When I think about what a class on ‘Museums in the Digital Age’ would be about, the New York Times article by Anand Giridharadas perfectly encompasses that. This article was fascinating to read – it was nice to compare the different digital initiatives taken by two huge museums to show that going in a ‘digital’ direction doesn’t necessarily mean the same thing. It was interesting to read about the Brooklyn museum and how instead of just letting their initiatives linger, they took into account that they were only affecting the proximate audience and deciding to try something new. To use the Internet and digital platforms to create an exhibit that is chosen by digital users is brilliant. I would absolutely go to various artists’ studios to check out their work if I thought I might be contributing to something that could end up in the museum. What a perfect way to engage local users, since they were the ones spending the most amount of time on the site anyways.
When reading about the Met, I couldn’t help but think back to the digital storytelling video we watched in class about Mr. Peanut from the National Museum of American History. The digital director at the Met commented on how he wanted to enhance the scholarship of the museum, not detract from it. I feel like it’s easy to think of digital platforms detracting from the work because looking at art online isn’t going to give the same effect, but people might not stray from the comfort of their couch if they have access to something there. Instead, he found a way to add to the scholarship by allowing the audience to see what they hadn’t been able to before a digital age. Now he is able to document the restoration of a work, from the time it arrives in its crate to the time it is put on display at the Met. This is similar to the unveiling of the cast iron Mr. Peanut in the Founding Fragments video. I loved being able to see the ‘behind the scenes’ aspect of it, as I’m sure everyone else does as well.
I like the points that you bring up in this post. A museum’s digital presence should be very calculated in terms of audience and content. Museums using technology and internet presence to expand the amount of material available to users is one of the biggest advantages of technology.
Seeing Mr. Peanut in the video, as opposed to in the gallery, also gave it a lot of depth. While on one hand, viewing an object online can be a less meaningful experience than viewing the object in person, I know that if I would’ve seen Mr. Peanut at the Smithsonian, I would’ve thought, “oh cool, Mr. Peanut,” then passed it by. However, viewing it in the digital realm allowed me to see it in conjunction with all the storytelling materials, and I found that experience a lot more meaningful.