Atlanta High Museum

In Duncan's article on the effects behind a museums structure on an audience, he addresses how a museum should be "liminal", that is, should remove its audience from the monotony of everyday life and bring them to a point of peak spiritual and mental perception that grants the highest possible ability to enjoy the art that is on display. Many art museums have been crafted to stand out in their environments, and the High Museum in Atlanta is no exception.

From my own personal experience with the High Museum I am willing to say that this building did a very good job of removing the shell of normality that can blur perception. Though the building is without color, the shape of the halls and stairwells gives the building a feeling of "flow" that visitors should follow by usually indirectly leading people in a certain path through the museum. Another benefit that the High has is that this grand example of architecture is mostly colorless. This lack of color prevents viewers from being distracted by the main pieces on display.

One interesting point that Duncan reviewed in his essay was how art museums were often seen mimicking churches and schools, places that often contradicted or were against the purpose of an art museum. However contrasting these edifices may be in structure or audience, I find it neat that art museums copied the effects churches and basilicas have upon their visitors by using overwhelming architecture to awe people. Many churches use large arches and huge rooms to grant a feeling of smallness to religious followers, why not do the same to those who might not realize how insignificant they are to the important and deep world of art?