Fieldtrip to Churchill Museum 8 April, 2009
Posted by mdzoon in digital strategies, exhibitions, interactivity, week 6.add a comment
Hello everyone, and sorry for the delay.
As you can see, instead of wasting time on a nice walk in the park and the first sunbathe of the year I am using the Eastern break to play catch up with writing and laboriously forge texts for the profit of the others and myself.
In the beginning, I will remind you all the aim of this post: almost a month ago we visited Churchill Museum and, by the chance, adjacent Cabinet War Rooms. Thus, I would like to share some of my personal feelings, and if you will find below something deserving any notice, to spark further discussion.
The first observation relating to the museum came to my head just in front of the main entrance. 3 years ago, during my first visit to London, I had stood at the same place totally oblivious to the fact that 3 meters below me exist the heritage treasure employing cutting-edge technology and multimedia displays for the entertainment and learning of common folk. This significant fact shows my shameful lack of knowledge (2006) about leading institutions in the British heritage sector, as well as sheds some light on audience of the Churchill Museum. The exhibition rather aims to attract visitors interested in WWII, churchillians, and citizens of USA, then occasional passers-by looking for easy pleasures.
Indeed, the complex maze of rooms hidden under the vaults of the Treasury does not bring any light-hearted joy. Burden of concrete and steel separating War Rooms from the outside world, dim light, austere conditions of subterranean dwelling offers claustrophobic feeling. The evidence of deadly struggle with Nazis has been materialised in a shape of fully restored private and official chambers sheltering Winston Churchill and his staff during the London Blitz. To provide a sense of wartime oppression there is lacking nothing but the cigarette smoke from omnipresent ashtrays.
In contrast to Cabinet War Rooms, the impression given by Churchill Museum seems to be far more compound. I would say that, the complexness of evoked emotions is comparable to the multifaceted personality of the main actor of the exhibition. By the careful arrangement of artefacts, documents, photographs and interactives there was constructed a kind of theatre; kaleidoscope of words and sounds bringing into life a multilayered picture of Churchill as a controversial politician, statesman, artist and family man.
The fact worth of mention is that limited quantity of ‘real’ objects has been used in design, especially in comparison to narrative richness of the exhibition as a whole. The visitor engagement is maintained mainly by various multimedia devices, stimulating almost all senses. Moreover, the equipment work, surprisingly (?), seamlessly and collaborate very well with each other in order to give a variety of information. The transmitted messages have not been reduced to single-lined narrative but are able to unfold diverse treads. As was stressed by the director of museum – Phil Reed – the display does not aim to imprint on audience any particular vision about the famous Prime Minister. According to his statement, the museum ambition is to provide an environment for learning and encourage making investigations on its own. (Though simultaneously, he has imposed a role of Churchill Museum as ‘centre of excellence’ in terms of the knowledge about the subject).
I must admit, that I was a bit disappointed with Lifeline, advertised as state-of-the-art interactive table charting Winston Churchill’s life almost day by day. The interactive chronicle of facts and deeds turned out to be literally a wooden board. Despite of it, I am more concerned about usability of this media than some technical ‘underperformance’. The Lifeline has been created to resemble a conventional archive and seems to be of little use for people used to immediate access to information linked in an intuitive manner. To retrieve information from table, there is demanded a good knowledge of dates, otherwise investigation resembles random roaming on a surface of events. Although most of interactives used in exhibition seem to be user friendly, potential of this one remains unlocked.
The issue become more noteworthy if we consider it in the terms of planned design and received outcomes. Despite of very rich content, Lifeline is not able to keep a visitors attention for longer time. According to evaluation report, the average time spent in this section counts for 6 min. – that is about 10% of visit. In the course of the meeting with the head of museum, he mentioned that the table helps to increase the level of engagement within the museum and to turn the visitor into ‘researcher’ (i.e. a person with the specific and focused sections of interest, requiring expert and in-depth knowledge). I must agree with him to some extent – the Lifeline is useful to extend knowledge on a specific subject area. Nevertheless, I doubt that it is able to convert people into zealous investigators due to the specific of museum visit (lack of time, lack of comfortable space). The logical consequence would be placing the Lifeline on the internet to make this precious archive more accessible.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the visit. With no doubts, exhibition in Churchill Museum is a decent project and a highly interesting manifestation of multimedia capabilities.
And thank you all for the cooperation on our Egyptian project.
Michael
‘Manchester on display’ – Result 5 January, 2009
Posted by Kostas in exhibitions, news.Tags: Manchester museum studies exhibition
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Many congratulations to Exhibition Group 3 for winning the ‘Manchester on Display’ competition. Their ‘Small-Scale Experimental Machine’ will remain on display for the rest of the year. Well done to all groups for preparing and putting up really inspiring exhibitions! Good stuff guys!!!
…and by the way Happy New Year!
Peepshow. Ladies and Gentlemen, a feast for your eyes – Group 4 Exhibition 10 December, 2008
Posted by Kostas in exhibitions, news.Tags: Manchester museum studies exhibition
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Peepshow, the fourth and last exhibition of the ‘Museums, Museology & Museographies’ course of the MA Art Gallery and Museum Studies was installed today in the foyer of the Mansfield Cooper Building.
In their brief, the curators explain their approach:
Our exhibition is about the representation of sex and sexuality in Manchester city centre. But you won’t know that unless you peep…What you will see inside the case will not be shocking or crude; it will be the everyday evidence of sex and sexuality woven into the fabric of the city centre…
The aim of this exhibition is to implicate our audience in the act of ‘peeping’. We are transforming their gaze from the ‘passive’ to the ‘active’. Displayed in the case will be objects and images that we pass every day and may have become immune to in our experience of the city. We are inviting our audience to look at them with new eyes. Only one person can look through a peephole at once. By turning them into the ‘voyeur’ of their own private exhibition experience we hope to challenge their assumptions and raise questions about representations of sexuality in Manchester.
The exhibition will be up till Tuesday 16th December, so if you want to ‘peep’, you need to visit the exhibition by then. Alternatively, you can ‘peep’ here.
‘Small-scale experimental machine’ – Group 3 Exhibition 4 December, 2008
Posted by Kostas in exhibitions, musings, news.Tags: Add new tag, Manchester museum studies exhibition
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What happens when you tare a computer into pieces? Well, you end up with a model of Manchester, a ‘small-scale experimental machine‘ of today.
As the curators point out:
‘Our model of Manchester is a small scale experimental machine for living in. The contemporary city is a product of the digital age where meanings proliferate through communication technology…Our interpretation of Manchester is as the birth-place of the first stored-programme computer, known as ‘the Baby’ or the ‘Small-Scale Experimental Machine’ (SSEM)…2008 marks the 60th anniversary of the creation of ‘the Baby’ and across the city Digital60 celebrations are taking place, so this year our digital city holds special relevance’.
It is amazing how bits and pieces of computer hardware can remind of city places, when put into the relevant context. The ’small-scale experimental machine’ of Manchester will be up till Tuesday 9th December in the foyer of Mansfield Cooper Building. More pictures of the group exhibition available on Flickr.
Blogging about Egypt at the Manchester Museum 7 May, 2008
Posted by Kostas in exhibitions, news.Tags: Egypt, Manchester Museum, redevelopment
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Karen Exell, Curator of Egypt and the Sudan at the Manchester Museum has started a blog about the redevelopment of the Egyptology gallery at the museum (to open in 2011). The blog is titled titled Egypt at the Manchester Museum. Karen will be reflecting on the process of consultation and redevelopment of the galleries and using the blog to generate discussion and feedback. As the blog points out:
This blog is about everything Egyptian (and Sudanese) at the Manchester Museum, from events, behind the scenes curatorial work, gallery redevelopment, Museum policies that affect the Egyptian and Sudanese material, to schools teaching and research links with the University.
It promises to be an exciting ‘behind the scenes’ diary and notebook of the thinking, consulting, evaluating, designing and developing of the new galleries, which will be worth following and actually contributing! Looking forward to it!
Week 8: The Onsite Museum II – The Churchill Museum 19 April, 2008
Posted by philippal in exhibitions, interactivity, learning, week 8.add a comment
Hello everyone, sorry for the delay….
There is so much to discuss that Joleen and I thought that we would raise some of our observations and key issues in order to prompt further discussion on the blog.
Philippa; After wandering round the Cabinet War Rooms, the Churchill Museum seemed to provide a complete contrast in terms of space and technology. It is packed with technology and it felt quite different to anything I had previously experienced in a museum setting. Plus, everything appeared to be in working order – even more impressive!! I was particularly interested in the parallel with the War Rooms as both spaces seem to complement each other really well, yet still maintain different identities.
Joleen; I too found quite a contrast between the two Museums and before entering (from the map) and found the placement of the Churchill Museum quite intriguing. First I wondered around the Cabinet War Rooms and left the Churchill museum to be discovered last. The war rooms pride themselves on being quite authentic and staged the exhibits according to photographs often referring to dates in which the room looked a certain way. About a quarter of the way through the authentic WW2 maze, the Churchill museum gave an extreme change of pace with dramatic lights, sounds, computers, video and top of the line interactives. I found it quite easy to get sucked into the space and the transition was surprisingly easy (think that had a lot to do with the well maintained machines!!!). At the time it didn’t occur to me to ask Sarah but I now wonder if the transition was taken into account and if they had any comments from visitors?
Philippa; The museum itself is split into six sections although I didn’t follow any particular path through. In fact, there didn’t seem to be much of a path to follow but this wasn’t a problem as it encouraged me to explore the space and engage with what it had to offer. After exploring the museum ourselves, we then met with Sarah Clarke, the Exhibitions Manager, who explained some of the research and processes that went into the design of the Museum. This turned into a more general discussion where we shared our experiences and comments.
One of the first points raised was whether the museum had too much technology. It is a relatively small space and I could see how this could be quite daunting for some visitors. I was encouraged by watching people of all ages interacting with the technology and found the timeline to be one of the highlights. I loved the rewards (what a great way to test your knowledge of significant dates!) and the way in which this created a shared social experience over the table. Sarah pointed out that there were 26 workstations at the table and so it could be used by an entire class. During the group discussion, the idea of enabling visitors to change information within the timeline was raised. If it can be updated from an office in a short amount of time (or even from America!) then the possibilities for lesson plans are endless.
Joleen; Did the visitor engage with the systems or was the learning curve too steep? I found most of the interactives to be quite user friendly and observed that visitors from every age group seemed to engaged at one time or another. I followed a senior citizen who particularly was touched by the video of Churchill’s funeral and later observed her at the painting interactive in the house section. A class of 10-13 years olds couldn’t tear themselves from the timeline table. Once I did observe three girls from the class who found the video’s to be quite boring and used their silhouette on the screen to comb the frizz from their hair. The only hesitation or confusion I observed was my own and Chris’s at the chess piece interactive. We tried to figure it out, but didn’t seem to have the right touch. Sarah later told us that the sensor connecting the piece to the machine is placed at the top of the chess piece (where we had placed our hand) was a common mistake, and was being remedied soon
Philippa; I’m sure everybody had a favourite section/interactive – I personally loved the fish in the pond – although I must admit I didn’t realise that they could be enticed with food! I did think that the fact that there was no text pointing this out was a good thing – again, this encourages exploration. I also liked the way that video screens were integrated within display cabinets. I felt that you could walk round the museum a few times and notice something different each time.
Sarah pointed out that the golden egg interactive wasn’t one of the most successful due to the fact that visitors weren’t looking in the case, to the right of the interactive, for the answers. It was really interesting to hear her discuss these issues and possible ways of resolving them. The same goes for the issue of space – the small amount of display space is addressed by using options like directional speakers, which help save space.
Joleen; I did notice that the lack of space did create an intimate environment to engage with the interactives but I can foresee a problem during a particular busy day. Sarah mentioned this briefly and said that layout pattern addressed this issue by creating an open path (unlike the war rooms) was particularly designed to avoid the bottle necking effect.
Overall, we both thought the museum provided a really stimulating environment which helps put Churchill’s life into context. We also feel that the next time we look at any museum interactives they now have a lot to live up to! We would love to hear your comments, as I’m sure we have missed lots out! I think we all enjoyed the trip and must say a big thank you to Sarah for talking to us all.
Philippa and Joleen
The First Emperor and his army of visitors 5 January, 2008
Posted by jomarchant in exhibitions, musings.Tags: British Museum, exhibition
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Congratulations Transport For London on making me late yet again. Its 8.45am and if I want to make it on time I need to pick up the pace. Convinced the opportunity has been lost I rush down New Oxford St, my speedy walk now an embarrassing jog. No longer feeling the bitter chill of the December morning I finally turn the last corner and lay eyes on the first of the early arrivals. A quick scan down the queue and I find my punctual companion about seventy people deep in a line of one hundred or so. I tuck in alongside the railings, ignoring the grumbles of the couple behind me, and take a moment to look around. Today the British Museum is awash with black and red banners, and although empty of tourists it is very clear who is inside – the Chinese Terracotta Army. This is of course the reason for my obscenely early dash across London. As all advanced tickets are currently sold out any hopeful attendee of the anticipated exhibition must ensure they are one of the first five hundred to purchase a ticket on the day. By 9.20am my admission ticket was sitting snug in my bag.
Even as I took part in this frantic and, in my case, paranoid scramble I was faintly aware that this was a bizarre episode. I had no idea of the numbers of people likely to show up yet I was convinced that the insane popularity of the exhibition required the outwitting of potential ticket rivals, digging a few elbows in and an all round no-prisoners-taken attitude. Clearly my fellow visitors had read the situation the same and if needs be were also prepared to seek their cultural enlightenment before 9 in the morning.
It would be unfair to put this completely down to hype for you would have to be incredibly cynical to gloss over the fascinating topic of the exhibition. The terracotta army of the First Emperor was the archaeological find of the last century and unless you are fortunate enough to travel to China this is pretty much your one shot at getting a look. Nonetheless, the British Museum has put some big bucks into this and has suitably promoted it relentlessly. News column inches have been generated and the public imagination caught. But I’m afraid this is where my cynicism takes over. How many people are going because they have been convinced by the general aura of hysteria? Maybe somehow it would be a slight on their cultural credentials if they did not. I confess I’m afraid to miss out and I’m desperately hoping others also find themselves afflicted with this self-absorbed relationship with culture.
Now I didn’t really mind the circumstances in which I had to get my ticket but I do have one contention which arises from it – why are visitors being crammed into the exhibition space like chickens in a battery farm? Experience, enjoyment and learning are all being sacrificed in a bid to get as many people at £12 a head through. Yes demand is high and yes the museum needs to recuperate its money, but surely the point of getting a nice corporate sponsor like Morgan Stanley is to counter the actual need for sardine-esq conditions. There were times when I was trapped between display cases, times when museum attendants had to disperse the polite queues forming everywhere, and times when people not very subtly pushed me out the way. It was enough to kill any reflective atmosphere and it didn’t feel respectful to the magnitude of this past dynasty’s achievements. It felt like cultural consumerism gone mental and I left grateful that at least it was a box I could tick.
Enough of the negativity. In truth it is an opportunity to be seized. The exhibition focuses on the cultural and military background of the First Emperor and it really raises the bar with the marvel-factor of the objects on display. Although a lot of information about the discovery and home of the army is left out some of it can be gleamed from several film presentations. If you can face the crowds and the fleeting sense that if lemmings did museums they would probably be just like this, definitely go. Witness firsthand the power of the blockbuster exhibition to entice the masses over the museum threshold.
Passing through a ‘non place’ 20 December, 2007
Posted by Kostas in exhibitions, non places.add a comment
Few weeks ago, we were discussing in the course about museum exhibitions in ‘non places’ (like underground stations, airports, shopping centres). Passing through Frankfurt Airport to get a connection flight to Athens, I came across this advertisement about an exhibition at the Staedel Museum in Frankfurt. The irony is that this advertisement is in the lounge for connecting flights, seen by passengers that usually pass by to catch a flight to other destinations…
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