Connections
Installation • 2002 • Designer*
Prototyped for the Whitney Museum of American Art, Connections allows visitors to explore some of the many works that a museum owns, but is unable to display due to physical space constraints. Visitors are able to participate in the selection of art displayed in a gallery through both a physical installation and the museum's website. This project examines the relationship between virtual and physical space while extending the limitations of the museum's physical facilities.
Prototyped for the Whitney Museum of American Art, Connections allows visitors to explore some of the many works that a museum owns, but is unable to display due to physical space constraints. Visitors are able to participate in the selection of art displayed in a gallery through both a physical installation and the museum's website. This project examines the relationship between virtual and physical space while extending the limitations of the museum's physical facilities.
Design
One wall of a museum gallery contains a grid of sockets and several hanging cables. As visitors plug cables into sockets, small screens embedded in the wall display the artwork, its title, and its creator. Visitors can press a large button beneath each screen to 'launch' the art onto the gallery wall in its original size.
Connections is also accessible through the museum's website. Visitors can explore the museum's entire database of images and 'launch' a selected piece of art into the museum. One space in the physical gallery will be reserved exclusively for these remotely selected images.
Additional Useage
This installation can also serve as a wonderfully flexible tool for docent tours and school groups. Guides can display art relating to their current tour or topic by simply plugging a cable into different socket. Unlike a traditional slide show, the art will surround the visitors. The visitors may even be asked to collaborate in curating the gallery based upon the topic of the tour.
Conclusion
Participation in the curitorial process gives visitors a playful and personalized experience. They are given an opportunity to explore their own interests, discover new works, and think about how exhibits are curated. The cables themselves are a physical reference to new connections being enabled by the ever-evolving technologies that surround us all as we continue to experience life in new and exciting ways.
*The prototype was designed for the Whitney Museum of American Art by Jon Alpert, Eric Green, Betsy Seder, and Victoria Westhead.