Some closing (opening) thoughts: Learning in Museums 2008

Peter SamisAssociate Curator, InterpretationSan Francisco Museum of Modern Art

AAM-LiM Minneapolis 21 June 2008

1. The Importance of InterpretationTate Modern’s Principles

1. Interpretation is at the heart of the gallery's mission.2. Works of art do not have self-evident meanings.3. We believe that works of art have a capacity for multiple

readings and that interpretation should make visitors aware of the subjectivity of any interpretive text.

4. Interpretation embraces a willingness to experiment with new ideas.

5. We recognise the validity of diverse audience responses to works of art.

6. Interpretation should incorporate a wide spectrum of voices and opinions from inside and outside the institution.

7. Visitors are encouraged to link unfamiliar artworks with their everyday experience.

–Gillian Wilson, “Multimedia Tour Programme at Tate Modern,” in Bearman, David and Jennifer Trant (Eds.), Papers, Museums and the Web 2004. Online at http://www.archimuse.com/mw2004/papers/wilson/wilson.html

The fact that museums never have time to interpret their own collections is one of the best-kept secrets of the profession.

“Content is not content.” -Sarah Schulz

And yet, do interpretive resources make a difference?

FI GURE 7OVERALL RATI NG OF BARNEY EXHIBIT I ONBY TOTAL NUMBER OF INTERPRETIVE OFFERINGS USED IN THE EXHIBIT I ONANDBY FAMILIARITY WITH BARNEY’S ART

TOTAL NUMBER OF INTERPRETIVE OFFERINGS USED IN THE EXHIBITION

NO OFFERINGS( n = 1 6 )

1 – 2 OFFERINGS( n = 7 2 )

3 - 4 OFFERINGS( n = 8 8 )

5+ OFFERINGS( n = 6 2 )

MEANS MEANS MEANS MEANS

7 _

_ 6 .1_ 5 .9

6 _

_ 5 .6_ 5 .7

n 5.6S _ 5.4C

A n 4.8L

5_

_ 4.6E n 4.3

_ 4.04_

n 3.3MEAN SCORES:

_ Familiar with Barney’sArt

3_

_ 2.6 _ Unfamiliar with Barney’sArtn Combined

2_

1_ 7-POINT RATING SCALE: 1 = UNFAVORABLE / 7 = VERY FAVORABLE

Number of offerings: F=5.671; p=.001Familiarity with Barney’s Art: F=36.578; p=.000Number of offerings * Familiarity with Barney’s Art F=2.48; p=.062Model: F=12.500; p=.000 R2=.276

(Statistics courtesyRandi Korn & Associates)

The more interpretive resources visitors used, the more they appreciated the art—regardless of whether they had any prior familiarity with Barney and his work.

Building in-House capacity

Permission / forgiveness

You have to feel personally committed because you’re the owner, proponent, & advocate within the institution.

Does your museum have a culture of innovation?

And besides, nothing succeeds like success.

• Subject matter expertise (curatorial/historical)

• Visitor Studies• Communications Theory• Cognitive Psychology• (concepts of load and

flow)• Statistics & Data analysis• Education• Engineering…

– Technology: hardware– Technology: software

• Design: Interface• Design: Graphic• Design: Interactive• Information Architecture

Cultural heritage multimedia thrives at the confluence of multiple fields:

•Ethnographic observation •Storytelling: linear•Storytelling: non-linear•Game Theory •Writing•Journalism/Interviewing•Photography•Sound design •Videography / filmmaking•Experience planning…and this list is by no means exhaustive!

But don’t feel overwhelmed…

2. Revolution / Evolution

Capability - Maturity Model

• Initial phase: “heroic”• Managed phase: “1-deep”• Defined phase: Processes in place• Quantitatively managed: metrics • Optimizing: metrics fed back into

system

Don’t skip the steps. Just set your sights on the step you’re at, and the next.

“I’m gonna learn about Technology and he’s gonna learn about Education.”

The Two Jasons

Tools with low barriers to entry

• Blogs• Wikis• Podcasts• Pachydermwww.pachyforge.o

rg

“Many iterations to take us to where we want to go.” —Mike Mouw, MHS

• Experimentation• Failure• Experimentation• Evaluation• Presentation• Re-tooling• … (It’s a wheel)

Build this capacity into the plan.

3. Web 2.0 and visitor engagement

QuickTime™ and aH.264 decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Olafur Eliasson

“Objecthood doesn’t have a place in the world if there’s not an individual person making use of that object.” 

A Radical Stance:

i.e., The Museum’s reality does not trump the visitor’s perspective.

How we represent How visitors take ourselves officially us into their own lives

…to the point of re-inventing ourselves for various audiences:

or letting them do it for us!

“Learn how to use the technologies people are using.”

“Then you’ll find out why they’re using them.” —Sarah Schultz

Quotations from Chairman Chris

• “People go to museums often to get away from technology.”

• “The subjective is always more powerful than the objective.”

• “Never be the early adopter… What’s hip is to have a program that works!”

• “De-centralized content is King.”

“The most popular interactive is still the postcard.”

And yet…

Jane Burton, Tate Modern

Don’t forget the analog!

Happy Trails!