Howdy!
file this one under "S" for strange. In my normal course of business I came across this reprint of a press release over at PatWhite.com who pretty much only reprint press releases. It was submitted by Bertrand Breuque, who clearly states that he is a communications professional. And then I discovered this one over at Le Vadrouilleur urbain, who also pretty much only reprints press releases.
Now I was particularly intrigued by the content. The Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal going all out and sponsoring an artist. Pretty gosh darn sweet (at least for the artist). So I started looking around for more information. You know stuff like how the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal decided to sponsor an artist, how the artist was chosen, how much the sponsorship was worth, you know stuff like that which would make the whole process transparent. Instead of immediately causing me to think that there were some back room deals going down that quite possibly involved brown envelopes filled with cash.
So I went to the museum's website and looked for a press release from them. No dice. The only press release that they have produced this year is on the Jean Paul Gaultier show coming up, and you all know how I feel about that.
So I try to dig a little deeper, and check out the Darling Foundry's website. And sure enough the press release comes from them [word document alert]. And as I expected there is nary a word about how the artist was chosen, how much the sponsorship was worth, you know stuff like that which would make the whole process transparent.
"OK, whatever," I hear you say. "Minor details. If you really want to know what's up, give 'em a call, send 'em an email." But to be honest, I have much better things to do with my time than try and track down nonsense like this.
But this is where it really gets weird. The museum pays someone good cash money to track all the reviews of stuff that happens at the museum. And after each exhibit they print up these big fat thick bricks of a binder to show how important they must be since their shows get all these reviews.
In looking for the information about how the artist was chosen, how much the sponsorship was worth, you know stuff like that which would make the whole process transparent. I actually came across the Press Review / Revue de Presse [pdf alert] for the first three weeks in March. And guess what, they include the press release from PatWhite.com right on page 53. (Another version is here).
The idea that they are puffing up their importance by trying to pass off press releases as reviews is ridiculous.
