museums

Leigh Star (star who-is-at alexia.lis.uiuc.edu)
Wed, 8 Nov 1995 07:34:38 -0800 (PST)

So many people write elegantly about the politics of museums (Donna
Haraway, Jim Clifford and the x-mcaers). I agree.

But I've sometimes thought about a different kind of museum. For example,
a few weeks ago I visited our local virtual reality 3-D laboratory. You
put on goggles and "walk through" a site. The exhibit I went through was
designed by a woman who had been in a bad car accident and suffered some
brain damage. The walk through was meant to give you a glimpse of what an
art gallery looks like now (and also before the accident) through her eyes,
blurring some images, narrowing others. It was very powerful in a way that
no dead exhibit about the visual aftermath of brain damage could be. Maybe
there are some imaginative uses of such technologies (including exhibition
technology) that could redefine what a museum is. What if a museum of
practice showed you how much work is involved in making a violin, gave you
the feel of the wood and the choices; of how complex it is to cook a meal?
Just a glimpse, but still....

an early morning thought,

Leigh

***************************************
Susan Leigh Star
Graduate School of Library and Information Science
University of Illinois 123 LIS Building
501 East Daniel St.
Champaign, IL 61820 Phone: (217) 244-3280
FAX: (217) 244-3302 email: slstar who-is-at ux1.cso.uiuc.edu
-------
It seems so simple
when things or people
have modified each other's qualities
somewhat;
we almost forget the oddity
of that.
--Kay Ryan (The New Yorker, August 7, 1995)

"The web of ten thousand dimensions in heaven and net on earth." -- Chinese
translation of "World Wide Web", Int'l Herald Tribune, 6/95