Murph the Surf wrote:
>

> Ambient means "surrounding on all sides, encompassing". For those of us
> WAY past college years an analogous term might be "happening" but from
> what I can sense from the people involved (many young, not all) it means
> more than a staged event or museum exhibit. It's immersive (another
> trendy term these days), like a Jackson Pollock painting or a cultural
> ritual.
>
> > Excuse me, but I don't think all this arty jargon is going to attract many people who aren't "in"
> > in the art world.  And that's *not* what we want for our Web site, or for any "virtual" (or
> > "ambient"?) museum we might eventually set up!
>
> That a museum director would say this is one of the reasons Americans
> are so drawn to the immersive environments offered by Disney et al.
>

Just for the record, I have nothing against an "immersive environment"--though I have to say, the
most "immersive environment" I know of we live in and experience every day.  I just don't think
folks in South Carolina (and probably a lot of other places) are going to be attracted by the
latest New York art-world buzzwords!  If we can't describe our presentations in language the
majority can understand, we will only enhance our "elitist" image.

There are times and places where specialized language is appropriate.  Unless aiming at a
special audience, a museum production is just not one of them.
--
Janis Beth Wilkens
Curator of Collections/Interim Director
Museum of York County
4621 Mt. Gallant Road, Rock Hill, SC  29732
803-329-2121    Fax:  803-329-5249
mailto:[log in to unmask]
http://www.cetlink.net/commercial/myco/mycohome.html