Sampling Art in Sound Bites

By MICHAEL KIMMELMAN
Published: November 26, 1993

FOR many people who listen to Acoustiguides, going to an art museum is like plunging into the ocean without knowing how to swim. The Acoustiguides are their cruise ships and Philippe de Montebello, the voice that launched a thousand exhibitions, is their captain.

I had never listened to an Acoustiguide until this week, when I spent a few hours at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum and the Museum of Modern Art letting Mr. de Montebello, the Met's director, and an assorted crew of fellow directors, curators, vocal stand-ins, artists and artists' relatives navigate me through several shows. I don't know how much I heard that couldn't be gleaned from the wall labels and accompanying brochures and a little extra effort, but I do have more of an inkling of what it feels like to sail on a Carnival cruise. ...


A version of this article appeared in print on November 26, 1993, on page C1 of the New York edition. The online article omits an illustration by Seymour Chwast.