You think you know, but you have no idea..

While visiting ArtBabble a few days ago, I came upon a series about videos that were made within museums, documenting installations of various exhibits. Here, artists such as Jenny Holzer and Mary Temple discuss their work on exhibit, the Indianapolis Museum of Art moved a sculpture through the City with a helicopter, or Mildred Howard's time-lapsed 5 day video where his piece was installed. While some of these instances are considered all in a day's work to us museum professionals, it can become novel and absolutely engaging to museum visitors.



I really enjoyed these videos because they gave the exhibit that much more depth. Using these video alongside objects in a gallery illustrate to visitors that the sculpture didn't magically appear on the 5th floor of a city museum or arrived completely intact. There can be at times, an idea or perhaps a lack of an idea of how exhibits are put together, when in reality there is so much planning and then actual installation that goes into them. Being able to see this video footage, such as Howard's Abode: Sanctuary for the Familia(r), the public can actually see how many people it takes, the internal structure of the house, and the minute details such as sweeping the floor before the Museum doors will open. The work can almost become more important in the visitor's eyes as they watch this object being cared for by so many.
I think it is also important for visitors to be able to see the behind-the-scenes players so to speak. Documenting the conservators, preparators, and curators doing what they do each day gives the public an idea of what actually goes on in a museum.



As we discussed in class, digitizing an interview or a video of an installation is one more item within your collection. I also think that when posing these videos amidst the exhibit or object, the experience becomes that much richer. I can remember visiting the AGO this summer in Toronto and watching a video of the curatorial team using x-ray and other technologies to discover what was hidden underneath a painting's canvas. I was completely entranced watching these people argue over what they thought was underneath this portrait, and the placement of the video right next to the portrait gave me a sense of having a say in what I saw.

With the popularity of these technologies at our fingertips and the diversity of our audiences within our museum walls, now, more than ever, I think its so important to accommodate the masses on multiple levels. Alongside this idea of how to tend to the masses, I think most museum staff would find it beneficial to document footage. At the same time, wonder if some would feel as if we "lifted the curtain" and revealed our tricks to the public about how some of these items get into museum walls.

I think sometimes it can be easy as a young museum professional to be introduced to the most-up-to-date technology or teaching method like these videos and have no problems incorporating this into our exhibits or programs. But while we storm in with our new ideas and concepts, I wonder how those museum veterans feel...are they intimidated, scared, annoyed? Perhaps the board of directors are not very tech-friendly and want their galleries to illustrate the standard, formal approach to art or history. If so, what are the best methods to deal with staff who want two different things or perhaps work in two different eras of museum education? Must the older educators make room for the new ones? Do the new ones have enough experience to know best? What are the best ways to compromise or come to an agreement? I suppose with new waves of technology, each era is faced with the dilemma, but it is an interesting thought as we move closer to becoming museum professionals.