Week Three Draft of Meeting Minutes.

Minutes of the 3^rd Meeting of Group 1 AGMS 61061 course
October 11^th 2010, 11AM Study Room 8 JRUL

Present:

Ms. Jennifer Chow

Mr. Shahram Agha-Kasiri

Ms. Kristin Hussey

Ms. Meng Zou

Ms. Elizabeth Cooper

Ms. Tania Moore

Ms. Kirstin ‘Stena’ James

Ms. Sally Thelwell
The meeting was called to order at 11:11am

1. Group Discussion

-          Articles discussed: Peters, R. and D. Romanek (2008) ‘Approaches to Access: Factors and Variables’, in Saunders, D., Townsend, J. (eds) IIC London Congress: Conservation and Access, London: James & James, pp. 1-6.

Jones, M. (1994) ‘Why fakes?’ in Pearce, S. M. Interpreting objects & collections, Leicester: Leicester University Press, pp. 92-97.

-          Concluding points: Counterfeit goods manufacture and distribution is a business; fakes reflect what society wants most—what sells. These priorities change over time—but fakes can be a good indication of what was/is literally and figuratively of value to any given society at any given time. This was actually a very animated discussion, and the ‘minutes secretary’ welcomes anyone that wants to contribute to this report, to add their points.

2. Things discussed during meeting

-We changed from working title of “When is it okay to fake it?” to “DO YOU FAKE IT”

-We drafted designs for the cabinet.

-We talked about the kinds of materials we would need to make the design ideas work, and how much it would cost.

3. Money Matter

-          There will be some provision from the AGMS program, we just don’t know what amount that is as yet.

4. Conclusion from this meeting

We are going to primarily look at the subject of fashion knock-offs, and the social problems, crime, and violence that the money from knock-offs (and their production) fosters.

5. For next week

-Everyone is going to bring research resources, articles and define the aspects of the project that they are most interested in working on.

-At some point, someone will need to go shopping—who wants to be on the shopping committee?

6. Date of next meeting

-          The date of the next meeting will be on October 18^th, 4:00pm.

-           Stena arranged for the study room for this week, Meng is going to arrange for a study room for our next meeting.

7. Adjournment

Shahram made a motion to adjourn the meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 12pm.

Minutes from the Second Group Meeting.

Minutes of the 2^nd Meeting of Group 1 AGMS 61061 course
October 04^th 2010, 11AM Burlington Society

Present:

Ms. Jennifer Chow (Chair)

Mr. Shahram Agha-Kasiri

Ms. Kristin Hussey

Ms. Meng Zou

Ms. Elizabeth Cooper

Ms. Tania Moore

Ms. Kirstin ‘Stena’ James

Regrets:

Ms. Sally Thelwell
The meeting was called to order at 11:12am

1. Group Discussion

-          Article discussed: Spectrum

-          Concluding points

o    Advantage: a uniform system that is adapted by all museum, thus greater efficiency and less hassle in learning multiple cataloguing systems

o    Disadvantage: museums with their own working system will need to invest and learn a completely different system to ‘fit in’

2. Things discussed during meeting

-          Probable Topics

o    Chose one specific theme (forgery, fakes or copies, not all of them)

o    What is our message?

§   being able to tell a fake as well as a curator/how can you tell a fake?

§  Reasonings behind fakes

§  What are our tolerance of fakes?

§  The intention of our presentation of the object

-          Probable objects to use

o    Army objects – which are real or which isn’t, when can we tell when one is old, the other is distressed

o    Antique objects found in local antique stores

-          Places to take inspirations from

o    British Museum

§  They have recently done three exhibitions on the topic of fakes and forgeries

• Indicates the severity and importance of this topic
• Museums around the world are starting to admit to housing some fake objects and displaying them as real

o    How large of a collection is fake within a museum, how far can we go in terms of knowing our collection? How much can we accept (1960-70, can be traced to the dealers and know that its fake for sure)

-          Handouts

o    a handout interact with the visitor detailing how you are to find out which is fake

-          Displays

o    Super glue real/fake coins on the outside of the cabinet casing to allow visitors to feel and guess which is a fake/real coin. Allow visitors to write down answer, and the real answer will be revealed at the end of the week.

o    Block out sides to make it not part of the exhibition

o    To have things printed

o    To have window treatment

o    Focusing on a single word in our casing?

-          Most probably working title

o    “When is it okay to fake it?”

3. Money Matter

-          People are willing to give out £5 each x 8 = £40 for any of displays, pens and such

4. Conclusion from this meeting

-          We know have 3 working topics, we must choose one

-          We still need to keep searching

5. For next week

-          For next week:

o    Think of an object to display

o    To find an actual antique piece to use as a display

o    If this does not work, then we are go back to original topic

o    For plan B, create a list of items we can use as comparison

o    Bringing the ‘real’ object to the museum curator to have it checkout

6. Date of next meeting

-          The date of the next meeting will be on October 11^th, 11:00am.

7. Adjournment

Jennifer made a motion to adjourn the meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 12:25 pm.

Minutes from First Project Meeting.

Minutes of the 1^st Meeting of Group 1 AGMS 61061 course
September 27^th 2010, 3pm MC 4.10

Present:

Mr. Shahram Agha-Kasiri

Ms. Jennifer Chow (Chair)

Ms. Elizabeth Cooper

Ms. Kristin Hussey

Ms. Kirstin ‘Stena’ James

Ms. Tania Moore

Ms. Sally Thelwell

Ms. Meng Zou

The meeting was called to order at 3:05pm

[Ms. Jennifer Chow volunteered to take the minutes for our meetings--Thank you, Jennifer!]

1. Topic

-       Topic: Copies, Fakes and Forgeries

-       Other information: We are given a small budget to work on our display

-       Meeting every Monday 3:00pm at MC4.10 fixed

2. Things discussed during meeting

-       Possible topics

o    Context of what is fake

o    Return of authentic pieces to original country

o    Showcase of forged artefact due to special circumstances

o    Why do people fake things

o    Tolerance level of fakery and forgeries in the consumerism world today

-       Improbable topics

o    Digital

o    Art pieces

o    Architecture

-       Ideals for our display cabinet

o    Clean

o    Nicely spaced out artefacts

o    No clutter

-       Possible comparisons in objects

o    Vitamin C tablets/Orange

o    Hellmann mayo/miracle whip

o    Head and shoulder/ASDA shampoo

-       Questions to ponder upon

o    Does fakery really matter?

o    What are our own tolerances?

3. Report from members

Please prepare the following for next week:

-       Key points, issues, reflections and questions for next week’s reading to support our topic (if applicable)

-       Personal tolerance level of what is considered as acceptable in a copied object/product/etc.

-       Possible comparative objects for display

-       Ideas on how to decorate display case

-       Ways in which we can interact with the public through our display

4. Date of next meeting

The date of the next meeting will be on October 4^th, 3:00pm.

5. Adjournment

Jennifer made a motion to adjourn the meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 4:48 pm.

AGMS Group Project: “Do You Fake It?”

This is an Art Gallery and Museum Studies student group project, that involves working as a team of (in our case) eight people, to create a display dealing with the general topic of ‘fakes, frauds and copies’. Our group started off looking at such questions as “When is it ‘okay’ to fake it?” “When do we find a copy/fake acceptable, and when do we not?” and “What are the similarities and differences between a fake and a fraud?” We then progressed to a more focused/specific inquiry regards fashion, ‘knock-offs,’ and the range of not-very-pretty social problems that inequitable and illegal business practice fosters.

So . . . “Do You Fake It?”