(Thanks a bunch, Marcel Duchamp.)

Collecting the Kings Arms

Graffiti-filled toilet doors, band posters, darts trophies​ and cigarette machines were just some of the pieces that were auctioned following the closure of Auckland’s iconic music venue, The Kings Arms. In this blog, Curator Jane Groufsky describes the objects that were acquired at the auction for the Museum’s collection and explains why they were chosen.⤵️

Read about the Museum’s pub acquisitions: https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/discover/stories/blog/2018/collecting-the-kings-arms

Ahh, the humble beginnings of money laundering — joking — I don’t know what I’m talking about. I do know how I feel about books with intentional author signatures in them though (👍), but sporadic scrawlings made while answering nature’s call in time-sensitive windows, behind privacy panels from a popular pub’s pisser; I’ll pass (👎).

Preserving heritage is one thing; collecting memorabilia is another; and then there’s displaying found objects as art (objet trouvé), popularised in the early 20th century by artists like Pablo Picasso and Marcel Duchamp, that is kind of a mixed bag, and in this case urinary bladders are writ into the fabric of the piece.

Darn. . . I may want to know if anything poetic was written on them to be sure, that it’s not actually cool. . . No-no! Don’t let piss door question your refined taste, LITB! Never let object art dictate the terms of a Museum entry fee.

(Meanwhile in London; Professor Lucy Munro pinpoints the exact location of William Shakespeare’s London home for the first time in history.)