on art institutions’ use of the platform.

In this thesis, work has been carried out in order to explore the role of materiality in works of conceptual art – and what possible influence the preservation of such objects might have for their meaning within the context of a modern art museum. The study is divided into three parts, where the initial one examines the concept of materiality, the second part maps the history and complexity of conservation, and the final part is based on three case studies of individual artworks. The research is carried out through a literature study within the fields of conservation and art history, as well as different kinds of institutionally produced reports along with exhibition descriptions and art reviews. Interviews have also been carried out with a curator and conservators from two museums of contemporary art, Moderna museet in Stockholm and Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-westfalen in Düsseldorff. One aspect of the study has been to, from a perspective of discourse theory, investigate whether any so-called antagonistic relationships could be identified within the practices of the art museum, between different professional attitudes towards the idea of preserving artworks where the materiality may or may not be of relevance for the conceptual integrity of the piece. No such antagonism has been observed, but rather a situation where the professional boundaries are blurred in relation to the individual object. In the theoretical forms of a communicative network, conservators, curators and the artist responsible for the piece engage in the custodial presentation of the artwork. In this work, traditional notions of preservation may give way to a process-oriented relationship with the object to enable a continuous relevance toward the public and as an active part of the contemporary art scene. Even if the context of the art museum establishes the physical limits of the conceptual art composition, the preservation of the artwork may be viewed as pragmatic in terms of its materiality – where a dialogue with the artist plays an important part in the management process. The role of materiality may thus be decisive for the realization of the conceptual idea within an artwork, but as long as the work may be considered as integral to a contemporary art scene the conservation of it may focus on other aspects than its specific physical elements. When, or if, the artwork evolves into a symbolic representation of for instance the artist’s production or an art historical era – when a contemporary significance is lost – the role of materiality may possibly change and require a different conservation-based perspective concurrent with traditional types of cultural artifacts. The identity of an artwork may be considered as continuously evolving and its meaning a matter of the time it exists in, where the materiality of the object communicates its relevance.

Syftet med projektet har varit att skapa en informell institution som erbjuder alla en möjlighet att inte bara ta del av kulturen, utan även själv kunna skapa. Byggnaden rymmer förutom en stor utställningshall både verkstad och ateljéer som är öppna för allmänheten. De olika funktionerna flyter in i varandra utan riktiga avskiljare, bara genom rumshöjd, trappor eller väggens krökning markeras övergången från ett rum till ett annat och leder besökaren genom byggnaden. Hela stadens linjära form förvrängs här av platsens förutsättningar och ljusförhållanden tills alla rum omsluts i en lång, mjuk rörelse av den slutna muren. Jag ville skapa ett system inom vilket öppenheten och den flytande rörelsen kunde rymmas. Det blev ett valv som är 12 meter högt och 10 meter brett som vandrar över tomten och ner i marken och definierar byggnadens rum. På utsidan omsluts valvbågarna, och hela byggnaden, av den slutna betongmuren, platsgjuten mot den knackade kopparplåten som med sina mjuka kurvor och det subtila mönstret fångar ljuset och regnet och all smuts i luften och de ger väggen nya färgskiftningar och ett eget liv. / The aim of the project has been to create an informal institution which offers the public an opportunity to not only take part of the cultural scene, but contribute to it themselves. Besides a large exhibition area, the building contains workshops and studios that are open to the public. The different functions flow into each other without spatial separations. The transition from one room to another is articulated by the height of the ceiling, the stairs or the curvature of the wall, leading the visitor trough the building. The linear form of the city is contorted by the sites' context and the necessary lighting conditions until every room is enveloped in a long, soft motion by the closed wall. I wanted to create a system which could contain the openness and flowing movement within itself. This resulted in an arch, 12 meters high and 10 meters wide that wanders across the site and into the ground, defining the space of the building. The arches and the building as a whole are enveloped by the heavy concrete wall, cast against a hand shaped copper plate, which with its soft curvature and subtle relief catches the light, the rain and the particles from the polluted air and give the wall shifting colors and textures over time.

This study is an analysis of the printed images Målaren och hennes modell i rummet, Ängeln, Ormbunke IIII and Advokaten by Lena Cronqvist from the collection at Norrköpings Konstmuseum. The purpose of the study is to examine the works with a theoretical base in materiality with a feminist perspective. The result shows that themes such as the artist role, art canon, the female nude, life and death, nature, the girl and the mother can be identified in Cronqvist’s works. Through the artworks materiality and medium, the themes become apparent and enhanced by their physical reproduction and repetition. The culture debate regarding art and their status as originals or reproductions further the connections between Lena Cronqvist’s printed images and a problematization of societal norms and ideals regarding gender, art and the artist. Furthermore, the study shows that the printed images has not been represented in institutions in the same way as Cronqvist’s paintings and sculptures. This could be because the medium is not considered as a part of traditional high art, since Lena Cronqvist otherwise is a recognized artist with a place in the Swedish art canon. However, it is possible that it is also a result of a lack of resources within the Swedish institutions.

Avsikten med denna C-uppsats är att undersöka hur samtalet kring svensk konstmuseiarkitektur förts i inhemsk dagspress och fackpress. Detta för att kunna identifiera vilka de rådande diskurserna varit under ett sekel av svensk konstmuseiarkitektur. Två underliggande frågeställningar som också varit relevanta är huruvida dessa diskurser förändrats avseende konstmuseets form, arkitektoniska symbolvärde eller placering i stadsbilden samt huruvida dessa diskurser kan avslöja något om samhällets syn på t.ex. bildning, demokrati och kultur under drygt hundra år. För att kunna göra utföra denna undersökning valdes fyra svenska konstmuseum som objekt för analysen: Göteborgs konstmuseum; Kalmar konstmuseum; Jönköpings läns museum samt Bildmuseet i Umeå. Med hjälp av analysen har jag kunnat identifiera fem tydliga diskurser rörande konstmuseiarkitektur i Sverige. En diskurs som varit rådande under hela seklet är den om modernitet som något positivt; att museet ska framstå som modernt, samtida eller nytt, rent arkitektoniskt sett. Bland de övriga diskurserna finns "stilbrott", där museibyggnadens arkitektoniska kontrast till sin omgivning uppfattas negativt om den är allt för stor, samt en diskurs där "transparens" - med ett fokus på luft, ljus och rymd - ses som en essentiell del av konstmuseiarkitekturen. Denna undersökning pekar att de flesta diskurserna kring arkitektur är allt annat än statiska utan förändras i takt med andra sociala förändringar som påverkar konstmuseets roll i stort. / The purpose of this bachelor thesis is to examine the discourse regarding art museum architecture in Swedish print media, with a focus on trade press magazines and daily newspapers, in order to identify the prevailing discourse(s) over the course of roughly a century. By using Norman Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis several articles in print media have been analysed, regarding the architecture of four museums built over a period of almost one hundred years: Gothenburg Museum of Art; Kalmar konstmuseum (Kalmar Art Museum); Jönköping County Museum and Bildmuseet in Umeå (Museum of Visual Arts). Five main discourses have been identified, with one predominantly present during the entire century: the importance of the museum architecture being ”modern”, ”new” or ”contemporary”. Other discourses include one that appeared after the emergence of modernism where parts of the general public associate obvious contrast between the building and its surroundings as a negative trait, and another one with an emphasis on transparency as a positive trait focusing on light and space. Overall, the discourses concerning domestic art museum architecture has been anything but static and has evolved in conjunction with changes in general architecture discourse, the symbolic value of the art museum, and social structures in the society as a whole.

Syftet med arbetet har varit att skapa informationsmaterial till Eskilstuna konstmuseum som är anpassat efter målgruppen. Detta önskades eftersom inget liknande material fanns sedan tidigare på konstmuseet. Målet var att besökare och potentiella besökare snabbt skulle kunna få en överblick av vad museet hade att erbjuda. Men också för att ge besökare en möjlighet att kunna få förståelse för vad som visas och hur utställningarna är uppbyggda, utan att behöva gå en guidad tur. Detta har gjorts till större delen genom analyser och litteraturstudier, men utprovningar har också varit en stor del av arbetet. Resultatet blev två broschyrer som togs fram enligt riktlinjer för informationsdesign, en informationsbroschyr och en broschyr om samlingen.

Uppsalas nya konstmuseum har fått sina proportioner från det som redan innan fanns på platsen. Godsmagasinet, en låg avlång tegelbyggnad från 1908, har gett det nya museet dess form. Magasinet och museet sträcker ut sig längs varandra. Mellan dem byggs ett nytt torg på vad som tidigare var en parkeringsplats. I båda ändarna av byggnaderna leder trappor upp till torget som är upphöjt en bit ovanför trotoaren, i samma höjd som godsmagasinets gamla lastkaj. Idag inrymmer magasinet ett kafé, två butiker och en jazzklubb. Platsen ligger lite avsides men genomkorsas varje dag av människor som ska till och från Uppsalas centralstation och till den nybyggda konsert- och kongressbyggnaden. Konstmuseet och det nya torget interagerar med dessa rörelser. Torget befolkas vid olika tider på dygnet tack vare variationen av verksamheter. Entrén till museet ligger på torget. Denna södervända fasad är i stort sett sluten bortsett från en rad av djupa öppningar i marknivå. Det är fönster som leder in till museets entré. Öppningarna omgärdas av fönsterluckor, eller portar, i mässing som reflekterar soljuset mot den skuggiga delen av torget. / The art museum is located near the central train station in Uppsala, next to an old cargo warehouse. The warehouse was built in 1908 and is constructed out of bricks and a wooden framework that holds up the roof. Today it houses a popular jazz club, a café and two gift stores. My addition consists of the art museum that is of exactly the same length as the warehouse, and a square between the two buildings that is elevated 1.2 m above the street level, the same height as the old loading dock of the warehouse. The museum is reached from the square. The entrances are framed by brass gates that reflect the sun light to the shaded side of the square. The façade is cladded in Bed Roach Portland stone, a material that makes a heavy and strict appearance. It is also a material that reacts to weather and pollution (weathering).

The subject of this thesis is the history of the library at The Göteborg Museum of Art. The aim of the thesis is to depict and analyze the emergence and the expansion of the library’s holdings until 1939. To fulfill the aim, two questions are asked. The first question is: Is it possible to argue that the library’s holdings were collected to document the entire world of art? The question is formulated in relation to a comment by Susan Wyngaard. According to Wyngaard, art libraries tries to document the entire world of art. The second question is: What was the point of having a library at The Göteborg Museum of Art and did the library’s holdings support the museum’s educating, aesthetic or ritual function? The question is inspired by some remarks in Carol Duncan’s book Civilizing rituals: Inside public art museums.The source material which is examined to answer the two questions consists mainly of the annual reports that the museum curator Axel Romdahl published in Göteborgs museum’s yearbook and also of two library ledgers found in The Göteborg Museum of Art. The results of the thesis are based on my observations and interpretations of the data in the annual reports and in the library ledgers. Michael Baxandall’s remark that historical objects can be explained by being treated as solutions to problems in situtations has assisted the analysis of the source material. Three conclusions are drawn in the thesis. The first conclusion is drawn in relation to Michael Baxandall’s remark that historical objects can be explained by being treated as solutions to problems in situations. The conclusion is that the visual documents that were collected in the library helped to expand the opportunities to see art at The Göteborg Museum of Art. The textual documents that were collected in the library helped solving another problem, which dealt with gathering written knowledge of art. The second conclusion is that a few specialized areas were particularly prominent during certain periods of time. In the 1910’s and in the 1920’s, the library’s holdings were focused on reproductions of graphic art and drawings made by artists from the european continent. During a few years in the beginning of the 1930’s, a large number of monographs on Swedish artists were aquired. The conclusion shows that it is not completely safe to argue that art libraries tries to document the entire world of art. The third conclusion is that the library at The Göteborg Museum of Art supported the museum’s educating function, and that the library at least had the potential to support the museum’s aesthetic and ritual function. This is a two years master’s thesis in Library and Information Science.

A lot of research on the experience of atmosphere uses physical measurements. However, a recognised idea among lighting designers is that these physical values and the experience of light is not always the same, which makes it relevant to work more with visual observations to understand and analyse spatiality and the effects of light. The purpose of the study was to investigate how spaciousness and atmosphere in museum and art gallery environments can be linked to their lighting and art. This is to provide an increased understanding of how light affects spatiality and how it relates to the room’s atmosphere, and to be able to see how the atmosphere is experienced in connection with the exhibits. The study was conducted through visual observations during site visits, for each evaluated room at each museum and art gallery. The rooms were analyzed using the PERCIFAL and Branzell methods, but the values of illuminance, color temperature, color rendering index, and spectral power distribution were also documented. Additionally, an online survey was sent out to collect further data concerning the experience of atmosphere. Part 1 was quantitative and focused on atmosphere words and was judged on a 7-point scale, while Part 2 was qualitative and focused on the connection between the exhibited object and the room. Here, the respondents responded in text form. The result of the study shows that the experience of atmosphere is affected by the interplay between light and spatiality, and that it is not one lone parameter that is decisive. The respondents thought that an interplay between atmosphere and the exhibited object could elevate the experience of art, and that light was a big part of how the room and its atmosphere was experienced. This shows that there are opportunities to work more with lighting in gallery spaces to create an atmosphere that connect more with exhibitions and objects. The study was limited to art-related exhibitions in Sweden. Due to the study was conducted in a very specific context it can not be said with certainty to be generally valid, though parts of the result pertaining to the atmosphere affecting parameters are likely able to use in other situations. / Mycket forskning om atmosfärsupplevelse använder sig av fysikaliska mätningar. En vedertagen idé bland ljusdesigners är dock att fysikaliska värden och det upplevda ljuset inte alltid är detsamma, vilket gör att det blir relevant att arbeta mer med visuella observationer för att förstå och analysera rumslighet och ljusets påverkan. Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur rumslighet och atmosfär i musei- och konsthallsmiljöer kan kopplas till deras belysning och konst. Detta för att ge en ökad förståelse kring hur ljuset påverkar rumsligheten och hur det anknyter till rumsatmosfären, samt att kunna se hur atmosfären upplevs i anknytning till utställningsföremålen. Studien utfördes genom visuella observationer under platsbesök i respektive rum för varje museum och konsthall. Rummen analyserades genom metoderna PERCIFAL och Branzellmetoden, men även fysikaliska värden som belysningsstyrka, färgtemperatur, färgåtergivning och spektralfördelning dokumenterades. Slutligen skickades en digital enkät i två delar ut. Del 1 var kvantitativ och fokuserade på atmosfärsord och bedömdes på en 7-gradig skala, medan Del 2 var kvalitativ och fokuserade på kopplingen mellan utställningsföremålet och rummet. Här hade respondenterna möjligheten att svara i textform. Resultatet i studien visar att atmosfärsupplevelsen påverkas av samspelet mellan ljus och rum, och att det inte är en enskild parameter som avgör. Respondenterna ansåg att ett samspel mellan atmosfär och utställningsföremål kunde förhöja upplevelsen av konst och att ljus hade en tydlig påverkan för hur rummet och dess atmosfär uppfattades. Detta visar på att det finns möjligheter att arbeta mer med ljus i utställningslokaler för att skapa en atmosfär som samspelar mer med utställningar och utställningsföremål. Studien har begränsats till enbart konstutställningar på museer och konsthallar i Sverige. Utifrån att detta arbete genomfördes i denna specifika kontext kan det inte med säkerhet sägas vara generellt giltigt, men vissa delar av resultatet kring de atmosfärspåverkande parametrarna är sannolikt möjliga att överföra i andra situationer.

En kvalitativ studie av konstpedagogikens roll i virtuella konstmuseiutställningar. Syftet med denna studie är att kartlägga konstpedagogiska element och hur dessa påverkar förmedlandet, mottagandet och funktionerna i två virtuella utställningar från de Londonbaserade konstmuseerna The National Gallery och The Courtauld Gallery. Metoder och teorier med utgångspunkt i en analysmodell av den konstpedagogiska processen samt konstpedagogiska hållningar, har använts för analys och tolkning. I denna studie dras paralleller mellan studieobjekten och traditionella utställningar, samt ytterligare perspektiv på konstpedagogikens roll och virtuella utställningars funktioner i en konstpedagogisk kontext. Resultatet av denna studie visar på en fri pedagogik där användaren tar stor plats och styr sin virtuella rundtur bestående av ett rikligt men selekterat och kontrollerat innehåll.