Matt+
I agree with you that the experience of the whole place/space must be
taken into account, but it sounds like you're suggesting that museums
can't/shouldn't create informal or "non-religious" spaces, which being
in the process of "experience planning" for a Herzog & de
Meuron-designed addition to the Walker, I would disagree with.
s
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Curating digital art - www.newmedia.sunderland.ac.uk/crumb/
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Matt Locke
> Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2001 7:01 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: baltic new media curating seminar
>
>
> At 12:42 10/05/01 +0100, Sarah Cook wrote:
>
> > without wanting it to be
> >too obvious a question, perhaps we need, in our naming of parts, to
> >identify the strengths of the museum - highlight its parts
> - and move
> >from there...
>
> One part of this is to examine the ergonomics of the museum
> space, and
> understand how this affects users before they even get in
> front of a piece
> of work, new media or otherwise... Bill Hillier's work on
> Space Syntax is
> really relevant here. His book 'The Space is the Machine'
> uses the term
> 'space syntax' to describe the visual grammar of built
> environments, and
> how this affects users' interpretation of the space and its
> contents.
>
> On his website there's a really interesting analysis of the
> Tate Millbank,
> and how users navigated the space. In their analysis, the
> layout of the
> architecture had a much greater affect on what visitors
> saw, and in what
> order, than any curatorial decision or signage.
> (http://www.spacesyntax.com/museums/museums.html)
>
> To relate this to new media, we have to realise that the
> whole architecture
> of the building is relevant to how users encounter the
> work, not simply the
> product design of the desk or kiosk the technology is
> housed in. Maybe some
> media lounges are unsuccessful because they are trying to
> work against the
> architecture of an entire building, which makes local product design
> decisions (comfy chairs, funky desks, low lighting, etc)
> pretty irrelevant.
>
> Museums strengths are the powerful effect of the 'space
> syntax' of the
> whole building. To take the Tate as an example, I'm always
> in awe of the
> place from the moment i walk up those huge steps. This is
> enhanced by the
> grand porticos around the entrance, so that by the time you
> actually get to
> any work, you're in a suitably reverent state of mind.
> Trying to make
> worksations look friendly and appealing in this type of space is as
> effective as throwing a few beanbags around a cathedral...
>
>
> matt
>
>
>
>
>
> -----------------------------------
> Matt Locke
> Artistic Director
> The Media Centre, Huddersfield
> www.test.org.uk
>
|