Most of you spent a great deal of time in the Currier’s recent exhibition, The Secret Life of Art: Mysteries of the Museum Revealed, which used a lot of technologies – among them cell phone tours, videos and digital timelines – to provide different viewpoints and new ways of learning about art. Have you been to the “new” Museum of Fine Arts in Boston yet? The MFA also takes you behind the scenes with new technologies, with mini-exhibitions about conservation and other museum topics. A follow-up to the Secret Life of Art is an analysis of what educational strategies, both high- and low-tech, our visitors seemed engaged with. The results will inform us about what technological approaches to take for future exhibitions. We will let you know when that analysis is complete and the results.
As we, and many museums, have been thinking a lot about adding technology – which can be busy, noisy and fast-paced (though doesn’t have to be) – to the visitor’s experience, I was struck by an article by Arianna Huffington in the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/museums-20-what-happens-w_b_801372.html
Ms. Huffington asks a lot of questions that have resonance for me, and like me, doesn’t have any definitive answers. Is it true, as we are told, that younger visitors are so “plugged in” they won’t come to art museums which aren’t technology savvy? Or, as Ms. Huffington asks, could we all be looking for something more contemplative in their lives, and museums add the distraction of technology at their peril? How much technology actually enriches the experience of the viewer, and how much is just “cool”? And, is there anything wrong with just “cool”?
One thing is certain – we are living through a very exciting period in museums, with lots of new opportunities for visitors to enjoy and learn about art in new ways. As we at the Currier continue to experiment to find the right balance for our audience, what are your thoughts?
On this last Thursday, the Zimmerman House Docents held a planning meeting for the upcoming season, during which we discussed several aspects of technology that we could use to augment our tours in the upcoming season. There was a broad consensus among the group that any technical facility should be subordinate to the connection between the docents and the tour attendees. We agreed that we docents, and our guests value that interaction the most. I think that beyond that important axiom, any technology that can improve the experience of the visitor, and make the tour more complete, efficient, and expedient for the docent would be welcome.
ReplyDeleteExcellent thoughts, Nathaniel, thanks! Any suggestions as to what that technology might look like?
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