Ocean Giants

Anyone interested in nature might like to watch this on i player (and one left in real life) here

Channel 4 Programme: The Secret Life of Buildings

Again a tip from my course tutor, but the episode entitled "Leisure' puts across an interesting view of the environments that certain architecture creates. The host, Tom Dychoff, is on the search for buildings which are not just shiny on the outside, but hold real social meaning, ones where people can come together and build community.... It's subjective, but I like what he and others such as psychologists have to say. It all makes sense and like his values....

The programme is still on 4OD at the moment here, but you will need to catch it soon- and I need (and want) to watch it again! I wrote some notes while watching it, but would like to make them fuller!

Enlightenment Gallery, The British Museum

The Enlightenment Gallery and free guided tour, The British Museum

Well today I continued my museum adventures with a visit to the British Museum with my Aunt. I have to confess that I went with a bit a trepidation because I have been before, and as wonderful as the exhibits are (the ones I have seen), to state the obvious, the place is massive and full of people. I am also aware the more that time goes by that there really is only a certain amount I can take in of such big places without feeling overwhelmed, over tired or in some way bored!

I can thoroughly recommend what I did today though. I visited on the advice of the tutor from the course I will be starting. Along with books on the reading list and a general suggestion to visit as many museums and galleries as possible, it was written that we should in particular visit the Enlightenment Gallery and go on the British Museum page to find out more about it. (Need to remember to do that! Already have a list of things to do mounting up.)

Okay, I will admit that before the visit I had no idea what 'The Enlightenment' actually was. I was lucky that we arrived just in time for a free tour of the gallery. (Daily at 12:30pm is you are interested.) Unplanned, but totally worth it.) We had a fantastic woman as our guide, who managed to really tell a story and create images in my mind, while introducing us to the period and the different elements of the gallery. I am not sure how much to say, because in fact I would say go for the tour! It brought things so much more to life than just looking around the gallery would have done, for sure!

I did not take lots of time afterwards to look into much detail at the collections, but will return to do so. I was completely fascinated by the era that the gallery covers- to quote the Gallery Guide I bought (At the reduced price of 70p) this period which spanned the 18th Century and a bit either side:

'It was a time when people all over Europe began to look at the world in a new way. They questioned the 'old' knowledge, taken from classical authors and the Bible, and instead based their ideas on reason and first-hand observation.'

As well as learning about something completely new and enjoying the link that this gallery has with the Natural History Museum, (and the British Library) I was really fascinated by the people realising they could learn by observing objects and the development of classification. It feels like a really interesting line to follow when thinking about museums and education and learning theory. I love anything related to how we make sense of the world as it not only links to my museum love but also my previous (and continued) love of the Montessori philosophy.

Interestingly enough I also spotted a volunteer led object handling session in place in the gallery.I won't say too much, but it was very different from the type I know! The objects looked quite interesting, in a nice old box. You could hold it and you were told what it was and a bit about it...

The gallery and tour was great honestly, as for me it was the right size and had an interesting mix of objects. Not too much and not too little to take in. You really got the feeling you were going back to those days when the objects were being discovered and shown for the first time, as well as the feeling that you were seeing historically important objects, (such as those very first ones collected by Sir Hans Sloane.) yet in a sense displayed in quite a personal way...

Photos seem to have come out in reverse order and I was in the end limited to five, so might add some at a later stage!

A replica to touch!

Ichthyosaur collected by Mary Anning:
Porcelain objects which were created to educate people about the new discoveries:
Looking through the gallery from the Natural History side:
Our wonderful Tour Guide:

Review of 'High Arctic' at The National Maritime Museum, August 2011

Welcome to one of my ideas for using my blog.... To review exhibitions. It will be a good activity for me to do in preparation for the MA Museums and Galleries in Education that I will be starting in October, I am not sure how many people blog reviews of Museums and Galleries... I guess I'll have to take a look! Another reason for me trying to write this post about this exhibition is that it could be useful if I apply for something that I am thinking of applying for! I also need to improve my written communication skills! Anyway, here goes:

High Arctic, at the National Maritime Museum (14 July 2011–13 January 2012)

I had no expectations when visiting this exhibition. I was on a visit to Greenwich with a friend, with at least the expectation and hope that I would get to have a look around a museum or two, but not really knowing too much about the present exhibitions. I have to confess that with me as I guess with some other people that not having had any expectations was a bonus in this case. I am notoriously bad at trying to avoid having expectations, to greater or lesser benefit!

Very friendly and informative staff meant that upon arrival at the museum we were greeted with information about a good place to start our museum journey and a little bit about the High Arctic Exhibition. We were informed that the exhibition was interactive and I gained the impression that it was something new and interesting. Being the bearer of a pass that entitles me to free access meant that I definitely thought that it would be worth a visit, time permitting. It was explained as a future vision of the arctic.

When my friend and I arrived, the lights and sound had gone off and so in a weird way we probably got what was perhaps part of the desired effect of the exhibition, the feeling that the arctic can be a cold and quite isolating place. (And I suppose create a wary feeling for the imagined future created here.) We were given UV torches before we went in, which I was very excited about I have to confess!

Without the lights we could make out that there were repeated groups of square based columns, and within these groups, individual columns were of different heights. The UV torches revealed names on each column. Each name was not an English name (Norwegian I think?!) and appeared different. We were told that they were the names of glaciers and that there was some decreasing pattern to them as the exhibition went on. I have to confess that my eyes didn't quite see this pattern obviously, however this did not actually matter because the columns definitely created an abstract landscape to wander around.

After a few moments of slightly aimless wandering and sitting, the lights and sound returned and then the fun was to be had. The UV torches actually interacted with the projections on the floor. There were five of these areas I think and wow they were cool! I feel like I have already given too much away to anyone wanting to visit the exhibition. (I am new to reviewing!) However, basically it was quite addictive as you felt like you were the wind or the tide or a shadow or an ice smasher, as each interactive reacted differently to the torches. I found it quite interesting how I on the one hand I enjoyed seemingly smashing the square projections into half and half again (which seemed to represent the ice), yet also felt quite guilty about doing so. The use of the torches gave me a feeling of power over this created world. (Once I had worked out the torches effect.)

After experiencing the interactives (using the torch) as fully as possible, my attention then turned to the words which were being spoken. The visual and the interacting definitely came first for me, but the sound was always in the background as a subtle part of the experience to begin with.

You could not ignore the spoken words because every ten minutes or so (possibly less, but at seemingly regular intervals) the visual would change. The wall of one side of the space lit up with glowing effect and the interactive projections on the floor changed to being non interactive, with the seeming pattern of icy waves flowing over the ground. There was one voice, either female or male speaking the same words to everyone. It was an interesting moment of feeling joined to everyone, with a common cause, and yet a feeling of caution was created as the strong words seemed to be a warning for the future. The fact that the torches did not affect the interactives during this time created a change in the slight feeling of power I had had, to what was now a feeling powerlessness in the environment. I was being forced to listen to the powerful words.

When all returned to the normal interactives, I then allowed myself to sit down at different places to hear what was being spoken in the different areas. I found the words dramatic and quite interesting. My brain mainly isolated a few words or sentences and as I am sometimes of an impatient kind, I often did not hear all one area had to tell before moving on to hear other words, and yes, in the end I returned to experimenting with my torch and the interactives. I liked the words and they were an essential part of the exhibition, they flowed amongst neighbouring words, but I liked the active visual involvement the best.

I think i would have had a colder and more isolated experience had I been visiting the exhibition alone. But having a friend to return to every now and then felt good! It is interesting to ponder on the evaluation of exhibitions and indeed museums and galleries as a whole, to consider the difference in experience as an individual, as a pair and in a group situation. I am sure that many people have done many a study into this, but it is interesting all the same for me to think about right now.

Even now, about a week after, I think that I took away the artistic and interactive nature of the exhibition more than a strong feeling about what is happening to the arctic itself. This may be as I am fairly aware of environmental issues anyway. However, only in hindsight would I say that although I value such an exhibition as a stand alone and immersive experience, I would hope people (including myself) would truly become more proactive following a visit. I am not sure that I have yet.... This exhibition did though create a very thoughtful and immersive experience whilst I was in it, and I know my friend really liked it too. I was surprised in a sense that this was the first time I felt that I was having a truly modern and rewarding interactive experience.

There was a man made feel to the exhibition, naturally because of it's abstract columns and square themed patterns and the shape of the exhibition space being very clearly rectangular shaped. There was then perhaps a duality of on the one hand being actively involved in the landscape, yet also distanced through the abstract nature. This world is inevitably being shaped by us and is very much man made these days- apart from where and when the earth reclaims its space and behaves of it's own accord, due to the actions of us or natural ones.

The two colours of white and black and the purple glow of he torches was striking. As often when I am somewhere, I was thinking about the accessibility of the exhibition to various audiences. I don't want to cast unknowing unevaluated judgements, but I believe the the exhibition would not cater for a truly diverse audience. Whether it needs to or not is another question, such as whether every exhibition needs to cater for everyone. It mainly appealed to the sense of sight and on a secondary, but significant level, to that of sound. I can not comment on if the environment would be worthwhile for those relying on senses other than that of sight, despite the columns being accessible to touch. I believe the interactive projections and torches would be interesting to quite a wide audience, due to the fact that I don't think many people would have seen anything like it. (I hadn't.)

Worth a visit? Yes definitely as it was a new experience for me and I remember feeling impressed when I was inside it. I have to say I was also interested to find out that it was part of the Cape Farewell project, which I have heard about through following the song-writer and musician Martha Wainwright who took part a couple of years ago.

I hope it was not too difficult to read. I know I have a lot to learn in regard to writing well and in fact also need to cut it down and probably change the content too, to a 450 words- perhaps to a use in developing my career prospects and perhaps not... Still yet to decide and work out the feasibility!