Museum 2.0

JULY 27, 2009

I’ve long admired Improv Everywhere , the NYC-based participatory public art group. The MP3 experiment is an exercise in following instructions. But it’s still impressive how quickly the recording sets a supportive tone in the face of absurdity. Two and a half minutes in, the “omnipotent voice” Steve introduces himself.

Instruction 21

Instruction Instructional Nicaragua Experiment 21

Museum 2.0

APRIL 4, 2012

You have to care before you want to act, and caring--about the earth, about civil rights, about art--is not a given. When I visited the exhibition in November, I saw many participatory opportunities for visitors to act. There was no specific instruction with the dots. They also had activities. There were 20,000 dots.

Story 47

Story Participatory Museum History 47

Museum 2.0

MARCH 27, 2009

This week, the Denver Art Museum (DAM) opened a new temporary exhibition called The Psychedelic Experience , featuring rock posters from San Francisco in the heyday of Bill Graham and electric kool-aid. It’s a thrilling challenge to the traditional form of art museum exhibit design, and better yet, visitors like it.

Denver 21

Denver Museum Arts Remix 21

Museum 2.0

NOVEMBER 6, 2012

I'm thrilled to share this brilliant guest post by Marilyn Russell, Curator of Education at the Carnegie Museum of Art. In a straightforward way, Marilyn explains how her team developed a participatory project to improve engagement in a gallery with an awkward entry. Reassert the "forum"?

Museum 45

Museum Arts Problem Design 45

Museum 2.0

AUGUST 18, 2008

I've long believed that museums have a special opportunity to support the community spirit of Web 2.0 On 8.16.08, the Museum of Art and History (Santa Cruz, CA) hosted FreelanceCamp, a free unconference that brought 150 designers and techies from the south bay area together to talk shop. Talk to the folks at Instructables.

Museum 22

Museum Hosting Model Community 22

Museum 2.0

JULY 3, 2008

I've written before about techniques for talking to strangers, looking at how buttons , buses , and dogs and can all be tools for participatory design. I used that instruction recently to kick off a meeting at a museum planning a participatory education space. There was a self-aggregating group who toured an art exhibition.

Participatory 20

Participatory St. Louis Museum Game 20

Museum 2.0

JULY 24, 2012

When we talk about making museums or performing arts organizations more participatory and dynamic, those changes are often seen as threatening to the traditional arts experience. But what if the "traditional" arts experiences is a myth? What if historic arts experiences were actually a lot more participatory?

Greece 51

Greece Arts Industry Participatory 51

Museum 2.0

SEPTEMBER 15, 2009

It launched in October of 2007 with a very simple and understandable idea: to produce a global map of pieces of art made with stones on beaches. The act of making art, and the recognition on a simple website, are the only rewards. The World Beach Project does not exist in the V&A Museum. It's not marketing hype. The ask is clear.

Project 38

Project Museum Artist Map 38