We shared a pizza at Gina La Fornarnia on the upper east side. The restaurant itself is pretty garish with Pepto Bismol pink awnings, chairs, and walls but once you get past the decor the pizza is fantastic. Cara and I had the fresh fig and prosciutto pizza; it was a combination of salty and sweet -- extra thinly sliced prosciutto and figs baked to the point of caramelization. The crust was tasty but the clincher was the sauce -- a delicious cream of parmigiano. Aww yesss.
Over lunch, Cara shared with me some thoughts about what it is to work in a museum and how things have changed since she started out in the 1980's. As she sees it, there have been three major changes that have shaped the industry -- blockbusters, computers, technology.
Blockbuster exhibits raised the bar for visitor attendance and raised visitor expectations. Gone were the days when a curator could just decide that they liked something and put together a show. Blockbusters brought in money, but it also meant that more money had to be spent on exhibits and decisions had to be made based on expected visitor turn out.
Bringing computers into the office opened up conversations. It took a while, but computers made it easier for different departments within an museum to start standardizing and talking with each other. Curators from different departments begin to collaborate in ways they had never done so in the past and things like intake forms were standardized across the organization.
Technology is the stage we're currently in and it seems as though every museum is making a mad dash towards bringing technology out onto the floor and in front of the visitor. The intent to bring technology into museums is all good and well, but the 'how' hasn't been figured out and it's a time of trial and error. Technology changes so quickly, in many ways it is impossible for institutions like museums to stay ahead of the curve. Maybe the key is having the infrastructure in-house to make changes quickly (like Cooper-Hewitt's digital team). Technology in museums is not only about having a digital collection site and a digital presence, it's about connections and the experience of the user. For a visitor, how high-tech is too high tech? While no one wants a museum of motionless objects and static prints, it's also true that no one wants a museum filled with screens. Scrolling through pictures under glass, while flashy, is not so great of an experience; and as Bret Victor points out, does not make the most of our highly capable fingers, hands, and arms.
Not surprisingly this whole topic makes me think of the Exploratorium; so many of their exhibits are low tech, captivating, and wonderful. Some of my favorite exhibits at the Exploratorium, like the pin screen and the black sand, have been my favorites since I was a kid. That kind of wonder, the kind that lasts for 20 years, doesn't have anything to do with "technology." So how do you take a museum experience and make it high tech and interactive with the technology we have today, without making it just a room full of glowing rectangles?
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