Whitney Watson asked:
>"is the profession implying that the dramatic presentations of
>ideas in exhibitions must be based on using  "gee-whiz" technology?"

I hope not! I get rather annoyed when people keep insisting on high tech
gadgetry for new exhibitions. Sure, high technology does have a place in
exhibitions, but it shouldn't be THE solution. The availability of
"gee-whiz" technology is not a justification to use it.

When designing a new exhibition, the first step should be to define what
the exhibition will give to the audience. The next step should be to define
what audience the exhibit will target. Then you work out how your
exhibition will satisfy those definitions, bearing in mind that you should
have a budget for the exhibition. There's not much point in having high
tech stuff if your audience won't understand, appreciate or know how to use
it (small children, etc). High tech can sometimes mean high installation
costs, increased maintenance costs, increased running costs (energy &
consumables), and the exhibition fails when equipment breaks down & that $5
part won't be available for 4 weeks because it has to be imported, or worse
still; that was last year's model & it has been superceded.

Quite often, a static exhibition with no whizz-bang lights or bells will
suffice to give the audience what it wants. At the Australian War Memorial
(AWM) we have both high tech & low tech displays, often in the same
exhibition. Some of the high tech stuff is very useful, & some is more
irritating than informative, 1 or 2 have been inoperative for some time due
to break downs. The AWM display that gives the strongest message to me is a
life-size diorama of a WWI soldier sitting in the mud, head in hands, with
a look of utter dispair on his face. There is no tricky gadgetry involved
at all in this display:- it doesn't move, it doesn't make any sounds, and
there is no special lighting. If it did move or talk I think it would lose
its impact on me.

Basically, you should use "gee-whiz" technology when low technology won't
give you what you need. You need to balance what high tech will give you
versus what it will cost to obtain & install, running costs, maintenance
costs, life expectancy, and adverse affects it will have on your staff &
audience. An example of the last mentioned is talking mannequins. They can
scare people, particularly mannequins that are triggered by people passing
them. I have seen several elderly people jump with fright, and small
children burst into screams & tears as one of these mannequins (a paper boy
announcing the start of the Boer War) starts spouting its stuff. They also
become very irritating to your museum guides and security staff after a
while.

George Bailey
Objects Conservator
Australian War Memorial
Treloar Centre for Conservation
4 Callan St, Mitchell, A.C.T. 2911
Australia
Phone: +61 6 241 6122
fax:   +61 6 241 7998
email: [log in to unmask]