re: "Bot's dots"...silly me, this phrase could be local to the place where I
grew up, and, in trying to be brief, I didn't explain well enough, sorry!

Bot (Bott?) apparently was the name of the man who invented those large
luminescent nail-head like "dots" which separate traffic lanes on U.S.
highways and freeways, so they are called "Bot's Dots."

Regarding my simile, the renowned architectural firm BBPR (Belgioioso,
Banti, Peressuti, Rogers) revamped the displays of the Castello Sforzesco in
Milan, Italy, in the 1960's. After so many years, even in the face of
changing museum audiences (from an elite audience to a less well-informed
audience, for example), their display choices for the ancient to Renaissance
sculpture collections still are very effective (except, perhaps, the display
of the Michelangelo Pieta' which was the subject of a relatively recent
conference). One of these choices was to use low rounded brass nail
head-like floor implants each about 3 or so inches across (hence the "Bot's
Dots" simile), and spaced fairly close together in a wide path around the
object to be separated from the public. It is clear to anyone with a brain
that those uncomfortable things are not to be walked on, and the brass
(which, by now, has acquired a dark patina) also seems a special
installation, so visitors cooperate in keeping themselves at more than arm's
length away from the object, but without the psychological distance of
stanchions. (Obviously, audience and object also figure in these decisions
for object protection.)

Hope I've managed to explain! All the best,

Star
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