Photo: National Gallery of Art.
Alison Luchs in a video posted to the National Gallery of Art’s Instagram page on Jan. 13. Her use of contemporary slang is bringing delight and welcome attention to the art collection.
Here’s something cute I’m reading as I fly home from California.
It goes without saying that if you want to draw in new audiences, it helps to speak their language. And if you’re a mature person speaking the language of youth, you may amuse and refresh old audiences at the same time.
Kyle Melnick reports at the Washington Post about the National Gallery of Art’s deputy head of sculpture success adding Gen Z slang to the many language she already speaks.
On Instagram in January, stepping behind a 16th-century urn, she began to describe it to the camera like this.
“ ‘Chat, I’m about to buss it down Roman Empire style,’ said Alison Luchs, 77. … ‘Haters will say this urn is mid, but they don’t know we’ve clocked its tea.’
“Luchs called the urn’s stone material ‘GOATED’ — meaning the greatest of all time — saying the urn was ‘high-key valuable’ and its colors ‘screamed big drip’ — meaning it was stylish. …
“Luchs’s videos — she made another one in December with a 16th-century plate — have worked. The videos have received a combined 8.7 million views on Instagram and thousands of comments from people who find Luchs’s descriptions funny, informative and relatable.
“ ‘From here on out this is the only way I’ll listen to guided tours,’ someone commented. ‘I’m coming to the museum just to meet her,’ another person wrote. ‘Honestly, she ate,’ a third person commented about Luchs, a Gen Z way to give high praise.
“The timing coincides with a Saturday Night Live sketch in which Gen Z comedian Marcello Hernández translates slang for Weekend Update co-host Colin Jost, a millennial. …
“Luchs, who has worked at the National Gallery of Art for 47 years, agreed to make the videos because she wanted to raise interest in the museum’s art. She never expected to slay. And based on the reaction to her videos, she has not ‘unalived‘ Gen Z slang like Jost did.
“ ‘She just has an effortless swag,’ said Sydni Myers, the museum’s senior manager of social media.
“Some highlights of Luchs’s career include helping set up exhibits for Italian Renaissance artists and writing a book about 15th-century Venice artwork of sea creatures. But over the summer, the museum’s social media team brainstormed an assignment for her.
“Myers, 31, wanted to reach young audiences while still offering insight into the gallery’s art. When she first asked her colleagues about a baby boomer describing art with Gen Z lingo, she said, they worried the video would be cringe.
As Myers thought about who could pull the video off with confidence, she said, Luchs came to mind. …. Myers caught Luchs as she was leaving a staff meeting and asked if she would record a video.
“ ‘Fine, as long as it brings attention to the collection,’ Myers recalled Luchs responding. Reflecting on that moment recently, Luchs said: ‘I’m not sure I knew what I was doing yet.’
“The social media team asked Luchs which artworks she found most fascinating. They then followed up with more questions — when the pieces were made, how they were made, who created them, what people used them for and how valuable they were.
“They landed on making a video about a 16th-century tin-glazed plate created by Italian ceramicist Orazio Pompei and used at lavish dinner parties. … When Luchs got the script, she searched the words’ definitions on the internet. She learned that a ‘rizzler‘ is someone who has charisma, ‘money-maxing sigmas’ refers to successful and rich people, and ‘aura points’ quantifies coolness.
“Luchs speaks five languages: English, French, Italian, and some German and Russian. She approached grasping Gen Z parlance like she was learning another language. [Mary King, the museum’s social media copywriter] coached Luchs in pronouncing the words.
“ ‘When I started at the National Gallery, I cannot say I anticipated that there would be a day where I’m sitting with a Word doc open in the office and I’m writing “rizzler,” ‘ said King, 25.
“Sitting beside King, Luchs laughed and added: ‘I love that word.’
“Luchs read the script over and over until she memorized it. Then last month, she stepped onto an 8-inch platform behind the plate with the help of a colleague who held her hand. A phone recorded her.
“ ‘Look how bro glazed it,’ Luchs said, pointing to the plate. ‘He went goblin mode with all these colors,’ referring to a behavior that is unapologetically self-indulgent.
“A few seconds later, Luchs described the woman on the plate: ‘Girly over here is freshly “yesified.” Off-camera, a colleague corrected her pronunciation. Luchs corrected herself a moment later: ‘Yassified’ — meaning to look very glamorous after a makeover. …
“On her first try, Luchs nailed the speech, finishing by saying: ‘Chat, would you bring this dish to the function, or is it chopped? Either way, “girly pop” is the moment, and she’s living rent-free in our heads and in the National Gallery of Art.’ …
“Luchs now weaves her new language into her daily life, her colleagues said, explaining that she recently sent an email to them saying she would be late because she was on ‘the chopped Metro’ — meaning it was not moving fast.”
More at the Post, here.
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