Museum Town: North-American Histories, Practices and Memories

Keywords: museum, modern ruins, cinema, contemporary art, post-industrialization, scale, Museum Town, North-Adams

Abstract

Through different perspectives, this article aims at analyzing the film Museum Town (Jennifer Trainer, 2019) and the way in which it portrays the process of revitalization of the space that became MASS MoCA. To this end, the article follows three potential readings: 1) the story of North-Adams which 2) intersects with the story of MASS MoCA – and which is presented through archive footage and interviews –, and 3) the construction and installation of “Until”, by Nick Cave. These will allow us to try to understand the potential and role of a project like MASS MoCA, while also helping us to perceive the relationship between this same project and the small town in which it is inserted, North-Adams, MA.

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Author Biographies

André Francisco, CEAUL - Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade

Aluno de Doutoramento em Literaturas, Artes e Culturas Modernas da Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa e investigador no Centro de Estudos Anglísticos da Universidade de Lisboa. É mestre em Estudos Comparatistas e licenciado em Línguas, Literaturas e Culturas pela Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa. As suas principais áreas de investigação são film noir e neo-noir, o espaço e o cinema, cinema norte-americano, entre outras.

José Duarte, CEAUL - Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade

Lecciona na Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa. É igualmente investigador no Centro de Estudos Anglísticos da mesma instituição, onde co-coordena o grupo de investigação 3 – Estudos Americanos. Os seus interesses incluem cinema norte-americano, séries televisivas, história do cinema ou cinema do mundo.

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Published
2023-12-15
How to Cite
Francisco, A., & Duarte, J. (2023). Museum Town: North-American Histories, Practices and Memories. Ge-Conservacion, 24(1), 156-164. https://doi.org/10.37558/gec.v24i1.1263