Developing Online Museum Content

3/3

One project that I personally engaged into is the web content for TS118.blogspot.com, a former community of 1:18 scale hobbyists specializing in showcasing dioramas for public commercial exhibits in Manila, Philippines. The community is a resourceful group of hobbyists and collectors, majority Filipino and collectors of various popular 1:18 toylines such as but not confined to, Gijoe, Starwars, Marvel Universe, BBI, Bravo team and PTE.

Initially coming in as a collector for GIjoe line from vintage lines during the 80’s era and now the current 25th and 30th anniversary lines, the affirmation of membership raised involvement from active member, product reviewer, project lead and online content. The job which is pro-bono is one of those flexible projects with joint stakeholder status, a shared art direction with other active members in the group.

The site features artifacts in the nature of mostly 1:18 scale toys with associated toy lines depending suitability and blend to scale, of both contemporary and fictional military theme, carrying the name Toy Soldier, the chosen acronym for the group along with the 1:18 line. Varying from figures, vehicles, playsets and accessories, the cumulative output is a public exhibit of dioramas.

SCOPE OF CONTEMPORARY COLLECTION

Dioramas by definition refer to a 19th century mobile theatre device, or in present usage a three dimensional miniature model, in some cases enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum. Dioramas are popularly built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies such as military vehicle and figure modeling of varied scales.

The modern diorama is a scale model of a scene or a landscape showing historical or fictional events, natural and man-made structures viewed for education or entertainment. Miniature dioramas are typically smaller, with scales ranging for 1/48 to 1/100 scales, popular for hobbyists.

The group is particular to the 1:18 scale, but its adherence can include other scales as deemed fit for the said design or its blending to the current diorama. Lines include scales, everything from 1:15 to 1:20th and even accessories for smaller scales such as 1:72 and larger 1:6 for collective purposes and display.

Soldiers are currently defined as a land component member of national armed forces and thus where as a soldier hired in a foreign army is termed a mercenary. Basing from other languages, majority of cognates of the word “soldier” encompasses both commissioned and non-commissioned land forces.

On an etymological perspective, the word soldier comes from soudee, meaning shilling’s worth or wage, from the word sou or soud, which is a shilling. Before the 14th century, the middle English word Soudeour came about, having origins from Anglo-French word Soudeer meaning mercenary. Further back, these words were derived from late latin word Solidus, referring to an ancient Roman coin used in the Byzantine Empire.

Looking at the ancient times, where nations employed soldiers to fight for the state, the word soldier was appropriate for land forces that operate for either invasion or defense. Occupational designations have a more general meaning to the term soldier, since the birth of varied specializations and military occupations that require different areas of knowledge and skill sets. As a result “soldiers” are referred to by names or ranks that reflect the individual’s military specialization in terms of occupation, service or branch of military employment, type of unit or operational employment or technical use, such as trooper, tanker, commando, dragoon, marine, paratrooper, sniper, engineer, medic, gunner or ranger.

The 1:18 scale is a popular scale in the early 80’s using the soldier theme, starting its popularity with the rise of Starwar toy figures, carrying the science fiction genres of soldier into the concept. Then the next series had a more current and realistic military theme, GIjoe followed by other lines such as Chap Mei (mostly military with less realistic yet more play value and child-centric) in the 90’s to the more realistic military line BBI. However, care is applied to the use of too much realism to present day military vehicles, since the design itself is confined to Intellectual property agreements, thus licenses, patents and rights can be legally justified and claimed.

During the 2000 other toylines adopted the 1:18 format to sell, such as Marvel Universe, having its superhero theme different from the military line. Hasbro, toy manufacturer which gave rise to the GIjoe line managed to buy Kenner, toy manufacturer for Starwars and even Marvel universe, making it the main player for the 1:18 scale figures.

The Classification

The main classification for the assortment is basically Basic Product Line (Figure, Accessories, Vehicles and Playsets) and a Custom Line (Figures, Vehicles, Accessories, Playsets, Dioramas). Most of them are sectioned via the forum community, which disseminates information from other Toy forums of the same genres as well.

Categories for collectors, same as other toy forums, include MOC (Mint on Card) and MIB (Mint in Box) collectors, loose and play collectors, Army Builders and Customizers.MOC collectors gather collections and never remove it from the card or box, unless they have spare to play loose. Loose collectors use acquired collections for diorama and play value, while Army builders chose to buy numerous quantities of the same product to simulate group or an army. Kitbashers and Customizers alter and modify loose items to their personal tastes. It is natural that an average 1:18 collector is a combination of such categories, making it more of attributes rather than a distinct stage. However, there is a usual trend for MOC collectors to go loose and ascend to the next level.

A growing level however has rose since the accesses ability of digital photography, where collectors practice amateur, novice and professional photography to capture diorama pieces for a commercial event.

The final cumulating output is the commercial exhibit of the diorama, paved way by conventions and toy events, following a specific theme play of fictional design.

The Direction

The initial direction of the TS118 group was to include only soldier genres, which included a military theme revolving in a diorama fashion. This means that the diorama revolves on modern military genres to keep the toysoldier concept intact. Toylines like GI joe, BBI, Chap Mei and PTE have a profound adherence to the modern military concept, changing its design structures only for the play audience and constraints in design.

However with the birth of sci-fi genres and the use of occupational usage of the term soldier, the aspect of a government based, nation commissioned, armed citizen serving the state and country can now be debatable. Following future genres and concepts like Starwars, the Imperial Trooper serves a galaxy wide association of planets, incorporated with sentient races. The troops are term a soldier as not a representative of a nation, but a league of planets or galactic alliance. Rebel Soldiers in the same essence are not of national commission, rather a chosen affiliation with another galactic entity of sentient races from different planets, fighting for another type of governance contrary to the dominating Imperial.

The soldier term also is not confined to its association to the galactic level, it can also be found in the Superhero genres. Examining the continuities of Marvel Universe, soldiers are again not bounded by national affiliation or recruitment, rather to their secular or political faction. Hydra, a villainous organization of Nazi origin, employs soldiers that have no definite nationalistic affiliation and only directed on the beliefs and values practiced by their army. Others fictional organizations of both protagonist and anti-protagonist factions practice such terminology, no longer confining that a soldier ; in the confines of the superhero continuity is not bound to nation; its own group or secular affiliation.

However there are characters that coincide with the soldier concept in both fictional and contemporary military theme and genres. Characters like anti hero Wolverine has served in his prolonged lifetime as a military soldier, while Captain America is commissioned as a super soldier, is a soldier nonetheless. A number of popular characters share the same kind of attribute which also manifests coincidentally to the designed 1:18 scale.

This is the reason for the recent TS118 diorama, titled “Silent Xuperior” to replace the military soldier genres, to a comic universe concept of “soldier”. Hence the group has expanded its original scope of realistic military theme to embrace comic universe genres.

ARTISTIC CONDUCTION AND PROPRIETORSHIP

The group migrated from single proprietorship conduction and currently extending its stakeholder status to its active members. There is also a current move to even extend part of its decision making to the diorama conduction to community via polls, to strategize future themes and provide proper scheduling of an annual calendar for commercial activities and events.

Administration is covered by again active individuals, mostly senior members who were part of the original forum. Project leads are volunteered thru or assigned however revolved to active member’s capacity to give effort and time, as well as pledge a considerable amount in terms of diorama materials and artifacts.

Activity of decision making used to be confined to a few, and then slowly democratically conducted. The democratic channels involve more time for debate; it does produce better results since it involves the facilitation of more minds into the creative brew. The project lead now moves to a more facilitator approach of assimilating ideas from different people, looking if it fits into the diorama’s artistic design.

REVENUE CHANNELS

Revenue channels involve volunteer financial pledges and donations, sale of group merchandise such as shirts bearing the groups affiliation and logo.

However to achieve sustainability and remove its dependence to volunteer donations which can be unreliable and risky, there is a need to move to a non-profit organization thru the SEC. The option is to invite sponsors, suppliers and distributors to engage in funding events. Discounts from supply chains can also be formalized thru this action.

Future projects include restoration decal and custom sheets, events sales and hosting, parts casting and reproduction and maybe special coffee table books exhibiting diorama’s and design.

NICHE MARKET BASE

Market base is the community of majority Filipino collectors in a former community ranging to 400 plus members. Active members who post are however a fraction of that and a solid group of 20 or so individuals are the production team for the diorama exhibits.

Additional channels are then realized to increase public response, thru blogspot, multiply, and currently Face book. A member increased but so increases the number of spammers and trolls hence a lockdown of the Face book group to a closed status. Invitation becomes referral as administrative control.

ONLINE SHOWCASE

The community uses a huge amount of visual content, ranging from photographs, sketches and even CGI content apart from its physical diorama. For a particular time, videos are employed to give a multimedia aspect, however departed due to logistical constraints and equipment.

WHATS NEXT?

Depending on the action of the current active members, the diorama community TS118 will survive solely for its members. It can stay status quo as an organization making public dioramas for the 1:18 scale, sustaining its interest from volunteer pledges or grow to the next level by formalizing as a public entity, which in turn can administer and receive large donations and resources from its own catering industry, benefitting from supplier benefits, and creating more challenging dioramas for more commercial events in the future, becoming a developing museum for 1:18 scale artifacts, a unique form of content online.

Application of the Design Process

Part 2 of 3

Factors for the Online Revisionist Museum

Looking at the other application of new museology in professional and personal practice it came to a consideration to search for artifacts that are nearer to the interest of smaller and fragmented social groups. These artifacts may not have the prestigious cultural production and grand history of developmental design, it may be contemporary day by day items that have directly incorporated into everyday lives of the modern citizen.

Apart from the selection of everyday artifacts of cultural production, it came to account the facilitation of online museums. Rather than going for an online approach for an extension of marketing, a lure for potential visitors, the online medium can now be the host to replace the physical representation. Though the initial direction of the online museum websites can be additional modes of marketing to attract the potential visitors into their public spaces, there is also the access of visiting such venues due to demographical and regional constraints. Not everyone in the 3^rd world can afford a trip to Germany to view its many history and art museums, such as the Pergamon Museum of Berlin and the German Museum at Munich.

These online mediums can host a number of interactive layouts that can give a new sensory experience that can be near or at par with a real visit in a physical space. With the development of CGI (computer graphics), optimized imaging and real time interactivity in web browsers and applications, an online viewer can have the same visual appeal and maybe more, to receive an experience.

However, such facilitation cannot be all that free. The physical cost of providing space, is comparatively huge to an online domain and hosting, yet it still needs financial sustainability for its viewing content. For physical museums, incurring such costs is a given and minute relative to online development and content hosting, which they can derive revenue from ticket sales from various events. The new online museums have to have new channels to gather revenue from their niche community.

Finally the administration and proprietorship of the museum, unhampered by legal, social and financial constraints can allow even individuals to own and curate their own selections of artifacts. It is now possible since artifacts need not be valuable but still incur some cultural value to interest groups, an individual with the practice of selection, curation and exhibition can create their own online museums to showcase its collection. Such historical change, from the rich and elite stakeholders, to museum administrators and states, and now to individuals allow the content of cultural production to proliferate in an increased degree.

Museum of Online Museums

Coming across the documentary of museums of online museums, there is evidence of the development of such direction already existing. Here we have independent collectors, who have unique curation for contemporary artifacts, which can be viewed as special or bizarre. The documentary is a three-part series, produced by the Coudal Partners and Board of Directors of the Museum of Online museums and directed by Collection Director Kevin Gulfoile, The Curators focuses on these individual collectors and the artifacts they collected.

These online museums carry everday artifacts classified and collected in varies spectrum of cultural and social significance. The “Museum of Useful Things” as an example, showcases a collection of items and artifacts clustered by the range of different functions and the beauty of it. Classifications of functions include artifacts that affirm, carry, clean, hold, measure, organize, read and write, and assist. This online museum doesn’t hold the illusion of grandeur, nor its biases to social domination nor its biases to elite of upper class, more of modern items grouped or selected for their purpose, structure, design, value, history and distinction.

Another museum, “Plan59” emphasizes on a collection of graphics and prints for mid century works, ranging designs and motifs from 1950-1960. Though the collection is updated to be a mix of digital and traditional contemporary works, what is exhibited is the specific aesthetics and art form practiced for that particular era. The finish, choice of color, the angles and even the selection of objects in question has a specific range of design, distinct to that era but retroactively reintroduced to the modern public thru an online channel.

One might wonder for the revenue streams for such online museums and its sustainability. Some of these online museums gain revenue not from the sponsored “web hits” or direct visit sales, but the supplementary mediums that further affirms the interest of the viewer. Coffee Table books, Catalogs, Storage and archival devices and tools, classification ranges are all supplementary mediums that earn revenue for the online exhibits. Rather than charging fees to the visits, these museum charge cost to those who want to increase their interest to the showcased artifact, having them purchase special items, acquire storage for similar artifacts, printed collaterals and other indirect forms of revenue to sustain their online operations.

Tracing a Frame work

Studying the conduction of how the revisionist paradigm of museum are made and applying it to online content and approaches, there could be conclusion to the different aspects or areas that would lead to its conduction and nature. The following will list these areas, either as a distinct characteristic or a competitive advantage versus to physical or brick and mortar museums.

1. Showcase of Contemporary Everyday Collections

Artifacts given emphasis are of everyday nature, can be overlooked pieces of varied monetary value but given relative perceived significance to the collection. Artifacts may not be expensive or extravagant as long as its classification and viewer affirmation is realized.

2. Individualistic Artistic Conduction and Proprietorship

Small groups or even individuals manage the exhibit of online collections, carrying the tedium of classification, acquisition, display and archive of work. Proprietary ownership can be shared or individual.

3. Indirect Revenue Channels

The online sites have indirect modes to earn revenue to achieve sustainability. The can incorporate supplemental material such as coffee table books, collection kits, artifact or collection auctions to gain revenue for their operations.

4. Niche or Captured Market Base

The sites have a steady group of followers who loyally follow the updates of the online showcases, even an online community to continue the affirmation to the showcased collection. Channels can be tapped for revenue earning and events conduction.

5. Online Showcase Facilities

Site employs varied mode of interactivity and dynamism to view the showcases online. Flash, Web 2.0, even mobile developed applications can be tapped for the viewers online.

These five characteristics are observed common distinct properties for the online museum though may not be confined to such. There might be more properties that govern as characteristics for such, however citing to personal study, these are the properties that are leaning towards the revisionist museum context.

Refining the Exhibit Design Process

PART 1/3

The Final paper will show the incorporation of the new museology applied to professional work. The aim is apply new museology and open new considerations in either exhibiting pieces, choosing mode of conduction and even designing the space for the masses.

t how revisionists model the modern museums, I wish to incorporate an application to a design process for exhibit preparation. The framework is of individual application and can be adapted to exhibit work, following the paradigm of new museology. The areas of exhibition are as follows:

1. Museum Administration - people in charge for management of museum collections, logistics and storage of artifacts. (colored light blue due to indicate association)

2. Museum Curator – assigned or appointed curator of works/artifacts for the given museum space with art direction/selection in mind with the given theme or exhibit direction. (colored light blue due to indicate association)

3. Artifact Collection – collection of works where the curator will have to select the artifacts for the said exhibit, and will have the same stakehold as the Public Audience (colored light blue due to indicate association)

4. Design Process – process of deliberation, conception and production of cultural spaces for the said direction, as given emphasis by the curator, to effectively reflect the objectives of the exhibitions to the general exhibit viewer. This includes production resources such as manpower or staff, equipment and materials pertinent to the exhibit conduction.

5. Exhibition – actual duration of the exhibit proper to the audiences, where the event happened and conducted with the viewers. During this time, there may be incidental changes to cope with viewer traffic and even response to the exhibit.

6. Design Constraints – constraints in space, materials, budget, and all other physical facets that deal with the exhibition conduction and production.

7. New Museology – not as an area of constraint, but deals with the consideration of intangible but relative aspects of exhibit conduction and preparation, such as cultural aspects of audiences and other stakeholders, integrity of exhibit conduction for the masses, accessibility to the viewers, the selection of contemporary works or artifacts and deterrence to predominant secular or individual interest or preference to upper elitist social strata, to the exhibit collection.

8. The Audience – the mass viewer, and at certain times the target market, though it can be debated under the incorporation of the new museology.

The process stems were initially the museum administration planning in agreement with the exhibit curator the theme or concept of the exhibit itself. Both parties agree on the rough concept while the curator begins sorting the artifact collection for the exhibit. There would be design constraints on the size, the transportation, the exhibit condition and the rarity of the selected artwork would be set.

Items may be valuable that it requires additional security and encased in glass modules and viewed from a particular standpoint. Item may be large that it requires transportation to the exhibit area, such as cranes and reinforced module to bolt the structure for the safety of the viewers.

Then applies the new museology design spectrum, carrying the revisionist museum mode of conduction, looking at artwork or artifact as a valid representation of cultural production, it’s not adherence to elitist bourgeois hegemonic culture, an object of racial and cultural affirmation and its relativity to the audience. All of these become factors for deliberation to proceed with the exhibit production:

The item that is valuable is considered as a product of black American slavery under a white man colonial rule, which emphasizes its tyrannical rule of the time. Perhaps another less valuable object of everyday importance may be selected that removes the sectarian advocacy and representation of power can be selected for the exhibit. The said item is huge and exposes too much perceived grandeur that it visually intimidates viewers, covering its importance to the theme of the exhibit, perhaps a modest, smaller piece with the same aspect of cultural relevance can be selected for the exhibit.

After determination of the selection or collection, the curator and his staff will deliberate further to see if such aspects are covered. Once agreed upon, they can move to the next mode of the design process, which carries out the actual production itself.

The use of the spaces, such as viewer traffic, its accessibility and its movement about the spaces can be studied and designed after. It can also include how the exhibit pieces are mounted and prepared for viewer study. All of these fall into the design constraints which may include manpower and budget for its preparation. Additional cost for exhibit modules and mounts are considered in this phase.

Following this, an application of the new museology paradigm can be applied. Questions such as will the mounts and modules to grand and excessive for the audience that they will be intimidated viewing it. Are the modules and artifact placements too complex for a general viewer to follow that they have the tendency to avoid or disregard traffic flow in the process.

It may be the choice of mounts and partitions can be replaced by more passive and subtle pieces to have the viewer focus on the artifact itself. Though the experience can be debatable, the look and feel can be replaced with the choice of lighting to alter the mood, thus removing the cost of expensive mounts and modules. The process can also narrow down costs inflated by excessive selection of exhibit mounts and stands, rented or acquired; it does have substantial changes to replace.

The final phase of the exhibit is the event itself. Again designs constraint can continue, from the performance to even the food catering and ushering of viewers. All can involve cost in space and resources. The new museology paradigm can be applied as additional points in consideration, particularly in the advent of relevancy for such conditions and even incidental situations.

The performance can be perceived as too much grandeur for the audience in a stage, thus a moving performance on a predetermined path would be more of an experience than sitting at the back of a huge stage. The audience can even interact with the performers and re-affirm the experience. Food catering that includes caviar can be too expensive and too much class that viewers would defer eating. More modest servings of common biscuits or food pieces with some association with the exhibit theme would be more engaging for the viewers, again emphasizing on the look and feel.

The overall process assumes that the exhibition will carry over with no changes in its beaucratic channels and administration, where the new museology supplements decision making in various phases of exhibit production and additional debate, which can be perceived a longer but a more engaging process for the stakeholders, particularly exhibit and event organizers.

The Exhibit Proposal

To cut down on the activity of event production and preparation for the exhibition, it may be possible to apply new museology or revisionist mode of thinking to the phase of pre-production, the proposal itself. The exhibit proposal can be subject to various revisions and debate before exhibit production, to reveal it real intention and foresee reactions of the audience to the exhibited collections. Guide questions in line to such considerations will cut down costs and energy in experiencing it along the process and will be a better result of exhibit planning.

Submitting an exhibition proposal

A proposal provides an outline and details of an exhibition or project. It should include:

A short biography or curriculum vitae, and contact address.

A description of your past and current art practice or interests

An exhibition/project outline simply explaining:

Your ideas, purpose or concept,

Why you would like to exhibit at this Gallery,

What benefit or relevance it would have to the local community,

Practicalities such as preferred dates, dimensions, no. of works

Any costs and how you expect to cover them.

Slides, photographs or video of your work. Approx. 5 - 10 clear and detailed examples, as much like the work you intend to exhibit as possible.

Please note that...

An outline of the Gallery's cultural objectives is below.

The Gallery plans its exhibition program up to two years ahead.

Floor plans of the Gallery's exhibition spaces may be requested . You may inspect potential spaces. Site specific works are welcome and unusual spaces may be free sooner than the main Galleries.

The deputy Director is available to discuss and help you prepare a proposal.

The Gallery provides insurance, installation assistance, labelling, an opening, invitation printing and publicity. Catalogue production, unusual publicity, freight or installation costs and touring of the exhibition must be negotiated and may depend on success in gaining outside funding. Artists fees are negotiated.

Your proposal will be returned after review by the Gallery's Program Committee. Refer to Proposal Assessment criteria.

Proposals should be sent to: Wollongong City Gallery, Locked Bag 8821, Wollongong NSW 2500. Attention: Director.

Proposal Assessment

Your proposal will be assessed by the Gallery's Program Committee for its potential interest to audiences, particularly local ones.

The Gallery also tries to balance the number of exhibitions over several years:

In different media: sculpture, painting, crafts, photography etc.

Of male and female artists.

Of local artists, as well as interstate and international artists.

Representing specific cultural or ethnic perspectives.

Relevant to contemporary social issues.

Your proposal does not need to address all these issues, however if it is not accepted it may be because we have already scheduled similar exhibitions. Below is a typical format with guide questions for a museum or exhibit committee decide the proposal:

Exhibit Title: - is the title relevant to said theme or adheres to the proposal made?

Topic: - is topic presented consistent with the chosen theme, curation and title.

Concept / Statement: - is the concept catering to a specific audience? and an audience that the space can readily provide adequate traffic? is the concept leaning towards a specific group and its viewing affirms the visitor's belonging to the group?

Exhibit Objectives: are objectives in line with the concept and statement? are the stakeholders for the exhibit have all been considered for the group.

Target Audience: Is the exhibit for a general audience? is it for a specific market with what demographics or attributes?

Venue / Date / Exhibit Time: is the duration of the exhibit time accessible, convenient or conducive to the target audience identified?

Collaterals: is the chosen collateral adequate for the said audience? do you need varied modes or channels to announce?

Collaborators/Partners/Sponsors: are sponsor parties neutral to the theme? do they have influences on the conduction or direction of your concept?

Project Budget Statement: will the budget be enough support the vision of the concept/theme?

Opening and Other Events: will it conducive relative to its target audience or demographic?

Lighting: will lighting provide relative mood to the viewer experience?

Exhibition Layout Plan: will the layout convenient and accessible for its audience, considering its dynamic movement and flow?

The guide questions are designed to further look at the relative approach to viewers for the exhibit. The importance of relating to the target market, as identified thru demographics hopes to give a viewer experience that will further affirm their belonging to the group. These however is one of the many ways to apply the new museology, and incorporate the revisionist's conduction to one's exhibit or lead proposals.

THE CULTURE WARS (VIII)

The new museology

LYNNE MUNSON

THE CULTURE WARS (VIII)

The new museology

LYNNE MUNSON

The mindset of modern man today is an expectation level in a museum to react to and acquire information from a primary experience of viewing art. The sensory experience we create is to somehow cluster the information for come out with a personal definition of art versus other aspects of reality we everyday perceive. The culture wars expresses how we as society in general, depend on art museums to provide thru sensory experience and visual detail or representation, the best examples of man’s product with respect to its civilization.

The plight of pluralistic institutions, as the article discusses, is the movement of many museums to alter their physical façade, revamping exhibit programs and changing the idea of aesthetic quality for the masses. The original intent of simply enriching the viewer’s minds, through the use of its celebrated aesthetic excellence regardless of origin, has evolved to a prescriptive institution, dedicated to a different narrative and deconstruction. The objective of such revisionist art museum is to replace the concept of just a showcase of progressive evolution of artistic achievement to, (to quote) a hero-less tale of cultural production.

The article also states Arthur Danto, an art critic and Columbia professor, whose words expresses the “museum of interest and identity” which emphasizes the visits to the museum is not an intellectual act, but a political one. Our response to art is characterized by our demographic properties; such as race, class, and sex, however the revisionist museum assumes we seek art to affirm our group identity. The experience of art starts from an interest; an inclination to further affirm his/her group status which the viewer belongs. Realizing this art is there for the sake there is that interest.

The revisionist museum, as a result, has works catered to specific interests and genres for the different subclasses. A typical Filipino middle class office worker would want to see works that is done by or produced at least of his or her social class. As cited, Black visitors will be only interested in African art, with many permutations of the same race-class-gender based diversity allows.

The change from the single audience which in the early days of the museums hosted by the elite and the wealthy to showcase their collections, was for the visitor seeking to experience greatness. Connoisseurship was the practice of museums relied on determination of quality, setting aside stylistic differences, delivering art objects from any culture that would convey its aesthetic greatness. This direction is why Danto argues why such quality imposes an irrelevant concept, which should not be for the revisionist museums.

Benjamin H.D. Buchloh, a Art Historian and museum curator, called this quality a central tool for which bourgeois hegemonic culture (the white male western culture) has been traditionally used to exclude and marginalize all other cultural practices. This leaves a discriminating underlying tone for museums to compare why such art piece is better than the other, why this period of art is successful than the other, creating a cultural prejudice in showcasing works. To quote; it has been “Classification has come to be seen as an act of domination.

Rather than going for such directions, the revisionist museums highlights established hierarchies of masters, mediums and movements. There are no comparative classifications to force cultural rule, premeditated or unintentional. The goal of such museums is to create standards are relative, where everything becomes art and where politics is left free to guide the museum’s mission

Such changes do need some visible evidence of transformation for such museum mission. The change once intimidating facades and grand doorways for large museums are then supplemented by more subtle entrances that are more inviting for the masses. The situation of mass inviting venues around museums, such as commercial complexes and car parks, is a way of inducing museum visits. The classical grand staircases and ramps, an element of physical work to seek a reach state of knowledge, is now changed to lifts and smaller yet functional access ways to give the museum is little apart from the associations and surroundings of everyday life.

The modern revisionist museum has now given public association to the masses, even to all ages and cultural breeding, that it is as normal to visit the place as you would visit a shopping mall and a supermarket, making it part of everyday living. The change to postmodern collections, which included multicultural emphasis to incorporate, is not of greatness or grandeur, but more artifacts portraying cultural production. Even if historical artifacts of a specific genres or cultural origin, can now be exhibited with different artifacts, given a specific art direction or theme, a practice not done previously in old museums. Contemporary collections can now be more appreciated by the masses, not dictated by social or political grandeur, turning these once elitist collections to a more relative showcase.

However the popularity and growth of museums have a purposive intent of increasing revenue from ticket sales, merchandise and exhibits. With blockbuster projects in mind, they incorporate the revisionist and post modern projects so that they can sell overpriced catalogs and other items in their souvenir store.

Though revisionists claim their goal is to be more audience centered than a traditional museum, it however shows a remarkable lack of interest in public opinion. For public sensitive showcases, museum professionals and admin would dismiss criticism as of sectoral manipulation, politically motivated and even philistinism. When faced with controversies, these revisionist museums will not allow public opinion to dictate its action, as not to compromise its plight for the freedom of expression. Bergman, president of American Association of Museums, suspects such controversy is the result not of honest public critic but an individual or a group with a political or theological or philosophical commitment. Revisionist museums in their perception would be on the a leadership role rather than reactive to the community.

Professional Adaptation

Reading the changes of how museums are now constructed to a more people-centric and mass inclined content and transformation, certain actions can be applied to the current professional artistic practice.

One way it culturally defines an exhibition, to highlight the relative basis of why should the showcase or collection is an affirmation of the chosen cultural group or niche. An example is that of the creation of dioramas, of a given scale, will the market for such artifacts in any way develop an experience that will further their sense of belonging and progress to a more concrete participation to its development. Another could be a showcase of black and white photography of miniature texture and assortment, answering will it increase the activity of creation of similar works, achieving a cultural entropy for the given market.

Another way of application of how the revisionist concept is to see the specific behaviors that will entice and attract viewers to the contemporary collection. Will exhibits or its venues be near or accessible to the masses or particularly the specific market? Will its conduction hours appeal to its viewers or its programming suitable or convenient for such human traffic?

Finally, even the change of mode, the exhibit or museum is transformed. Looking at online museums, the mode or structure is not a marketing tool or a lure to attract physical viewers but to embrace the revisionist concept of pluralistic institutions creating exhibits of cultural production. Websites can now replace the structure of how museums brick and mortar elements, which can be financially expensive. The World Wide Web can now also proliferate the growth of independent showcases from museums to a more individual and personal administration.

Interpreting the new museology

Interpreting the new museology

Max Ross

Lichfield

Interpreting the new museology*

Max Ross**

Lichfield

Looking at the study, where perceptions of how the modern museums should be managed to address the needs of the general public, there is some amount of resistance of change in their respective coordination in the manner of how such direction is to be carried out. A general concept of the museum is an institution that manages a collection of artifacts which has scientific, artistic or historical value, displayed in permanent or temporary exhibition. Demographically, if not by deliberate intent, larger museums are situated in major cities around the world, and smaller one exists in smaller cities, to even towns and the countryside.

Initially early museums were private collections hosted by the wealthy and privileged classes, giving importance to their social strata. However since the elitist rule and governance has changed over the century, the mode of museums is now on the direction of educating the masses by educating them into the museum experience. More modes of delivery are carried to museums, from renovating the once mighty and intimidating structure to subtle and accessible areas of space, to digital galleries available in the web.

There has been a move to remove the elitist stigma of large museums, by allowing communal commercial spaces to rise near their exhibit spaces and redesigning their façade to make the common folk welcome to its premises. Strategies like having museums near parking lots and even malls delivers a more acceptable feel for the public, in the progress of eliminating the old sense of high class grandeur.

For the collections to still sustain the perusal, study and exploration, museums now began to redirect its energies and undergo a new museology that wasn’t its aim during the last century. Museology is defined as a diachronic study of how spaces, specifically museums, were established and developed to fulfill the role as an educational tool, given current social and political pressures. The endeavor is to discover catalysts , a difficult task for curators and historians, to produce exhibits and displays that effectively appeals to varied public, withstanding stimulated criticism. The research on the article shows that there are issues to such audiences where exhibits are directed, as well as the change of function and responsibility and its deliberation for the possible future.

The Museum Concept

The new direction, behind the creation of museums is to foremost remove arbitrary private collections and open the open these collections to the public audience, to be appreciated and profit from the experience that is communally shared rather than selfishly confined to a targeted few. The accessibility of these collections, initially for the elite and the privileged will now be shared by the masses. However, as the article suggest, the movement is not an easy task and skepticism arises how this paradigm shift is indeed sustainable even with private and publicly funded by foundations.

The simple task of merely inviting the wealthy and powerful class to private galleries and exhibits has now a new ball game of showcasing the same valuable artifacts to the normal and average modern citizen, who initially may or may not care about the exhibition itself, but will have appreciated the museum experience. The rise of globalization, frequent traffic of various races of different breeding and geographical origin makes the museum concept more difficult, since the market is indeed wider and its tastes varied, to the extent to some may be almost unpredictable.

The question of the paradigm shift is also debatable due to the move of museum funding, which during classical times are from the noble elite and its foundations to now modern private foundations and associations with little or no class distinction. The dependency now lies on the number of visitors, its revenue from the daily entrance fees. The service of museums has now changed, since it is going to be run like a business enterprise targeting its collections to general public. For 1^st world nations, the general public is a homogeneous blend of different races and creed, of varied breeding and social class, and of different values and cultural beliefs. This is a different departure for the closed audience of Caucasians nobles which belong to the social A class. Finding ways to attract the attention of varied tastes of a varied audience becomes a real challenge for those managing the museum. For some people as in the article, is simply something that they are not equipped to or not their job. It is a different matter altogether to market the collections and exhibits as opposed to managing its artifacts, preserving, classifying and storing the artifacts. Dealing with the public is an additional item for the job description, to some organizationally is not open for such change.

Bauman’s thesis expresses the role of museum professionals will also change, to an extent of legislator to interpreter. The commitment stems to new methods of representing the artifacts, its labor, technology and finally the product. The classical and old paradigm revolves on physical structures and machinery, where the social elite transcend the behavior, the upbringing, the insights and perception of individualistic values and beliefs that is confined to education for the privileged. The use of museums then was to cultivate the upper classes formation of social context, to intentionally undergo legislative transformation to what they perceive to as the perfect citizen. However the other side of the collections of value and grandeur is the interpretation of these elements, to further strive for excellence and aim for progress, became a loss potential.

There is now a quest for democratic politics of representation needed which departs from the once monocultural ethnocentric perspective which induces this legislative vision of culture in the artifacts they display. Realizing this, there is a move to increase the number of artifacts to include even the popular everyday items and crafts, so that the interest of the general public can be sustained. Pop culture and modern contemporary themes are now included and integrated to the spaces to substitute the classical forms and open an interpretive approach to perception of study, exploration and self-discovery.

To quote one a statement I find in the article quite appealing to the new museology :

“we’re trying to encourage the Asian community to use us as a resource for their culture as well

because their culture is now interwoven with the culture of the city and resources such as ourselves should be open to them, museums and social inclusion has drawn attention to the duality of commitment and resistance to change.”

The shift from the monoculture legislation and grooming to an open multicultural interpretation is the move our exhibits and museums is already apparent in museums today. It is just the continued perseverance, commitment and dedication to the new museology can we really say that these collections are for the masses.

Application to the Design Process

It becomes a conscious effort to communicate thru visual and sensory expression that people, especially the masses can relate to. The question of how these compartments of culture and history can function for the public, if they come from diverse social economic backgrounds. On a local perspective, I would say the only discrimination comes from our social economic classes, its relative number over the huge percentile of C,D, E classes. The restraint of quality education hampers any action for perceptive formation, and on my personal view, an initial legislator mode of action can be made just to drive the masses to a standard cultural state or level.

It will be really difficult to create a substantial progress from masses which need more educational awareness, though it can be debated by exposing the lower economic classes to arts may uplift their way of thinking, mental state and perception. If indeed true, this can change their mental framework altogether, and in some way alleviated them from their current economic state and in a bigger scale cure poverty in general.

The direction is quite a longshot for the 3^rd world and the model in a personal sense, be applicable for 1^st world countries of the western hemisphere. The degree of democratic rule, the socio-political chastes and rampant corruption are deterring factors that will externally help museums and exhibits go for the new museology.

However all is not in vain. The liberty of expression for the youth and the younger generation is still open and subject for progressive reform. A mental mindset can be infused by using contemporary exhibitions that point into a positive, progressive feel, sublime and incorporated to the showcase of artifacts. This component of democratic intent with a persuasive feel of positivism in a constructivist expression in continued exhibitions may expose the public to a better progression than its demise.

Let me end with a statement I find beneficial to such action in the article:

” may provide for those who go beyond the novitiate stage, order, identity and commitment. For those who do not pass beyond this stage, it can sometimes be wounding and seen as meaningless (what Bourdieu calls ‘la violence symbolique)"

A Museum is a Museum is a Museum...Or Is It?:

Reaction to and Action to:

A Museum is a Museum is a Museum...Or Is It?:

Exploring Museology and the Web.

Lynne Teather, Ph.D.

Traditional vs. the New

The museum, historically in the olden times, was to show collections that targeted the elitist social groups. The creation of menageries, as an example, showed extensive collection of living artifacts transferred from their natural habitat to amuse and enlighten the privileged and educated class. The social class during that time, is hindered by time and travel to view these wonderful creatures in their natural environment and thus for their convenience given the sight to marvel them in captivity. The same can be seen for non-living artifacts, taken from their places of origin, so that the rich and the wealthy can view, dwell, and reflect on these collections, preserved in time and space, in a place of convenience and its archive the result of social cultivation from the upper class.

Following the age of Renaissance, were the hierarchy of man is prevalent in social classes, discriminate of royalty and peasantry, following the perpetuity of social segregation, as governed by centuries of feudal chaste, museums are mere constructs to display the elitists rule. The demise however has been destroyed over the past century, when the birth of modern society developed mass production, new systems of governance and economy changed the roles of museums altogether. Ever since education and economy has been distributed to the masses, museums prime purpose has changed as well.

The museum today has no longer been to serve the upper chaste. Instead the collections and its archives are now for the eyes of the public and generally for everyone. Democratically the masses which enjoy the once luxury in the olden eras, can view the artifacts, reflect and learn from its creation and processes which then continue as tangible signs of a developing civilization.

The Global Presence has Factors

With the birth of the global village as Marshal McLuhan forseen, the community now shares a new frontier is further expanding the reaches of the traditional museum. Rather than confining the artifacts of the museum in a three dimensional space, the new virtual museums give a new array of sensation and direction. These museums are now open for free collaboration and pave way to new classifications of curation , giving out unique blends of collections that are never before classified.

Listing below are from what I observe as factors that lead to the development of the virtual museums and its progression online:

1. Marketing – traditional physical museums, constructs of holding artifacts of historical, scientific and artistic value to this modern age, want to expand it presence to the public in order to increase the flow of viewers into its space. Museums can be funded privately and to ensure its upkeep, sustainable revenue is a considering factor.

2. Educational value – the advent of education by giving the viewer the feel or experience in a museum by showing an array of images that can attract their interest is another factor in spaces virtual progression. Museum websites provides the sensory teasers, basically in a visual format of the artifacts they contain, to enable viewers to be lured into ultimately visiting its physical space. The raise of interest, the call of curiosity and the sensory museum experience is what an online viewer can crave for; as a gallery showing the various artifacts is shown in the website’s pages are displayed. Education is now of voluntary interest, but yet can be collaborative in form.

3. Convenience – not all viewers however have the luxury of visiting an art museum from half across the globe to view its collections. The online galleries enable people from Asia to glance images of artifacts in North America, or other regions that are made remote, by distance or economy. The websites though can lure visitors from its regional domain, can also raise interest for the convenience of a viewer thousands of miles away.

4. Economy – the feasibility of travel just for curiosity and search for knowledge just to visit an museum such as the Smithsonian and the Louvre can be very hindering for a citizen of the 3rd world. Even if the intent of the museums is to empower the masses with the wealth of knowledge of its archives and collections, the cost relative to its region and its economy defeats its purpose if the museum chooses to remain physical and tangible. Thus websites enable viewers to grasp the feel of the pieces, in a limited sensory scale, thru visual and spatial content.

5. Inventory – the problem of most museums is holding its curation of works and its exhibits on a temporary stance, not able to show everything due to the lack of space. Huge spaces within museums are employed to store its valuable artifacts in order to preserve them for the next show. Virtual museums enable the viewer to see these artifacts in the choice of categories and classifications at ease, to even see items that were stored and vaulted for another exhibit in due time.

6. Conservation – all the travel as well as the effort to bring artifacts into exhibits, its curation, and its production requires management, finances, and travel. The websites allow savings in the conduction of such for both the viewer and the physical space by relieving it with stresses of increased spending of fuel and resources for travel, use of marketing and exhibit materials and dependency to physical resources, allowing conservative measures to take place. Even the storage of materials in real space versus the digital format is obviously conserved to the manner that it can fit into a computer hard disk.

7. Interactivity – the viewer also needs not travel in a linear activity such as a guided tour, but can choose the path taken by interactively choosing the section and classification of artworks he/she desires. This departs the use of a linear approach to present work, and dynamically have the viewer react to self discovery by allowing them freedom to choose their path.

8. Spatial Relation and Scale – these are some of the inadequacies that limits the sensory array of the museum experience. The items shown are mere scanned or photographed images, which removes the perception of real space, and in contrast to visual feel, the actual scale of the artifact in relation to the viewer. Although it is possible to navigate into the very magnification of the artifact to its minute detail, the perception of real scale is not felt and its satisfaction for me is very artificial. Modern virtual spaces also have the one of the most unfriendly navigational access, which takes time to master and even if did, can be very cumbersome.

9. Sensational Feel – visual and auditory material can be easily hosted in the website, however other sensory perceptions are limited due to its intangibility. Multimedia has always tried to compensate this with the use of graphics and simplified interfaces, yet the scent of an old painting and the rough texture of a raw metal structure is what complete the museum experience. There is no real replacement for an actual visitor to satisfy the sensory perception with a simple touch or a whiff, a validation that the artifact is indeed real and tangible in all aspects.

Applications to the Design Process:

Knowing the limitations of online content to showcase museum collections, we can work around these factors to effectively create a museum experience. An online exhibit can have captured performances that a viewer can watch over and over again, iterating its educational and perceptive value. A viewer can post documentary comments and even collaborate with others in a virtual community launched by the museum to participate in shaping or constructing future exhibitions in its galleries. The factors can comprise a component to “front-end” exhibitions to effectively market to its target audience while maintaining a smaller group that can afford to be in its physical conduction.

In the design process, one can document the step by step process of the artwork, post in communities for a running critique, to the extent the artwork achieves perfection due to its collaborative nature. The construction is now a larger body, which increases the formation of education through experience, in a different mode of communication, in this case online.

The factors can also be a component for decision making to mirror its content, not just too basically market. The exhibition can achieve permanency rather than temporary lease due to its nondependent nature to true space and time. Captured video and images perpetuate its original content to its viewers.

There is much to gain with the new frontier. The next mission is to see what other things individuals have explored in undertaking an online approach to museums.

La jetée 1962 by Chris Marker

The viewing of the film made me reflect on factors than have a surface deep appearance and reaction particularly on interpretations and original intent of the film maker. Films are like windows which transcend the viewer to the film-maker's world of imagination. Governed by philosophical value, current cultural, societal and regional change, these become external factors that for a normal viewer take less for granted. This maybe because of the length of the film, its space where it is being shown, the subjective intent of the exhibition.

However whatever the original intention is, the reactions are relative to the viewer's social class and breeding, regional origin, cultural and societal status and other associated demographics that may conclude but not necessarily predict the reactions. Such stimuli of senses does not guarantee the same effect in reaction and behavior, or does it predict the general interpretation of the film in concern.

For this, I came across the idea of relativity, where the viewer may have different reactions and interpretation of film, not constraint even to time, but driven by external factors like the accompanying audience, frequency of views and even space it was delivered, the reactions would differ. Thus unless the viewers have the same demographics, it can be said the majority reaction or interpretation can be generalized or predicted but neverless not exactly the same. Difference in thought processes, individual belief and value, affiliation to community can be the attributes that constitutes part of the external factors.

I want to give note on particular elements of the film that gives me new perception in appreciating the film and its intent.

1. Slides instead of Film - the shots are fragmented photos in time, a snipet to give the sense of time travel and transistion, never complete, but like a memory constitutes a reality of an image that the filmmaker wants to see.

Only in one portion of the film where an eerie awakening of the eyes of a woman, sets this deliberate treatment aside, thus assuring that the delivery is intentional and with reasoning and cause. The reaction is a reflective understanding, and subject to interpretation, either its a departure from the created reality of the film, an awakening from the still world, a higher transition to a reality which the viewer is attuned too

2. Grayscale - the absence of color gives it an effect that the film's world is absolute, its moods concrete, fixated on the scenerios that gives the essence and affirms the heavy reality. It conveys the strong, resilient and bare scenes, which in terms of layout and photography, strenghtens the mood and motivation in the film. The strengh of such delivery to my vantage point, gives the feel of urgency, demise, and motivation to carry out the scenarios in the film. This hieghtens the illusion of bringing the viewer near to the eyes of the filmmaker, making him/her feel the sensation as if it is within their bound of senses.

3. The Museum - the use of the exhibit space, filled with stuffed animals and still artifacts mirrors the world within a world, delivering the audience deeper into a reality of the filmmaker, to the reality of the protagonist, to the reality of his supposed time travel. Its formation gives for me the reflection of framing, deliberate design, capturing more snipets in a scene which is fiction yet its form concretely fact.

4. Time Travel - the most prominent concept I have from watching the film and genres. I am deeply fascinated with the concept, which bounded by laws of physics and our perception of the real world, impossible in todays terms. However thanks to the film, we can experience the sensation of time travel, by watching into the films, delivered into the space or world, removed from our current time and space, touching the possibilities laid upon its maker. The conception is in some truth, time travel itself, since our thought processes goes vis a vis with that of the film, which is in turn not bounded by our current realm of time and space. The senses travel to infinite possibilities, which in the segmentation of possibilities of what we percieve as reality, is broken by the thought of dream and imagination, of perception.

Design Application for the Creative Process

Looking at how the narrative is, and relating to current design practice, my observation of detail has moved from the physical to a more metaphorical relation of how things came to be, or the purpose or the original intent. Realizing this, the details are not supposed to be always derived from form, but move to a relationship of association, properties or attributes that fall, in either direct or diverse considerations.

A figure of a cobra can be be interpreted a number of ways, such as a symbol of death, a symbol of cure, a symbol of threat, a symbol of warning, a symbol of revolt. Things can be viewed in difference of aspect, since the cobra may have poisonous fangs, its medicinal use for different cultures is still apparent. Thus the choice of the symbol by popular sense can be broken down to its many representations and dissected for further association, depending on cultural and social differences.

An additional facet for symbolic representation or association confined to the audience can be made, to further determine its direction of original intent and effectively seen or reflected upon by audiences.