Lefebvre & Space - Henry Moore Institute

The Representational Space of an art gallery (our ideas, theory and vision) is an important aspect of how people act in this space. Art galleries hold high social power in our society and are respectable institutions in which prestigious and socially important pieces of work are exhibited. Our perceptions of art galleries will effect our behaviour when we enter this space. It is a place we know we're supposed to be respectful towards as it a place we believe to be of great importance and superiority. We have to comply to certain rules because of this, we have to be quiet and inspect all pieces of art. We walk slowly, don't take pictures and read everything in an almost ritualistic manner

The Representations of Space, the physical building, in art galleries also makes us behave in the ways mentioned above. They are often open planned, which means we are always in the open and easily viewable and has a panoptic effect on us. Because we are always in sight and constantly being judged we want to show that we have a deep interest and vast knowledge of Art, so we make sure we look like we're inspecting all the works. The buildings which contain art galleries also help to enforce there social power and high status. Art gallaries are placed in grandiose buildings, in this case the Henry Moore Institute with it's black marble facade. It is the only building to use black marble that I can think of in Leeds city centre. Marble has been a historical symbol of wealth, luxury and importance for centuries, used only on the most important buildings.

Our Practice is supposed to mean that we look at each piece of art in depth and explore every room in the gallery in a certain order and in a certain manner as described earlier. In some cases people do but often they don't, people wander round and vocally express their negative opinions of the work, people are perceptible to rebel against a set authority. People outside the building use the area to practice Freerunning and teenagers loiter around the area on weekends. It isn't a place to be held in high respect and importance, it is often ignored and regularly empty.