Over the weekend I had the opportunity to visit the Getty Center nearby UCLA. The title of this exhibition caught my eye as a subject particularly relevant today as there’s been much criticism of fake news and how mass media is contributing to the hyper-polarization of modern politics.
Originally I expected works that would comment on today’s mass media landscape, but instead found works mostly commenting on the beginnings and development of mass media (which is totally cool too!). I also expected that there would be more technology incorporated into the exhibit since it’s on mass media, but unfortunately other than a simple audio tour guide, there wasn’t a lot of other technology that enhanced the visitor’s experience.
The only other technological interaction were some of the exhibited works themselves which featured video pieces that combined mass media footage to convey strong messages about how the media portrayed certain issues. This was done through a simple TV, usually in the corner of the room, with 2 – 3 small chairs in front of it.
Interestingly, I found that overall, the exhibit tried to limit your interaction with technology. The exhibits that required a TV would only have the TV and its placement in the corner of the room helps other visitors not be distracted by the presence of moving pictures. Visitors also didn’t have control over this TV which made consuming this piece of art a very passive experience.
The most engaging tech that was part of the exhibit was the audio tour guide that was available at the front desk of the Getty. You would trade in your ID for an iPhone that had pre-loaded audio tours of every exhibit in the museum. The descriptions of the exhibit would prompt visitors to select certain numbers to get more information of the pieces. Even considering this, I still found this kind of tech did not particularly raise the level of engagement I had with the pieces.
I found that it only built upon the exhibitionary complex that I had coming into the exhibit, as all the visitors had to wear earbuds to keep noise down and not to bother other visitors. Visitors were still very much focused on the pieces, and the audio tour did a good job of blending in with the exhibit. If anything, it helped me personally focus more on the exhibit, as there wasn’t anything else that you could do on the iPhone other than click on certain audio files to get more information.
Majority of the time I found visitors looking at the artwork itself more so than reading wall text as there was very limited wall text in this exhibition. The wall text that was present, however, did greatly enhance the effect of the artwork as it would reveal of piece of information that you weren’t originally expecting or you would learn something about the artist’s background/motivation that made the artwork come to life.
Unfortunately, at the time of writing this, I do not have a picture of the audio tour guide to post on here, but I will definitely be making a return visit very soon and when I do that I’ll be sure to take a picture!
I am a big fan of audio guides! I’ve heard museum professionals say that they don’t think people use them that often, but I really appreciate them. You’re totally right, though — when people have earbuds in their ears, they certainly can’t interact with other visitors!
I think there’s a few great points here about how exhibits are set up. The point of technology as an addition is often to ensure folks engage on a different level with the exhibit, but it prevents people from making connections (even within their own parties, if they go in a group). Also, what do we do about technology that is integrated into an exhibit but ultimately not used by a large number of people? Is it “worth” the labor of making the addition? But I think its also important to remember this in tandem with the realization that folks learn in different ways and have different reactions to different cues (be it audio or visual).
I saw this exhibition at the Getty when I went too! I agree that I was expecting more technology to be incorporated into the way the exhibit was presented. To me, the TVs with the media clips were not very engaging, I didn’t stay in front of them for very long. I guess it really depends on the way that the exhibit makes use of technology because it does not always enhance the visitor’s experience, sometimes it falls a bit flat.
Although the earbuds can keep everyone from interacting with each other, I think they are a great way to learn about the art exhibits being looked at. I think it’s better than reading the tiny fonts that most museums have. I have never been to this museum or any museum that uses earbuds to help make sense of the art, however, when I was in Europe I went on various bus tours which incorporated earbuds to give a brief history as we passed certain buildings or landmarks. I think it’s an excellent use of technology to facilitate learning. Thank you for sharing!