A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about plans for The Davis LAB, and shared some early design concepts.  Well, on Saturday it opens and you can see it for yourself.  Phil & Noelle in marketing, just sent out a Facebook invite to all of the IMA Fans.  If you’re free on Saturday, stop by our new space to meet staff, check out the final designs, maybe get some free stuff and…that’s about it.

Computer interface for The Davis LAB -We have some amazing designers on staff.

Actually that isn’t it.  The opening of The Davis LAB is also your first chance to experience ArtBabble — our new online, HD, art video station/website – really, much more – a new way of experiencing video.  It’s currently in its Beta version with many of us (Marketing, Education, New Media, Application Developers and more) still tweaking, writing content, adding videos, finalizing design, etc.  In recent posts, I’ve preached a little about releasing sites or projects in a less than perfect state.  We’re doing the same thing with ArtBabble, but with a twist.

ArtBabble sneak peak - we've got great designers here

The twist is this.  If you visit artbabble.org – you get a sign in screen.  We’re being slightly protective about the site for the time being.  We are still making changes by the hour and importantly monitoring the quality of video delivery.  If you’re going to take the time to watch our brand new documentary on Maya Lin, a conversation with Robert Irwin (featuring our very own Richard), or relive some of the highlights from our Roman Art from the Louvre webis, we want you to experience this in 720p!  So, we’re releasing AB in its Beta state, where membership has its privileges.  Sign up for an account and we’ll gradually release access to ArtBabble with your own set of invites.  You can spread the love – kind of like you did when you got your Gmail account.

Or – if you can’t wait for one of the AB admins to release your account, you have (2) options.  The first, is visit The Davis LAB starting Saturday and beyond.  We will have the unrestricted version of ArtBabble running in the space on a projector or our computer stations.  You can Play Art Loud, select any of our videos, find the official defintion of ArtBabble – and send invites to your friends, families and fans – directly from the LAB.  Option (2) – If you live outside of Indy, have other plans or just want it now, leave me a comment.  I’ll look up your e-mail through WordPress and send you an invite.  I have plenty.  Babble On.

Don't you want to send some invites?

The X Room, shortly after the IMA reopened in 2005

2009 will bring a new approach to this tech environment, that I hope encourages our museum visitors to talk back to us.

We have a couple of strategies in place here.  For one, we’ll be showcasing a large portion of the video art content we produce, in a theater-like environment.  I’ve always been critical of the traditional museum orientation video space, because I’m not convinced our visitors want to sit through a 10-minute introductory video that essentially, is a one-way, passive form of communication (I know I don’t).  To counter this, we’re going to offer our visitors choices.  You will be able to search our video collection and then hear directly from experts in the art field and excitingly, directly from contemporary artists.  The choices will be at your fingertips, and the viewing experience will go beyond traditional methods (sort of top secret at the moment).  Did I mention that those choices will include artists like Maya Lin, Robert Irwin and much, much more?

We really do want to hear honest feedback from our visitors, so we’re also installing a series of computers that will allow to access our images on Flickr, our collection online (not as good as the real thing, but we have more art viewable online), and access to this blog.  All of these applications will allow tagging and comments.  We also know that we have good readership on the IMA blog, but I’m intrigued to see what will happen when any of our IMA – museum (not online) visitors have the opportunity to read blog posts and comments.  I’m sure a lot of our visitors are unaware that we have such a diverse online presence.

In 2007 for the exhibition Nature Holds My Camera: The Video Art of Sam Easterson, we debuted a similar strategy where visitors could ‘talk back’ in the gallery.  They could, in a blog-style design, ask questions directly to Sam.  It was a big success and I hope we have similar participation in this new environment.

I’ll keep you posted on this space, but in the meantime I would love to hear feedback about your thoughts -

• about art and interpretive technology
• museums that incorporate technology into gallery areas
• and if you think we will get more feedback by providing computers in the museum

…talk back!

Contemporary art is frequently made up of everyday materials and items familiar to normal, everyday people. As such, visitors are not always sure how to react to the art and oftentimes behave contrary to what we would wish. IMA has artwork composed of everything from TVs (Nam June Paik), projectors (Kara Walker), and common furniture (Vito Acconci, Bill Woodrow) to electronic signs (Jenny Holzer) and neon lights (Robert Irwin, soon). We even have flat art on the floor instead of on the wall (Adrian Schiess). Visitors want to sit on the furniture and play with the electronic equipment. They want to TOUCH the stuff, for crying out loud!

A couple of years ago, we had an exhibition by the Brazilian artist, Ernesto Neto, who’s work illustrates some of the many security-related issues that often have to be addressed with new art. One room of the exhibition was completely covered in red cotton fabric, with thick foam on the floor as a cushy surface to walk on. Inside the room was another conversation area surrounded by more hanging fabric, with chairs, suspended lights, and a notebook with a pencil on a string. There were also several red plastic balls and a giant beanbag chair in the room. It looked like a fantasy playroom, minus the Wii.

The installation was big and complex, and took several late nights for the artist, his assistants, and museum staff to complete. Adjustments had to be made to after-hours procedures to ensure that the workers could get around in the empty and secured building. Stuff had to be turned on, turned off, and unlocked, and Security officers had to be assigned to monitor the late-night activity. It messed with our routine and we’re all about routine.

The red material on the walls, floor, and ceiling looked cool but it completely covered the smoke detectors and sprinklers, not to mention the surveillance cameras and other security devices. Electric cords (heat-producing items) ran under the foam floor and plugged into the wall sockets. The cotton material was not flame retardant, and the foam beads in the giant beanbag were highly flammable. Needless to say, we had to do considerable prep work with local fire officials to placate them and ensure a safe environment for our visitors. I think I even mentioned bribe money at one point.

Once the exhibit was opened, explaining the level of interactivity to patrons was a consistent challenge. Neto’s intentions were for visitors to sit in the chairs, gently roll the balls around, and contemplate the crimson-draped environment. Visitors’ intentions were to set the kids free to play dodge ball in the big red rumpus room. “It’s artwork not a playroom,” was our usual approach. We had to remind many, many people not to throw the balls and not to jump onto the giant beanbag, which experienced daily blowouts due to unauthorized diving. And even though there was a blank notebook with an attached pencil, we discovered that it was not intended for patrons to actually jot notes or comments in the book. Color us confused.

So there you have it. Unlike hanging a painting on the wall, Protection Services plays a significant role throughout the process of acquiring, installing, and displaying contemporary art. Security staff gets to step up and help explain real-world application when curators (and artists) aren’t up on OSHA regulations, and gallery officers get to guide the visitor experience when patrons don’t understand why they can’t play with the stuff in the galleries.

That’s what makes museum security so very interesting. Well, that and all the cool spy stuff we get to use.