August 2019
Inter-Museum Experiences
Inter-Museum Experiences
Museums and related sites around the Chicago's Museum Campus
The Museum Campus in Chicago harbors a natural history museum, an aquarium, and a planetarium, three institutions that together represent the holistic triad of land, sea and sky. Within this relationship lie opportunities for developing visitor experiences that interconnect their stories, collections and physical spaces; what we might call inter-museum experiences.
Like the superheroes in DC Comics, the museums surrounding Washington's National Mall each represent their own narratives and sub-narratives. And, like comics, they all exist in an often overlooked "storyworld" that unites them, offering through-lines for developing interstitial, hybrid adventures. In fact, these opportunities apply to all museums.
While museums will come together to share best practices, operational strategies or research, loan parts of their collections or collaborate on traveling exhibitions, there is plenty of room for developing multi-museum visitor experiences that bridge the stories held within their brick and mortar buildings.
So, what would an inter-museum experience entail? One viable strategy for weaving together the contents of different museums is the game overlay.
"An object believed to be a meteor has slammed into the Earth's atmosphere, leaving meteorite fragments scattered over Chicago's Museum Campus and lakefront. But, something else was discovered! What began as a routine specimen retrieval expedition has turned into something unexpected. An investigation is now underway and your help is needed."
In this imagined scenario, the objects, collections, galleries and immersive spaces at the Adler Planetarium, the Field Museum and the Shedd Aquarium, (and locations in-between) are activated as a unified playing field involving underwater drones, meteorite hunts, native American cosmologies, celestial navigation, and even the discovery of a new species.
The game co-opts its surroundings through narratives, ground-rules and goals, co-existing with what is "already there". Of course, the experience can be augmented with accessories, pop-ups, props, fixtures, apps, or other media, especially in the space lying between museums.
"Over two decades ago, a strange optical device was unearthed. Since then, numerous artworks residing in museums surrounding the National Mall have been linked to its existence. Where did the device come from? Who created it? What do these seemingly unrelated works of art tell us?"
In this scenario a door is opened to an alternate reality, sci-fi, "whodunnit" involving objects from museums surrounding the National Mall. Visitors are immersed in a narrative woven between a variety of collections, and delivered primarily through a location-aware, audio app.
Like the superheroes in DC Comics, the museums surrounding Washington's National Mall each represent their own narratives and sub-narratives. And, like comics, they all exist in an often overlooked "storyworld" that unites them, offering through-lines for developing interstitial, hybrid adventures. In fact, these opportunities apply to all museums.
While museums will come together to share best practices, operational strategies or research, loan parts of their collections or collaborate on traveling exhibitions, there is plenty of room for developing multi-museum visitor experiences that bridge the stories held within their brick and mortar buildings.
So, what would an inter-museum experience entail? One viable strategy for weaving together the contents of different museums is the game overlay.
"An object believed to be a meteor has slammed into the Earth's atmosphere, leaving meteorite fragments scattered over Chicago's Museum Campus and lakefront. But, something else was discovered! What began as a routine specimen retrieval expedition has turned into something unexpected. An investigation is now underway and your help is needed."
In this imagined scenario, the objects, collections, galleries and immersive spaces at the Adler Planetarium, the Field Museum and the Shedd Aquarium, (and locations in-between) are activated as a unified playing field involving underwater drones, meteorite hunts, native American cosmologies, celestial navigation, and even the discovery of a new species.
The game co-opts its surroundings through narratives, ground-rules and goals, co-existing with what is "already there". Of course, the experience can be augmented with accessories, pop-ups, props, fixtures, apps, or other media, especially in the space lying between museums.
"Over two decades ago, a strange optical device was unearthed. Since then, numerous artworks residing in museums surrounding the National Mall have been linked to its existence. Where did the device come from? Who created it? What do these seemingly unrelated works of art tell us?"
In this scenario a door is opened to an alternate reality, sci-fi, "whodunnit" involving objects from museums surrounding the National Mall. Visitors are immersed in a narrative woven between a variety of collections, and delivered primarily through a location-aware, audio app.
Art museums surrounding the National Mall in Washington DC
These sorts of experiences can take many forms, and the relationships they can establish between seemingly divergent locations are not exclusive to museums.
Institutional walls and property lines will confuse our sense of interconnectedness, and isolate the functions and meanings of their contents. Take time to look past the boundaries of periodization, taxonomy, and patrimony. Step back to consider the broader storyworld, and develop new narratives that open up fresh pathways for engagement and collaboration.
Institutional walls and property lines will confuse our sense of interconnectedness, and isolate the functions and meanings of their contents. Take time to look past the boundaries of periodization, taxonomy, and patrimony. Step back to consider the broader storyworld, and develop new narratives that open up fresh pathways for engagement and collaboration.