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!

While in NYC, Daniel and I worked on many projects, and one of them landed us in a meeting with IMA’s own, Lisa Freiman and the artist-duo Type A. You will definitely be seeing more from those guys, and from us, featuring those guys. Keep an eye out for more on that later this spring.

The Nugget Factory: Danny Beyer, Despi Mayes, Daniel Incandela and Dan Dark (left to right)

In other Nugget News, Daniel and I have been invited to present a paper at the 2008 International Symposium on Electronic Arts in Singapore. So, we will be busy in the coming months writing a paper about Nature Holds My Camera: The Video Art of Sam Easterson that reveals our creative secrets (at least some of them). Then in July, we will make our way to Singapore to present that paper to artists and colleagues. Making the most of our travel to Asia, we plan to make stops in Beijing and Shanghai to develop video content for the upcoming exhibition, Power and Glory: Court Arts of China’s Ming Dynasty, which will open at IMA this fall.

Another nugget, Dan Dark is presenting at this year’s Museums and the Web conference in Montreal, on a panel with representatives from other museums. Similarly, I am working with a couple of other museums to put together a discussion about audio content for this year’s Association of American Museums (AAM) conference in Denver. That one will be another in and out for me…only about 18 hours outside of Indy!

So as you can see, we will be busy spreading the IMA word and soaking in new stuff that will make its way to you through the blog, new videos on YouTube, and no doubt, much more! And in between all of that stuff we will be working on web projects, bringing you IMA event video, working with visiting artists, blogging, updating iTunes U, labeling new photos on Flickr and a hundred other awesome things. With all of this work and excitement we are no doubt going to need a “Nugget Appreciation Day.” Any votes for the date?

P.S. – Keep your eye out for Daniel’s post this week featuring more jaw-dropping, show-stopping Nugget Factory action.