In a gallery dedicated to understanding the processes of advertising, the Eisner will feature an exhibition dissecting the ways marketing theory dissects us. It's clear that the Eisner Museum is not just a space to display a collection. This isn't an art museum where we hang pictures on the wall and perhaps you can understand them if you've had enough art history classes. Here, it's about interpreting the impact that advertising has on popular and material culture. In an age when art no longer considers itself the crowning glory of civilization, the Eisner Museum, in its way, is a particularly realistic response to the curatorial charge to interpret the deeper rumblings that rattle our culture's foundation.
Ads hold a special significance in American life.
Ads use against us our own tendency to want to be defined by the goods with which we surround ourselves. That is, they confirm the status boost we crave from hair gel, flashy shoes, and cola. Any insight we can gain into this power is empowering, and the Eisner Museum has the potential to not only afford a peek into the mysterious and arcane world of the advertiser, it may just break down the door. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.