Collection Project - Template
Our assignment this week was to begin working with the collection of the Museum of Arts & Design by selecting a group of objects to focus on, establishing interpretive categories for these objects, researching supplementary information sources that contextualize our selection, and designing a framework for displaying this information.
After browsing the collection and thinking about what I wanted to emphasize about the pieces when I displayed them, I decided to select objects with a similar form, to emphasize the differences in color, style, materials, and the creative process overall. I selected 20 round pieces, then researched each piece and artist to add what information I could to the database. To facilitate the process of comparing and contrasting the pieces, I decided on a format similar to pantone color chips or paint chips--moveable wedges connected at one end. The object itself is the primary focus, with the information arranged in the same order below each image to facilitate comparison between the objects.
There are a few things that did not work particularly well with this initial prototype. First, the physical design of the chips does not allow for easy comparison of the details about each object because part of the text is blocked when the chips are held side-by-side. Second, there is too much textual information to easily parse, and it is arranged in a way that makes it difficult to compare between cards. Third, the matte finish of the paper stock I used does not do a good job of conveying the materials, process, and beauty of the pieces.
The larger concept that I wanted to explore with this project was based the idea that each person interacts with and draws connections between pieces in a collection in a unique way. With a modular, chip-based template like the one I created, people in a museum could be encouraged to curate their own show as they explored the collection...picking up individual chips near each object that caught their eye, then grouping them together in a way that made sense to them.
My idea here was that people could create these collections, add a brief explanation of why they chose the pieces they did, then leave the collection of chips in a common area for other museum patrons to explore. This experience would not only create a sort of dialogue between patrons, but also encourage visitors to engage with the physical pieces and their accompanying written material in a more meaningful way.