On Feb 6, 10:16am, Eric Siegel wrote [clipped]:
>  The thing that I find missing from this discussion of
>  virtual museums is a sense of "place." A principal
>  experience, for me,  in going to a museum is the pleasure I
>  get in *being* somewhere...But in any case, it is a
>  major component of the museum experience, with all of its
>  social, emotional, and cultural resonances.
 
So what happens to people who do not live within easy travelling distance of
a museum?  They just miss that opportunity?  A museum cannot expect school
classes to fly in for the day!  Certainly they cannot expect that from
anyone.  And what of those people who will just never go to a museum because
of the stuffy atmosphere which they sense?  Does it not make sense to allow
them some 'relaxed' exposure to the arts, sciences (or whatever a specific
museum may hold)?
 
>  And then there is the indescribable and complex aura that
>  surrounds an actual artifact, as distinct from a
>  representation. Everyone is familiar with the difference
>  between a book of pictures and a gallery of pictures. To me,
>  there is simply no comparison between the richness of the
>  experience in encountering an actual thing, and encountering
>  a representation of the thing.
 
Nice paraphrasing from German Walter Benjamin (see "Art in the Age of
Mechanical Reproduction").  Unfortunately, he was not living in a world of
fast-paced communications...I do agree that nothing compares to 'the real
thing," however, as I asked above: Should visiting a museum require a
long-distance, expensive trip for people who are not locals?
 
>  ill-produced, and lo-rez documentary about the Louvre
>  than visiting the Louvre...
>  But, people seem in love with this conception, and alot of
>  good creative thinking is going into it, so maybe I'll be
>  pleasantly surprised.
 
It is not necessary a bad thing to do what I call "half the job" when making
a Web site for a museum.  This maybe a gross generalization, but most people
who use computers, and are hooked into the Web, are not huge art fans.  It
would be good for them to see some art...at least better than seeing no art.
And what great benefits can be achieved in classrooms and at home if
children, who are being taught computer skills, would decide to call a Web
site from a museum out of curiosity?
 
Eric, I think it is not "bad" what you are saying, but we all must wait and
see what the near future will hold in terms of interactive, multi-sensory Web
sites.  One of these days it will be completely possible...Of course nothing
can replace an original, but it is better to see a 3" x 3" digitized image
than not to see anything (IMHO).
 
 
--
Joshua Heuman
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Art History Undergraduate