Exhibitism: Designing for the Museum

Joseph Becker is the Curator of Architecture and Design at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, where he explores the intersections of architecture, design, art, and visual culture. In this talk, Becker shares recent curatorial projects that illustrate his philosophy of exhibition making as a spatial practice that fosters inspiration and curiosity. His approach brings together object storytelling and exhibition design to create immersive, atmospheric experiences without sacrificing narrative or context.

He also takes a deeper look at Art of Noise, an exhibition exploring 100 years of music and design. First presented at SFMOMA in 2024 and now on view at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in New York, Art of Noise traces the evolution of the tools and technologies we use to listen to music alongside the graphics, media, and visual artifacts that shape our shared listening experiences.