Tech News and Analysis: The Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art’s “David Bowie Is” exhibit has Spiders from Mars, it has the Man who Sold the World, and it has Major Tom. The retrospective is filled with provocative interview recordings and performance footage and outlandish costumes and props – everything you would expect from a man who spent his early career cultivating the persona of Ziggy Stardust, an androgynous hypersexualized extraterrestrial that seduces the innocent young men and women of Earth before the planet’s eventual destruction.
5 comments:
I think the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame should take a note from this exhibit. When I last visited the Hall of Fame it definitely had a museum feel, less than an immersive experience. And I think for any sound-orientated exhibit, that should be the ultimate goal, to be immersed that it. I like the quote from the article, "For so long the museum has been a space we experience visually, but for a retrospective of one of the world’s most iconic performers, the audio experience had to come to the forefront". We need to pay attention to these types of exhibits more often because even though art is typically visually there is also a lot to be heard.
David Bowie does not need an exhibit, his clothes do. I would love to go see it JUST for the clothes, even though I also like his music. I have a great amount of respect for musicians who know how to put on a full show; performance artists if you will. David Bowie has always been one of those people. Not only does he make statements with his music and looks that play with sexuality, but it is really wonderful to see the spectacle of one of his shows. Sadly I am actually saying this only having seen YouTube videos and photos but his trend setting throughout decades has proven to be epic and powerful. He is a true performance artist and I really, really want to go see this exhibit. I would also love to know which designers he uses and the stylists who help him. I cannot imagine what it would be like to work on one of this shows!
I'm so happy this is actually a thing. It is really cool to have the sound integration that follows you around. It is probably weird, like the guy said to have not everyone hearing the sound. the room is eerily silent and then suddenly someone starts singing along to the song playing on their headphones. They should supply enough headphone sets for everyone. The music will definitely enhance the experience. It would only be cooler if the music was playing in the entire room and not just per exhibit.
I do find it a little weird that he has a museum exhibit. He's still alive, you know. I realize that he has pretty much stopped working, but don't exhibits like this happen after the subject has passed on? I bet it would be really weird for him to walk into that exhibit. But who knows? Maybe he would enjoy the trip through his memories.
So this exhibit seems really top of the line for a museum. There are very few museums that I have ever been to that have handled music very well. Most of the time it is annoying and frustrating button pushes on the hand held device. The GPS of each recording device and how the display changes is pretty kool. Some of this technology just scares me inside a little bit. I mean what would happen…. IF IF IF, ok so maybe I have watched way too much bad sci fi but it is all coming true slowly. The next thing you know all of our houses will track us and without having technology on us and just know every move. It would be nice though to have my evening snacked prepared as a walked in the door, but that would mean it would not just know where we are but also has physical members that could move things. My neighbors will be the Jetsons.
I think other museums that involve music should use this technology. Having music playing while you are in an exhibit about music or an artist can really enhance your experience. The bluetooth location technology is very interesting because normally when museums have sound you need to put on head phones plugged into the wall. With continuous music and sounds playing throughout the walk through an exhibit really transfers you into that world. Though the technology is probably expensive especially when you need enough for a lot of people in the exhibit at a time, I think it is a very good investment.
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