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Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Adam Savage Learns About Smithsonian Exhibits' Installation Process!
Tested: Door size, load-in route, sloping floors or walls ... These are all reasons why Smithsonian Exhibits works on installation before they even START a build. Adam Savage gets the full rundown of the complicated exhibit install process from head of production Chris Emo.
What an interesting look into the behind-the-scenes of the behind-the-scenes of Smithsonian Exhibits! It’s always interesting going to travelling and temporary exhibits and just sitting there in awe, wondering, “how did this get here?” This video gave a good insight into how it is done. It is completely understandable how the location has to be analyzed before a build will even begin. It is just as us in 33 have been warned, always make sure your project will fit out the door! Except, in this case, Smithsonian Exhibits must make sure their projects can fit in the doors on location. The shop they build in most likely has large bay doors which can fit just about anything, but if a location only has standard 3’ x 7’ doors, Smithsonian Exhibits is limited to only making pieces which can fit through a standard door. It is very intriguing, though, knowing that many exhibits arrive in pieces, despite looking like a unified whole which could never fit through any of the doors in the location which the exhibit is housed.
Adam Savage is the coolest man on earth so thank you for posting this. I grew up 40 minutes outside of DC so I’ve been to the Smithsonian Museums multiple times, I guess that I always forgot that people DESIGN these exhibits. I know that there are many many designs and tech fields out there but somehow museums always seem to slip my mind. “What's the smallest door it has to fit through” quote of the day ladies and gentlemen (and every other identification). That is the first thing the Head of Production said. The really funny thing is that the guy talking to Adam starts to explain the radius and arch to Adam like he doesn’t know. It was really nice to hear professionals say that even after years and years of experience they still learn something new every time they work on a project and they don’t always get it right (its part of the process). They are talking about a lot of things that we are just starting to cover in Production Science. I have built multiple things in high school (under the direction of a TD and carpenter) but there is so much that engineers have to know! Why is Adam Savage such a cool person? (Sorry that isn’t really beneficial to the topic).
It's interesting to see how important and crucial site surveying is to the design process when working in museums, and I assume any interior venue where you're designing and constructing to the architecture. I worked at a museum this past summer constructing installations and I was amused to see the designer starting his process by quietly being in the space and just observing every little detail. Looking at the way the light comes through the windows, the way the room looks when you stand in certain spots, finding long shots within the room, creating shapes off of the existing architecture...it was interesting to watch. In my experience, I have only designed sets for the stage so I am accustomed to creating all of those variables and manipulating the audience into seeing things the way I want them to be seen. So I hadn't realize that sometimes those variables already exist and you have to consider how to design around them in order to successfully execute a design. And oh, the instillation process is truly one that you have be familiar with in order to get it right, or else it will take a few attempts! -Apriah
It’s so interesting to me all the parallels between live entertainment and museums. Watching the Tested series that Adam Savage has created about the production process at the Smithsonian is so interesting to see the similarities between our worlds. Just simply this video where they are talking about the install process discussing how they go through the load-in period. Just simple problems like creating level footings for their exhibits and how they deal with working around existing architecture. Now throughout the series I have noticed difference in particular to scale and engineering due to the longevity of their exhibits and their safety requirements. The ideas and process that I could see in museum’s and then translate to theatre. Like the leveling bed that they talked about essentially leveling the footing of the exhibit and building up from there. Museum’s are a really interesting career path and I’d love to just see a comparison of their work flow and process directly to film, theatre, and commercial to see all of the differences and similarities.
First off, I think that Adam Savage is just one of the coolest guys on the planet. While I’ve never been to the Smithsonian Museum, I’ve worked at a museum in Houston over the summers for the past six or so years. I think that, often times, people - patrons, especially - forget that exhibits are designed by actual other human beings. There aren’t any wings for extra pieces or for lights to sit. There isn’t a “hidden” element like there is in most live theatre - or other stage based performance - where the patrons of the museum won’t see the technical aspects. Lighting must be hidden in displays or around frames or lit from the top. Nothing magically appears in a given space all gussied up with artifacts or pieces of art in cases that materialised out of thin air, complete with plaques that aliens conjured up in perfect English explaining pieces that meant nothing to them. It’s especially hard when in such an enclosed space.
5 comments:
What an interesting look into the behind-the-scenes of the behind-the-scenes of Smithsonian Exhibits! It’s always interesting going to travelling and temporary exhibits and just sitting there in awe, wondering, “how did this get here?” This video gave a good insight into how it is done. It is completely understandable how the location has to be analyzed before a build will even begin. It is just as us in 33 have been warned, always make sure your project will fit out the door! Except, in this case, Smithsonian Exhibits must make sure their projects can fit in the doors on location. The shop they build in most likely has large bay doors which can fit just about anything, but if a location only has standard 3’ x 7’ doors, Smithsonian Exhibits is limited to only making pieces which can fit through a standard door. It is very intriguing, though, knowing that many exhibits arrive in pieces, despite looking like a unified whole which could never fit through any of the doors in the location which the exhibit is housed.
Adam Savage is the coolest man on earth so thank you for posting this. I grew up 40 minutes outside of DC so I’ve been to the Smithsonian Museums multiple times, I guess that I always forgot that people DESIGN these exhibits. I know that there are many many designs and tech fields out there but somehow museums always seem to slip my mind. “What's the smallest door it has to fit through” quote of the day ladies and gentlemen (and every other identification). That is the first thing the Head of Production said. The really funny thing is that the guy talking to Adam starts to explain the radius and arch to Adam like he doesn’t know. It was really nice to hear professionals say that even after years and years of experience they still learn something new every time they work on a project and they don’t always get it right (its part of the process). They are talking about a lot of things that we are just starting to cover in Production Science. I have built multiple things in high school (under the direction of a TD and carpenter) but there is so much that engineers have to know! Why is Adam Savage such a cool person? (Sorry that isn’t really beneficial to the topic).
It's interesting to see how important and crucial site surveying is to the design process when working in museums, and I assume any interior venue where you're designing and constructing to the architecture. I worked at a museum this past summer constructing installations and I was amused to see the designer starting his process by quietly being in the space and just observing every little detail. Looking at the way the light comes through the windows, the way the room looks when you stand in certain spots, finding long shots within the room, creating shapes off of the existing architecture...it was interesting to watch. In my experience, I have only designed sets for the stage so I am accustomed to creating all of those variables and manipulating the audience into seeing things the way I want them to be seen. So I hadn't realize that sometimes those variables already exist and you have to consider how to design around them in order to successfully execute a design. And oh, the instillation process is truly one that you have be familiar with in order to get it right, or else it will take a few attempts!
-Apriah
It’s so interesting to me all the parallels between live entertainment and museums. Watching the Tested series that Adam Savage has created about the production process at the Smithsonian is so interesting to see the similarities between our worlds. Just simply this video where they are talking about the install process discussing how they go through the load-in period. Just simple problems like creating level footings for their exhibits and how they deal with working around existing architecture. Now throughout the series I have noticed difference in particular to scale and engineering due to the longevity of their exhibits and their safety requirements. The ideas and process that I could see in museum’s and then translate to theatre. Like the leveling bed that they talked about essentially leveling the footing of the exhibit and building up from there. Museum’s are a really interesting career path and I’d love to just see a comparison of their work flow and process directly to film, theatre, and commercial to see all of the differences and similarities.
First off, I think that Adam Savage is just one of the coolest guys on the planet. While I’ve never been to the Smithsonian Museum, I’ve worked at a museum in Houston over the summers for the past six or so years. I think that, often times, people - patrons, especially - forget that exhibits are designed by actual other human beings. There aren’t any wings for extra pieces or for lights to sit. There isn’t a “hidden” element like there is in most live theatre - or other stage based performance - where the patrons of the museum won’t see the technical aspects. Lighting must be hidden in displays or around frames or lit from the top. Nothing magically appears in a given space all gussied up with artifacts or pieces of art in cases that materialised out of thin air, complete with plaques that aliens conjured up in perfect English explaining pieces that meant nothing to them. It’s especially hard when in such an enclosed space.
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