Man behind the scenes

February 19, 2010 at 10:35 am
Filed under museum

“In hundreds of exhibitions over the last three decades the names of a stunning number of curators and artists have entered the institutional memory of the Museum of Modern Art. But behind nearly all of these shows there has been a constant, a man whose name rarely surfaces anywhere except in invoices…”

His job — one that often goes unsung in the museum world and, particularly if done well, unnoticed by the public — is to serve as a kind of mediator between the visionary (the grand dreams of curators and artists about how a show could look) and the practical (how the show will fit within walls, some of them load bearing).” — K.E. Jerome Neuner, director of MoMA’s department of exhibition design and a member of his staff

iMuseum anyone?

February 1, 2010 at 8:47 am
Filed under Architecture, Exhibit Design, Technology, museum

The flood of iPad-inspired applications is inevitable, of course. And it’s already started, way ahead of the devices actually being available for purchase.

Melbourne architects ClarkeHopkinsClarke, for example, has mocked up a wall of iPads that can be used in myriad ways in libraries, museums, or other cultural/public spaces. With their relatively low price tag and sophisticated, customizable features, an iPad array could be more flexible and less costly than a huge single LCD display, say the architects.

“Interchangeable wallpaper pattern [and] video is just the beginning, but imagin[e] a giant jigsaw that you can play using multitouch, an interactive aquarium scene, digital graffiti, interactive speaker wall, even a life sized digital bookcase for your iBooks!” We can, we can. — P.M.K.

MiaSci’s Living Core

January 22, 2010 at 12:27 pm
Filed under Architecture, Collaboration, Design Process, Exhibit Design, museum

The Miami Science Museum slated to begin construction this year will share the city’s Museum Park with the Miami Art Museum. The MiaSci building designed by Grimshaw Architects is “structured around a lushly landscaped indoor and outdoor ‘living core’ of terrestrial and aquatic exhibits, featuring one-of-a-kind aquarium components, a state-of-the-art digital dome, hands-on exhibits and interactive digital technology.” This week, marine experts from around South Florida met with the exhibit design team from Thinc Design for a brainstorming workshop focused on advancing the design of the aquarium components.

According to the MiaSci blog: “The workshop was the kickoff to an intensive period of exhibit development that will begin next month, drawing on the experts to refine the key messages and content areas of the Living Core. In particular, the group identified specific opportunities for connecting the exhibits to current research; how the exhibits could be used to explore the broad environmental and social impacts of such topics as aquaculture and climate change; ways to use technology to enhance the experience, and ways to engage the public in ongoing research and solutions to environmental challenges.”

For a full list of collaborators and updates on the project click here. — S.N.

View from the Living Core

Tour National Trust sites – virtually

January 22, 2010 at 10:58 am
Filed under Technology, Wayfinding, museum

Britain’s National Trust “has engaged Google to take pictures from all around sites including Corfe Castle in Dorset and Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire, which have then be digitally stitched together to give seamless 360 degree images.

The pictures were taken late last summer using the ‘Google trike’ – a three wheeled bike with a Street View camera mounted on it, suited to collecting images in places not easily accessible by car.

Other locations include Stonehenge in Wiltshire, Lindisfarne Castle in Northumberland, Lyme Park in Cheshire and Ham House just outside Richmond-upon-Thames near London.” — A.M.

Cooper-Hewitt goes iPod Touch

January 19, 2010 at 9:39 am
Filed under Exhibit Design, Interactive, Technology, Wayfinding, museum

“‘Design USA: Contemporary Innovation’ at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum is less an exhibition than an extra-large design seminar in your head.

The show offers an array of objects and oddities, from household appliances to models for the sets of the musical “Hairspray,” punctuated by screens showing Web sites in action, among them one that locates pickup basketball games in New York. But the bulk of the exhibition takes place in the palm of your hand, on a specially programmed iPod Touch, the nonphone (but wireless-enabled) version of the iPhone. Apple has lent the museum a hundred of the devices in what is either a brilliant promotional move or — given the Cooper-Hewitt’s design-minded demographic — a case of pushing to the converted. They provide access to a wealth of interviews, slide shows and snippets of performances, all related to the 78 architects and designers represented in the show. Available free, this device sends the traditional audio guide the way of the one-horse buggy.” — L.G.D.

NYC slated for Italian design museum

January 14, 2010 at 2:04 pm
Filed under City Happenings, museum

“New York City may soon have more museums devoted to design than to art…

The Milan-based Triennale Design Museum has signed a 15-year lease for 18,067 square feet at 40 W. 53rd Street, to open a four level museum. The space will be the Triennale’s first location in the United States, and its third overall. A Japan outpost opened in 2006. The museum has been a Milan institution for 90 years.

The new museum is slated to open in May, in an effort to coincide with the International Contemporary Furniture Fair. It will have 10,000 square feet of exhibition space, a 3,000-square-foot café and a 3,000-square-foot shop.” — K.E.Toshiba lighting exhibit at the Milan Triennale Design Museum

NEA: Arts participation down

December 11, 2009 at 11:52 am
Filed under Arts and Crafts, museum

One in three American adults visited an art gallery, art museum, or arts performance in a recent 12-month survey period, but that number has declined since the last survey, the National Endowment for the Arts announced today in its Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, conducted in partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau.

36.2 percent, or 81.3 million, Americans attended an arts gallery, museum, or performance, with art museums and plays or musicals topping the list. But attendance at arts events overall — and particularly jazz and classical music performances — has declined since the last survey in 2002, and significantly since the first survey in 1982. A rough economy (the survey was conducted six months into the current recession) and increased online participation may partially account for the declines, says the NEA.

The survey includes only art museums or galleries, not all museums, but does include parks and historical buildings. It indicated that visits to art museums decreased by 14% compared to 2002 but was up 3% compared to 1982. Visits to parks/historical buildings declined 21% compared to 2002 and 33% compared to 1982.

The survey also showed that the median age of arts participants is rising, and that participation by 18- to 24-year-olds has declined the most. For the full report, visit the NEA website. — P.M.K.

The Museum of Lost Wonder

December 9, 2009 at 9:01 am
Filed under Interactive, museum

Where to begin?  This website is an offshoot of a book of the same name by Jeff Hoke.  Here’s what Publishers Weekly had to say about the book: “Hoke, an artist and a senior exhibition designer at California’s Monterey Bay Aquarium, writes that the eclectic museums and curiosity cabinets of the 1600s inspired him, and that he wants to return us to a time before ’science became a belief system unto itself,’ a time when artist-alchemist-scientists were able to search for inner truth via mystical experiences and experiments without being ridiculed. Guided by the Greek muses and lured by his lovely color illustrations, readers are beckoned into seven ‘exhibition halls,’ named for the stages of alchemical transformation from base matter to divinely inspired knowledge.” — A.M.

Talk about creating an environment.

October 27, 2009 at 3:36 pm
Filed under Humor, Interior Design, Placemaking, museum

Anthony Toth spent 20 years of his life recreating the most elegant, classy environment he’d ever set foot in during long family trips as a child: the first class cabin of a Pan Am 747 jet.  If he couldn’t find it (like a headset he travelled to Thailand to buy) he had it made (like the upholstery.)  Though he hosts corporate meetings, you might want to avoid the vintage packages of salted nuts. — A.M.

El Museo del Barrio

October 27, 2009 at 11:29 am
Filed under Arts and Crafts, Exhibit Design, museum

El Museo del Barrio in New York brought in C&G Partners to help create two exhibits for the museum’s grand re-opening. Following a year and a half make-over in conjunction with the museum’s 40th anniversary, C&G created the inaugural and permanent-collection exhibitions: “Nexus New York” connects Latin American art in the early 20th century to the history of New York, and “Voces y Visiones” showcases the museum’s collection which directly links it to the East Harlem barrio a few blocks away.

To enhance gallery visitors’ experience of the exhibits and fulfill its mission to educate, celebrate and promote Latino culture, C&G Partners integrated audio-visual displays that augment and interpret both exhibits, along with text, large-scale quotes and images.

“The exhibit design is a balance between viewing the works of art and narrating the historical context. Interpretive displays exist on a horizontal plane so as not to interfere with the art on the walls. Since the art is varied in style and medium, the interpretive layer provides an essential link that aids understanding and represents the Latino voice,” says C&G Partners founding partner, Jonathan Alger, who led the design team. (source: ArtDaily.org)