Statue of Rocky outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
A group of us here recently attended the annual Museums and the Web conference, held this year in Philadelphia. The conference brings together museums from around the world to explore the role of technology in our various initiatives – whether they be online, in the galleries, or even in how our museums function. Between lunch runs to Reading Terminal Market (amazing), the references to Ben Franklin (ever-present), and meeting with colleagues old and new (always a highlight), we each came away with a list of projects/ideas/encounters that grabbed our attention and will inspire our work throughout the upcoming year. Here are our top takeaways from this year’s conference:
Artworks that are displayed outdoors face different risks than those that are kept inside. The pigeon, for example, is a dangerous bird to bronze sculptures; the acids in guano can actually corrode a bronze patina in a fairly short time. Another risk public artworks face is that we simply stop caring. When we stop noticing the artworks that surround us, their significance and cultural context is lost.
(via Flickr user travelbex)
Enter Wikipedia Saves Public Art (WSPA) which we created as part of our Fall IUPUI Museum Studies class (you might remember our student, Elizabeth Basile, blogged about her personal experience with the project back in December). The logic of this project is to put information about public artworks into Wikipedia so that people won’t forget or stop caring about them. Yes, there’s a lot of guano in Wikipedia, but with its millions of viewers a day and openness to participation, it’s a vital resource for the cultural sector.
Before we started WSPA, there were only a handful of articles in Wikipedia about public art in Indianapolis—not so good for a city that brags about having more monuments than any city other than Washington, DC. Through our efforts, there are now 57 articles (and more each week) about local public artworks on Wikipedia. Since we started WSPA, our articles have been viewed more than 66,000 times. Now we are thinking big about how WSPA can truly become a global project and how to get more people to make articles about public art in their own town.
Recently, we’ve had a lot of help from Lori Byrd Phillips (an IUPUI Museum Studies graduate student) and Sarah Stierch (a soon-to-be George Washington University Graduate student, who runs her own blog, Sarah – Your Favorite Museum Intern. Together, we’ve begun developing “The Process” to help Wikipedians and public art advocates translate information contained in public databases into Wikipedia articles. For example, did you know that volunteers working through Heritage Preservation’s Save Outdoor Sculpture! surveyed Indianapolis in 1992-1994 and found 205 sculptures? Information about all of them is available online through the Smithsonian’s public database.
Thanks to Magnus for making the application that allowed us to make this chart
But a lot has happened in Indy’s world of public art since the early 1990s. That’s why actually going out and visiting the artworks is important—to verify the information contained in the Smithsonian’s database, to make note of any changes, and to use the tools of 2010 to research and share information about those changes. In addition to finding artworks surveyed by the SOS! folks, you can research new artworks that have been installed across the city. We’re grateful to have our laptops, cell phones, and Web-based tools that have allowed us to create these cool things:
Here’s the Flickr map that we are using to plot the location of the more than 500 images we’ve taken of public art in Indianapolis. By mapping them in Flickr we also resolve their GPS coordinates.
Here’s the Google map that we’re using to plot the original 205 SOS! entries from the Smithsonian database. While the Flickr map is a lot easier to use, we are also experimenting with Google Maps because its satellite maps are so much better. Read the rest of this entry »
Phil’s post yesterday got me thinking. At Museums and the Web a couple of weeks ago (check out Charlie’s post), Rob and I presented our paper about online video. At the end of our talk, I was asked if the IMA ever created viral video content. My response was immediate and along the lines of this: I’m not sure a museum could create a successful viral video. It would have to come from someone outside the museum and break lots of rules. But then Phil wrote about viral videos and I started thinking.
The IMA is not immune to the viral video idea. Our first ever YouTube video was conceived as a marketing, viral video in support of an exhibition. That was almost three years ago.
The Museums and the Web 2009 conference was here in Indianapolis last week and I came out of it with a bunch of web related scripts for my patient Monday patients. Here’s a few…
boxee.tv – This is the most incredible 10-foot HTPC interface I’ve ever seen. Windows Media Center and Front Row don’t hold a candle. If it had a PVR feature it would be perfect. And since it already lets you watch Hulu and YouTube as if they are just a normal television channel, MW2009 chats thinks there should be a channel for ArtBabble.
blurb.com – Free book making software. Best part is, you can print as few or as many as you want and the prices are super reasonable. There was a session at the conference where I got to actually check out a sample of their product and it looked just like something you would buy off the shelf at Borders. Oh, they make little flip books too that are super cute. I’m thinking limited edition ArtBabble something.
Mega Menus – In a website critique session at MW2009, I suggested that this slick new interface techniqe was about to be “hot right now.” Funny thing is, nobody had ever heard of a Mega Menu and thus my avant-garde status was confirmed. Oddly, my favorite implementation is on the State Farm Insurance website.
Twitterfall – Thanks to Twitterfall and a video projector, all the Twitter activity tagged with #MW2009 could be seen streaming by as the IMA’s Director, Max Anderson, gave the conference’s opening plenary address. A few months ago a display like this may have been distracting; however, during Max’s speech it was really interesting and helpful to see what people were thinking about as words were hitting their brains.
Monday Music – “Once We Were Strangers” by Peggy Sue. Third rainy Monday in a row.
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Phil’s Pharmacy prescribes the following links to combat Monday online anemia.
Digital Graffiti – Pretty cool link from Jenny that tells of a little resort village that lets artists “paint” their town walls with digital graffiti. And for you projection artists out there, Digital Graffiti is accepting submissions for their 2009 show in Alys Beach.
Skittles.com – This new Mars website for its Skittles brand of fruity morsels takes all your buzz worthy social media sites (YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, etc) and uses them as replacements for traditional brand landing pages. Clever. However, add in a goofy peice of navigation, an equally goofy enter your birthday thing, the possibilty for people to spam your Facebook Wall and Twitter feed with garbage, and you’ve got yourself a recipe for frustration. Taste the Pain-Bow.
PostSecret – Got a secret you want to share with the web? Write it on a post card and send it to PostSecret. Check the blog.
Museums and the Web – is going to be in Indianapolis this year and the IMA is hosting a few events. Check out the agenda here.
