I decided to visit the Getty Museum on a last minute, abrupt trip for the first time for this assignment. From my short visit, I can tell the Getty does a good job of integrating technology naturally within some of its exhibits. As I was walking around, I saw many people using headphone tour guides as well as using computer guides to help them navigate themselves. However, there were only a couple exhibits I saw during my one hour there that included technology directly in the exhibit area.
(One of the virtual Getty guides)
I decided to specifically focus on a special room that was highlighting Edgar Degas’ Russian Dancers. The room had the painting on display as well as a station that explained the story behind the pastes Degas’ used. They had an interactive slideshow screen where museum patrons could watch the process of making the Henri Roche pastels Degas used in his painting. While observing I heard a few people looking at the slideshow say such things as “Oh wow” and “Interesting.” I liked how the technology aspect of the exhibit was more contributing than distracting. The slide show had no direct description about it; one had to read the text on the adjacent wall that introduced the Roche pastels. The exhibit also had a small glass case with the same kind of pastels. While the technology was interesting and added significantly to the understanding of the process behind the painting, the main focus was definitely aimed towards the actual painting itself. People were not as immersed with the technology as I have seen before in other exhibits. This may have been due to the fact that the slideshow was extremely long (around 80 photos) and/or because the painting itself was evidently pretty “famous” and was clearly being dissected for a reason. Some people did spend a good amount of time looking at the technology as they scrolled through the whole slideshow/attempted to scroll through it. However, some people either spent very few time at the stand or ignored it all together when they realized it was just a slideshow. Admittedly , I only scrolled through about ten pictures before I turned away from it.
(Interactive slideshow in the exhibit)
(Example of one of the slides)
(Glass case with examples of pastels highlighted in the slideshow)
The small integration of technology at the Getty was enjoyable , but also helpful in getting a better understanding of some of the work that goes into the artwork we view without overpowering the works of art. Overall, I personally enjoyed my visit to the Getty and hope to return to see more of the exhibitions and the technology within them (especially when I have more time to enjoy all the sites).
I too visited the Getty and explored their exhibit on Edme Bouchardon. Similar to the Edgar Degas exhibit, technology was used as more of an addendum to provide more information than a focal point of the exhibit. Personally, I didn’t think the technology added much to the exhibit I viewed but it’s good to know that technology was able to be incorporated in more productive ways in other parts of the museum.