For the redesign and reinstallation of the MIT Museum’s most popular exhibition, I performed interpretive planning and project management. I developed and tested interactive experiences, edited video, and wrote exhibition copy.
My roles
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Gestural Engineering: The Sculpture of Arthur Ganson was a 1600-sq-ft exhibition of 22 kinetic sculptures. The exhibition was an icon at the MIT Museum, consistently ranked as the most popular in visitor surveys. The redesign sought to enhance the visitor experience with interpretation that addressed visitor questions and to increase accessibility.
Interpretive Approach
Studies showed that museum visitors wanted to know more than just the title of each piece. However, Ganson believed “you don’t have to know anything—whatever you feel about them is true.” To accommodate both perspectives, the exhibition text offers insight into the artist’s process and inspiration without telling visitors what to think. To invoke the experience of having a conversation with the artist, the sculpture labels are in the form of quotations. I created the quotations by selecting text from the artist’s notes and interview transcripts, and then, with the consent and collaboration of the artist, revising this source material to create stylistic consistency and provide context.
Ganson’s Palette
To provide visitors with another mode of engagement while simultaneously discouraging them from touching the fragile sculptures, I developed a display called “Ganson’s Palette”:
- A touchable display of wire gears and other shapes/materials commonly used in Ganson’s work; I conducted formative evaluation with visitors of a prototype of this component to determine whether visitors would find it engaging.
- A video showing the techniques and tools Ganson developed for creating the wire gears used in many of his sculptures; I created this video by editing an existing video and adding explanatory captioning.
Media Coverage
From The Boston Globe:
If the pleasure people take in going to exhibitions were somehow equivalent to compound interest, accruing to the host museum, Arthur Ganson’s kinetic sculptures would have made the MIT Museum the richest museum in town.
Read the entire review.
