Hopefully, everyone had a relaxing holiday weekend! This week I’m tying in some ideas that I’ve been mulling over since the 101st NEMA conference. The theme was “What’s in it for Me?” and the answer isn’t always clear in our field that has low pay, large …
I’ve had some exposure to design thinking both professionally and as a student but it has always involved developing a usable product, either physical or digital. It wasn’t until I attended a session at the 2019 NEMA Annual Conference that I realized its potential for …
MASS MoCA has virtual reality (VR) experiences from Laurie Anderson, which you can view through 2020. She has developed projects there in the past and was an artist-in-residence. Anderson is a poet, filmmaker, vocalist, and multimedia artist, and the VR experiences of Chalkroom and Aloft showcased that. For both you would sit in a swiveling chair, place a VR headset with earphones over your head, and then were transported to another place and time that was like a curious dream of hers that you had entered.
Chalkroom is a massive labyrinth of black walls marked with chalk and glowing portals that you can fly through with a push of your arms. Aloft begins with you sitting in an empty plane that gradually comes apart around you until you are floating in the air, using your virtual hands to grasp at objects swirling around you, to listen to Anderson’s hypnotic anecdotes. When I experienced the latter, I grasped onto the seat because my stomach dropped at the illusion of being up high. In the former, I was giddy flying through and exploring the chalkroom. It was a strange coincidence that I had been seriously considering the importance of VR technology in museums just a month prior, and then got to experience it firsthand.
VR technology allows the audience to be emerged in the experience of a work of art, or it can act as a tour through a gallery. Curators, artists, and educators alike can utilize this technology for a new perspective on content. It connects to younger audiences that struggle to engage with static exhibits. VR can engage your hearing, movements, thinking, and visual perception. Though VR can draw people to museums, VR also means that people with impaired mobility or trouble accessing museums due to its location, cost, or social atmosphere can access great works of art and history from a remote location.
Money and timing are important factors. VR headsets can range from $20 to $1000 depending on whether you want headphones, hand controls, hand sensors, and a comfortable head clasp. By timing, I mean that if a museum could afford the technology, there would certainly be a limit on how much they could afford, so there may be two headsets that people must take turns to use, like at the Anderson installations that had six altogether and people had to schedule an appointment to have the experience. Despite this, VR technology can encourage new and returning visitors to offset the cost.
Hopefully, museums across the world will engage with this more immersive version of VR technology so that everyone can experience the richness of many cultures from close to home.
This week I traveled home to Pittsburgh, PA for a few days. While in town, I was able to stop by The Frick Pittsburgh to see the exhibition Katharine Hepburn: Dressed for Stage & Screen. The exhibition included clothing, pictures, posters, and original play bills from Hepburn’s productions and films. The clothing collection came …
First, we’d like to start with a land acknowledgement for Tufts University that we are grateful to borrow from an article in the Tufts Daily: Tufts University’s Medford campus is located on Wôpanâak (Wampanoag) and Massachusett traditional territory. Tufts’ Walnut Hill was once one of the …
Hello friends and happy Monday! We have details of two events happening this week for museum professionals to share with you. One is happening tomorrow, Tuesday, October 1, and the other on Wednesday, October 2. Both events are FREE but do require advance registration.
About:
Join us for a half-day workshop to consider VTS in a new light! Visitors today suffer from staccato looking: scrolling through Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat, making instantaneous assumptions about what they see. In order to be responsible citizens in an increasingly global society (with more and more focus on visual culture), visitors of all types need to develop their visual literacy. Doing so increases their ability to assess images and information of all types, including artwork, maps, and primary vs. secondary sources. This level of deep thought and critical thinking informs understanding of our shared human history and fosters a respectful curiosity.
After participating in this workshop, educators will understand Visual Thinking Strategies as a methodology of facilitating conversations about artwork and its broad applications in museum and historic site settings. Participants will learn how to build observation and communication skills in their audiences, how to encourage the consideration of multiple perspectives, how to use images/objects thoughtfully in program planning, and how to improve facilitation skills when teaching. Through small group work and VTS discussions, teachers will walk away prepared to employ an exciting technique that will strengthen audience engagement and foster critical and creative thinking in your museum or historic site.
When:
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
1:00 PM – 5:00 PM EDT
Where:
Otis House Museum
141 Cambridge Street
Boston, MA 02114
About:
Interested in learning about diverse professions in museums? Hear from a panel of MFA staff members in curatorial, education, exhibitions, conservation, marketing, public relations, and other departments as they discuss working in the museum world. Learn about their career paths, the challenges they encounter in their fields, and the opportunities they envision for the future of museum work. This event is free with Museum admission and open to all undergraduate and graduate students. Students attending institutions participating in the University Membership Program receive free Museum admission.
When:
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. EDT
Where:
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Barbara and Theodore Alfond Auditorium (Auditorium G36)
Avenue of the Arts
465 Huntington Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts 02115