Idea 3: How Art Museums can compete with the Internet and become Viral

Problem:

Going to the art museum has lost its luster. I think the digital information age has spoiled the experience for me. When I’m curious about something I’m one Google away from finding the answer. The unfortunate outcome is I’m much more impatient with my information gathering.

Something about the museum experience in general seems old and archaic. But I don’t think it has to be. Art is about the artist and their context in history as much as the work itself. All that information is usually crammed into a 6″x8″ foam-core plaque that was written by a museum intern. Reading the short snippet does little to satisfy curiosity about the artist or the piece of art I’m looking at. Sure I can probably do an Audio tour, but it forces me to look at the art in a linear way.

Idea:

Last year the DeCordova museum had an interactive piece called “Scapes”. It was an interactive art piece that allowed people to walk around the DeCordova sculpture garden and listen to other visitors commentary through their iPhone. Listening to other visitor’s observations added a new dimension to the artwork itself. It was like having an audio Facebook wall attached to physical sculptures.

What if I could use my Smartphone to augment my museum going experience. I imagine walking up to a work of art and at first making my own opinions about it. Then taking out my iPhone and being able to easily learn more about the artist and the work of art without having to Google it. It would be truly compelling to listen to an artist talk about a piece as I was staring at it and getting a new perspective about it. Maybe I also want to hear about what art critics thought about the work or what other museum goers think of the piece. There are so many possibilities in terms of additional information layers that would make going to a museum a more fun and stimulating experience. The following are some additional information layers that I think might be interesting:

- Commentary from the Artist
- What art critics think about the work
- Historical Significance
- Similar works
- Similar Artists
- Opinions of other museum goers

Any additional information a visitor can get on their visit, helps them to understand a work of art in a greater context and may give that visitor a greater appreciation. Maybe it will inspire them to leave a voice comment on a work which automatically gets posted to Twitter. Just once I want to see #Cezanne as a trending topic.

---