Friday, March 27, 2015
Attendance Trends: A Case for Technology in Museums
AMT Lab @ CMU: Despite the best efforts of organizations nationwide, the NEA’s 2013 report – How a Nation Engages with Art shows that since 2002 art museum attendance has been on a steady decline. In 2012, only 21% of adults said they attended an art museum over the past year, down 5.5% from 2002. The graphs below – excerpted from the NEA report – show that attendance has decreased in almost all of the measured categories.
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4 comments:
It is becoming clear that technology is nearly becoming a part of everything in our lives. As someone who has been being raised with technology since a somewhat early age, it is not that hard for me to integrate new technology. And I think that the idea of technology in museums is a difficult one to handle. Initially, it seems like a great idea since we are now so accustomed to walking into the airport and checking in on a kiosk or going to Starbucks and holding up our phones to pay. Technology is a part of our lives; I truly don’t have a problem with that. But what I do struggle with is putting technology in the right places of our lives. For many years I went to the Carnegie Science Center as a child and loved every floor there. I can’t recall any exhibit that used technology that heavily. Yes there may have been a monitor here or there. But it was obtrusive and I wasn’t forced to learn from it. I do believe certain techniques of technology will work in some museums. It will not work in each one though. There is something to be said when walking into an art museum and being able to take in the work and not be distracted.
I love museums and have since an early age. Technology is being integrated in how we tell history because its becoming part of our history. If people went there to escape technology rather then learn about our world then maybe a part would be a more suitable place to visit. The decline in museum interest i think is due to the price and time of going there vs the free access of the internet. Although the Carnegie museum has artwork down the street that i could look at for art research, its easier to pull up a picture on my computer do what I need to do and go on then to go there and see it. That being said a museum trip is one of my favorite pastimes. you can look at cool things from all over the world and from all over time in one place. each time i go i learn something new. I think if museum are able to integrate technology in a balanced way, they would be able to connect with the older and younger generations and continue to hold their importance to our lives.
My first thought is that this is really cool, but I question who would wear this. Why does it have to be in a hairlip, something that is generally for women, and usually for girls in grade school. I honestly cannot remember the last time I knew someone who wore a hair clip rather than a bobby pin. I don’t see why they couldn't just make this a pocket sized multitool. I know they have one that is basically the size of a credit card. This seems like a pointless edition to the multitool lineup, not to mention uncomfortable. The screwdriver would probably stab into your head every time you tried to put it on. It also seems like it would be really dangerous to have the cutting part so close to your head when you snap it down, and so close to your hand when the clip is open. I mean, the clip can cut through rope, and does not provide a good grip.
I have seen a lot of articles here recently about how less and less people are going to museums, and I think the Gallery One is an amazing despise to this. More and more our world is slipping completely toward technology, and this doesn't have to be a bad thing. I particularly liked how this video showed many children interacting with the exhibitions. As a kid, I always loved to go to museums because they were so fascinating, but as time goes on, I think kids are taken in with the technologies- the tablets and iPhones and computers- that they have had since they were in second grade and so are less likely to be interested in some dusty old museum. That the Gallery One is adding in all kinds of interactive technology driven exhibitions, I think they will draw in more people to their museum. I can’t wait to see where they will go with this next.
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