deconstructing exhibits: what is an exhibit anyway?

Deconstructing Exhibits: What is an Exhibit Anyway?

What is an exhibit anyway?

To exhibit:

•to present for others to see

•To present in a public exhibition or contest

•To give evidence or an instance of; demonstrate

• To present or introduce officially

• To put something on public display

Deconstructing exhibits: What is an exhibit anyway?

http://nmhm.washingtondc.museum/exhibits/single_cell/imgs/fetal_skeletons.jpg


What does an exhibit do?

•An exhibit raises issues visually (and maybe with other senses) so that they can be grasped quickly.

•Creates “call-outs”•Can ‘call-outs’ readily be identified by the visitor?

•The thoughts, feelings, and responses as you experience the exhibition as a visitor

The reinvented museum meets its test: the authority of exhibits

• “Authenticity is not about factuality of reality. It is about authority. Objects have no authority; people do… Authenticity – authority – enforces the social contract between audience and museum, a socially agreed upon reality that exists only as long as the confidence in the voice of the exhibition holds.”

(Crew & Sims p.163)


The reinvented museum meets its test: the authority of exhibits

• “Although curators might hold authority over interpretations stemming from their technical and scholarly knowledge, that does not necessarily qualify them to speak to meanings that are based on nonscholarly criteria of knowing”

(Lisa Roberts “Changing Practices of Interpretation”)


McLean “Dynamics of Dialogue” Embracing the tensions

“Museums are both temple and forum….exhibitions are about people communicating with each other. By embracing the tensions inherent in a dialogue,…we will become better able to articulate our issues in common.”


Recall your favorite exhibit: What made it so memorable or enjoyable?


First - Some basic ways to think about exhibits

• Duration• Scale• Modes of communication• Process• Space• Experience



On the matter of representation

To represent:•To stand for; symbolize

•To indicate or communicate by signs or symbols

•To depict in art; portray

•To present clearly to the mind

•To draw attention to by way of remonstrance or protest

•To describe or put forward (a person or thing) as an embodiment of a specified quality

•To serve as an example of

Museum exhibits often are “models” of very complex concepts and realities.

•Selection of objects, label text, arrangement, and design all carry value and have an impact on the viewer

Kinds of exhibits: Duration

• Permanent• Temporary• Traveling• Mobile /

Portable

Kinds of Exhibits: Scale

Range of scale:Blockbuster

– large size (# objects, sq.ft.)– high profile– big budget

Small, temporary– Few or single object focus– Low budget– Low tech (little media)– Few interactives

Kinds of exhibits: modes of communication

Not mutually exclusive:

– Emotive (Aesthetic

and Evocative)

– Didactic– Interactive/

Participatory I hear and I forget.

I see and I remember.

I do and I understand.

Other ways to think about exhibits:

what makes them effective?

• As a process • As a designed space

• As an experience



The Rules of Display

Simplicity: ‘cleanness’ and lack of complication

Simplicity is difficult

Emphasis: the stress or prominence given to an idea, object, or design element.

If all elements are of equal interest, no one of them will receive attention.

Unity: singleness of effect or style, related style, or totality of related parts

Repetition and consistency are crucial.

Balance: the "weight force" or influence countering the effect of another element in the display

Determining the visual weight of various design elements is difficult.

Derived from Sally Lancaster’s Exhibits in the Library

http://gort.ucsd.edu/preseduc/exhibits.htm

Exhibits as process: exhibits are authored, designed, created by people

Exhibit Development staff (museum staff, exhibit design firm, or combination)

• Curator-centric model– Curator as expert and author with support team of

assistants, designer, educator, registrar• Team model

– “Core” team (curator, designer, exhibit developer, educator)

– Broader team (adding one or more of the following: fund raising/development, marketing, collections manager, facilities manager, museum store manager (if merchandising is an issue), school programs coordinator, media specialists (web designer, etc.)


Exhibits as process: How are exhibits created?

Models for thinking about exhibit development

– Film production • Varied roles on the production team• Story boarding process

– Plot line and drama– Visual communication

– Research paper• Main message, point of view• Supported with scholarly research

– Amusement park ride• Planned experience, drama


How are museum exhibits different from other models (films, research papers, amusement rides)?

• Different goals• Different tools• Different relationship with the community



An exhibit mission statement?•Mission statements vs. plans

•Elements of an exhibit mission statement should reflect the museum’s mission statement

Exhibit goals

“Objects, ideas, and people are met in the interpretive exhibition, a kinds of narrative form. It is a narrative concerned with re-presenting the past, making present that which is not usually present” (Crew and Sims, p.173)

• Learning outcomes (changes in visitor knowledge, skills, attitudes, etc.)

• Experience design (what visitors will do and feel, how they will interact


Exhibits as a designed space: The toolkit

• Objects• Images• Text • Media • Interactives• Props• Live interpreters• Audience• Design of

Ambience/environment

• Infrastructure


An exercise:

Deconstruct two online exhibits

Discuss Civil War and Edison examples

Duluth Lynchings Online Resource

An award-winning Minnesota Historical Society virtual exhibit

Native American Art: Irish American Trade

A British Museum exhibit that is the focus of an IUPUI MSTD class and a possible Eiteljorg exhibit


http://collections.mnhs.org/duluthlynchings/



http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/stonyhurst/

deconstructing exhibits: what is an exhibit anyway?

Documents

viewerkinds of exhibits

favorite exhibit

example of museum exhibits

authority people

experience deconstructing

authenticity authority

reinvented museum

public exhibition