Art and the Museum - part 1

In this short opinion piece where I try to make clear certain ideas in my mind, I'd like to argue that the museum itself is no longer a representation of culture but a chapel to an artistic elite whose work builds upon itself.  Rather, culture is delivered to the masses through magazines and glowing screens flashing content.

First, let's theorize why people don't go to the museum?  Could it be that it's inaccessible?  To understand a work requires understanding of the social context and inspirations of the artist.  Something that anyone should be aware of since it's their cultural history, right?  Yet, I doubt anyone can argue, that these culturally weak people know their culture - and know it well.  It's the culture of the new and commercial.

And that's an easy culture to learn.

The artists, on the other-hand, create "thought-experiments", testing boundaries, seeing what are the limits of the fabric of society.  Creating things out of the ordinary, imagining the impossible and wanting to build the impossible.  Driving the future and making people question the present and past with their works.

Reality is not as clear-cut as above, but it's a first attempt at re-ordering thoughts that have been bothering me for quite a while.  I'll blog more until the ideas get ironed out.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode One Thoughts

Even though this looks like a good game (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CrgO5c-9m8), I worry. 

The games from the Genesis were nice and quick - the story happened as 10-second non-narrated blips between animated sprites.  Looking at more recent games (closest is Sonic Rush) - it's riddled with story - getting into a level for the first time requires reading a few paragraphs of text.

The other difference is that the older games felt as though there was much more to explore.  I can't count how many times I replayed the first Sonic game running at the bottom of the levels, top of the levels, middle of the levels, etc.

I'm interested - but skeptical.  I'm not against change - but the above two points will be part of my main criteria when deciding if it's worth purchasing.