Gramophones in the Gallery

Gramophones in the GalleryCharting the museum’s adoption of media in the gallery and beyond

Museums have always been media producers


• Right from the outset, museums were publishers

• Their “product” fell into 3 main categories:

– “inventory catalogue” – collection data

– “expository guide” – an enhanced listing, to act as portable

captions for the visitor

– “presentation volume” – a prestige format edition, a highly

illustrated representation of the museum, often given to

dignitaries, high ranking stakeholders etc. (Waterfield, 1995)


Dusseldorf Gallery:

American Museum of Natural History 1908

American Museum of Natural History 1908

• In 1908, the American Museum

of Natural History used coin

operated gramophones to

enhance their Tuberculosis

exhibition

• The exhibition was an early

“blockbuster” attracting over

750,000 visitors in a seven-

week run (Griffiths, 2007)

Media innovation within the museum

Media innovation within the museum

• The first planetarium was set up

at the Deutches Museum,

Munich in 1923

• The technology was developed

by Carl Zeiss, a local

photographic lens-maker who

went on to establish a

significant photography

component brand

Film

• Museums were using film in the

field as early as 1912

• In the 1920s and 1930s many

installed small film projection

theatres

• Dedicated in-gallery units

appeared in the 30s. This is a

“Dramagraph” from the AMNH

The first audio guide

The first audio guide

• The Stedelijk Museum in the

Netherlands and electronics

giant Phillips developed the first

audio guide

• It broadcasted from a central

recording, via a form of

induction loop in the building’s

skirting boards

• Picked up by a wireless receiver

Broadcasting: “What in the World?”

Broadcasting: “What in the World?”

• A game show format broadcast

from 1951 on CBS

• Chaired by Froelich Rainey,

director of the University of

Pennsylvania Museum of

Archaeology and Anthropology

• Featured curators and other

experts from around the USA &

guest stars like Vincent Price

Computer technology

• Graphical user interfaces for

relatively low-cost computers

emerged in the mid 1980s

• Some museums quickly adopted

the technology to enhance their

exhibition spaces

• For example, the Smithsonian

Institution's “Laser at 25” (1988)

featured animations, laser

configuration simulation and

quizzes

www

• The world wide web (as an

distinct service within the wider

network of the internet) began

to take off in the mid 1990s

• “Early adopter” museums

included University of California

Museum of Palaeontology at

Berkeley, The Natural History

Museum and Museum of the

History of Science, Oxford

BYOD (Bring Your Own Device)

Apps

• Explorer: The American Museum

of Natural History

– Released 15th July 2010

– Later introduced satnav-like “turn

by turn” navigation around the

galleries

World Stories Young Voices

World Stories Young Voices

• Surface Impression was commissioned to produce the

AV (audio visual) content for the gallery

• Our strategy was to unify as much of the media output

into one digital platform as we could

• Film, information, interaction and audio are delivered

from one central resource, but consumed on the gallery

screens, the web or through the visitors’ mobile devices

Production network

KioskScreenMobileOwn

computer

Content

Responses

TextsClipsClipsImages

Editing

Raw material

Processing

Platform

Audienceinterface


computer

Content

Responses


Editing

Object

Object

Object

Curatorial

Source community

Interpretation


computer

Content

Responses


Editing

Object

Object

Object

Curatorial

Source community

Interpretation

Graphic designer

Web developer

Film maker

Exhibition designer

IT supplierFit out contractor

Copy writer

Project management

OrganisationScholarly texts

PeersFunders

Stakeholders

Device manufacturer


computer

Content

Responses


Editing

Object

Object

Object

Curatorial

Source community

Interpretation

Graphic designer

Web developer

Film maker

Exhibition designer


Copy writer

Project management


PeersFunders

Stakeholders

Device manufacturer

Source

Reception

E N C O D I N G

Museum

Media production


computer

Content

Responses


Editing

Object

Object

Object

Curatorial

Source community

Interpretation

Graphic designer

Web developer

Film maker

Exhibition designer


Copy writer

Project management


PeersFunders

Stakeholders

Device manufacturer

Source

Reception

Museum

Media production

E N C O D I N G


computer

Content

Responses


Editing

Object

Object

Object

Curatorial

Source community

Interpretation

Graphic designer

Web developer

Film maker

Exhibition designer


Copy writer

Project management


PeersFunders

Stakeholders

Device manufacturer

Source

Reception

Museum

Media production


Editing

InterpretationYoung people

Young people

Young people

Young people


computer

Content

Responses


Editing

Object

Object

Object

Curatorial

Source community

Interpretation

Graphic designer

Web developer

Film maker

Exhibition designer


Copy writer

Project management


PeersFunders

Stakeholders

Device manufacturer

Source

Reception

Museum

Media productionR

E S P O N S EE

N C O D I N G

Peter Pavement

[email protected]

www.surfaceimpression.com

@peterpavement

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.surfaceimpression.com/

Gramophones in the Gallery

Education

Transcript of Gramophones in the Gallery