The last ’museum’ I visit was that of the Pacific Science Center, formally known as the Seattle Science Museum. I really enjoyed how the museum was catered towards entertaining the public in an interactive way. Unlike most of the museums I have been to, there was a an element present which was truly unique. What made this museum so special was that the majority of the exhibits were designed for both school children and adults alike. Why this concept works so well has to do with how each of us ‘see’ an exhibit.
Perhaps the easiest way to explain how I see an exhibit might be to recall an event from my childhood. I remember this one in particular because it was quite a common occurrence. One person would ask to see some object expecting it to be handed to them for examination, and instead would be given a witty remark: “You see with your eyes and not your hands”. Although you do physically see with your eyes, the act of actually ‘seeing’ something and understanding it in its entirety is completely different. I feel to truly see something for what it is, every aspect of it must be closely examined: size and color, texture, sound, smell, and even taste (not usually in a museum). All of which can play an intricate role in each person ‘seeing’ what something really is. Whether we know it or not our senses make us critics; especially in a museum. I tend to criticize exhibits and works in a museum far more than I would judge something simply walking down the street. I utilize all my senses, some of which feel slightly heightened.
The first thing I notice when I walk into a museum, even before my eyes fully adjust, is how it smells. Some museums tend to be musky and smell as old as the exhibits they are showing, while others can possess that new-museum smell. Once my eyes adjust, I examine how the lighting is used to portray some feeling or emotion; whether that be dark and ominous or fun and carefree. As I approach an exhibit closer, occasionally there is some audio describing the specimen, or some ferocious roar originating from the beast; both of which intrigue and excite. When I am finally close enough, and when allowed, I reach out and touch the exhibit. For me, touch might be my most powerful sense when in a museum. Whatever the texture may be, Ii always conjures up thoughts and emotions and has me ; “what does this feel like?“. I feel that it is the collaborative effect of all our senses that enable us to truly ‘see’ something for what it is.
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I really understand what you mean about the smells of the museum. I went to the Bodies Exhibit in Seattle over winter break and was EXTREMELY nervous to figure out what it smelled like. It actually didn't smell like "human bodies" but rather just a normal room. When I was walking around the museum looking at all of the different pieces I wanted to touch things just to know that they were real. I saw them and I knew they were there but touching them makes it that more real. I wanted to know what veins felt like or a heart, a brain, a liver, a stomach, the list goes on and on. They did have a small station where you could hold a liver and a kidney which was very interesting. They were all preserved in a resin which made them feel like a rubber ball so it was hard to believe that they were real body parts. There was so much to take in during my time at the Bodies Exhibit that I had to keep moving so I wouldn't try to touch something. It is almost an instinct for some people to just reach out and touch things even when they know they are not supposed to. It's like seeing a sign that says wet paint on a wall but you have to touch it just to make sure.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading about your experiences in using all of your senses to experience a museum. It’s not something I had really thought about before, but now that I consider it, it really is a critical part of the experience. When you were discussing being a child, it really brought back memories of my childhood field trips to museums. Whenever kids go on class trips like that, the tour guides almost always bring out knickknack-type objects—animal bones or arrowheads or live cockroaches or whatever the museum calls for—for the kids to touch in order to better illustrate the concepts. The idea of smells also really makes me think of animals in particular. Whether alive in a zoo (which is like a museum of sorts) or dead in a natural history museum like the Conner, they have a very distinctive smell which is a big part of the experience that one would not be able to get anywhere else but in a museum.
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