The series of Stills made in museums exist in the space at either end of the behavioral spectrum. While in these strange constructs which "protect" and "exhibit" art, we must observe certain behavioral rules. Museum Stills explore both extremes of these behaviors, from the over-identification and even psychological breakdown that can occur in front of works of art to the practiced performance of indifference in the interstitial stairways and corners of these often-hulking institutions.
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"In contrast to the atypical eruptions of excessive identification mentioned above, the second cycle of Hannah's stills depict, by contrast, the museum quotidian. We observe people in the midst of unremarkable moments, or as they use the museum against the grain of its intended scripts. In Guided, beholders focus their attention upon a lecturer positioned before Abraham Bloemaert's Harvest Scene (1625-30). While the docent - the familiar figure who explains art and edifies the public - gestures toward the painting, it is nearly obscured by the huddle of listeners. Our perspective into the scene is that of an outsider unable to perceive precisely what is happening. Looking upon the scene from below, as if from the viewpoint of a child, there is a sense of exclusion from the inner circle of adults and the temptation of prohibited knowledge."
DROBNICK, Jim and Jennifer FISHER. "Museum vivants", Adad Hannah: Video Projects. Seoul, 2006, p. 13 [http://adadhannah.com/images/uploads/press_assets/2006_10_07_Ssamzie_Catalog.pdf] (Consulted on June 10th 2011)
