Founded in 1824, The Franklin Institute’s initial purpose “was to honor Ben Franklin and advance the usefulness of his inventions.” The Franklin opened in its present location on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in 1934, becoming “one of the first hands-on science museums in the United States.” Its current mission is to “illuminate issues in contemporary science” through its exhibitions and programs, with a strong focus on community outreach and public education initiative geared to girls and urban youth. Spend an hour or so wandering the halls of The Franklin leaves little doubt as to their target audience. Most everything here is interactive, and the exhibits and displays engage young people (between the ages of 8 and 14) in hands-on activities which allow them to experience scientific phenomena. There are few places better suited to thinking about the interactive or experiential museum.
In Museums, Media and Cultural Theory, Michelle Henning looks at museums as media. She discusses the “tendency [of modern museums] to both dematerialize and bring objects closer” through exhibition design, a trend away from the static presentation of (sacred) objects toward the creation of experience through visitor interaction with displayed objects (71). Discussing hands-on science museums like San Francisco’s Exploratorium, Henning notes that museums have moved away from the presentation of artifacts, developing new display techniques which exhibit abstract concepts (71). She discusses the emergence of the mediatic museum as a manifestation of the belief that “the museum was the best means to inform and educate a mass audience.” This principle evolved over time in response to the practical concerns facing museums in the 1980s and 90s. During this period, museums increased interactivity in order to “compete in a [crowded] marketplace of leisure attractions” often trading education for entertainment (81). The Franklin recently unveiled Electricity exhibit illustrates the conflict between education (and experience) and entertainment in the interactive museum.
The production literature for Electricity exhibit describes its mission, goal, and objective:
- “To invite the visitor to notice, think about, and question where we find electricity, how we use it, and the impacts of integrating electric technology into our way of life.
- “Visitors discover electricity is derived from how charges interact, properties of which allow us to generate electricity, making us responsible for our choices in usage and gene ration.”
- “Visitors encounter electricity through experiences that allow manipulation of electrical phenomena, contain authentic artifacts, and encourage new connections and collaborations.”
It seeks to achieve these objectives by creating a visitor experiences through interactive exhibits, static objects and artifacts, and striking visuals, in addition to linking thematically to surrounding exhibits on the human body and the Earth.
The exhibit is orderly arranged in sections devoted to Franklin’s electrical experiments, how electricity works, demand and sustainability, and electricity in the human body. There are several strong visual focal points in the exhibit; the giant Tesla coil (that goes off to great effect on the hour) suspended at the center of the exhibit, a giant wall of LED lights that reacts to the electrical signals of visitor’s cell phones, and a dance floor convert movement to energy. Another interesting feature of the exhibit is the way designers connect the Electricity exhibit thematically with those around it, using objects and/or displays to transition from one to the other. The exhibit borders areas devoted to flight, the human body, and the Changing Earth, and the ideas of each – the environment, conservation, and the human nervous system easily overlap. At these transition points, designers have placed a single object or interactive display marking the visitor’s movement from one area to the next. Each of these displays (supplemented by striking photographs and quotes) creates a threshold experience for the visitor, clearing their mind and readying them new exhibit and new experience. The most dynamic example of a threshold displays is the Franklin-style key that, when touched, shocks the visitor. Indeed, it clears the mind as it zaps your hand and after interacting with the display it is difficult not to be drawn deeper into the exhibit.
The Electricity exhibit balances the static objects with exhibits that foster a dynamic experiences. The exhibit includes a section devoted to Benjamin Franklin which contains a collection of his scientific instruments. The section devoted to electricity and the human body includes a defibrillator and a piece from Andy Warhol’s Electric Chair series. One sees the impulse toward interactivity in the displaying of static objects or artifacts. The Franklin artifacts on display are supplemented by a touch-screen interface which makes these static objects come alive. Through this interface you can learn more about the history of the objects and see how they were used. It is an interesting combination, in a single exhibit of the old and new exhibition modes.
The exhibit is orderly arranged in sections devoted to Franklin’s electrical experiments, how electricity works, demand and sustainability, and electricity in the human body. There are several strong visual focal points in the exhibit; the giant Tesla coil (that goes off to great effect on the hour) suspended at the center of the exhibit, a giant wall of LED lights that reacts to the electrical signals of visitor’s cell phones, and a dance floor convert movement to energy. Another interesting feature of the exhibit is the way designers connect the Electricity exhibit thematically with those around it, using objects and/or displays to transition from one to the other. The exhibit borders areas devoted to flight, the human body, and the Changing Earth, and the ideas of each – the environment, conservation, and the human nervous system easily overlap. At these transition points, designers have placed a single object or interactive display marking the visitor’s movement from one area to the next. Each of these displays (supplemented by striking photographs and quotes) creates a threshold experience for the visitor, clearing their mind and readying them new exhibit and new experience. The most dynamic example of a threshold displays is the Franklin-style key that, when touched, shocks the visitor. Indeed, it clears the mind as it zaps your hand and after interacting with the display it is difficult not to be drawn deeper into the exhibit.
The Electricity exhibit balances the static objects with exhibits that foster a dynamic experiences. The exhibit includes a section devoted to Benjamin Franklin which contains a collection of his scientific instruments. The section devoted to electricity and the human body includes a defibrillator and a piece from Andy Warhol’s Electric Chair series. One sees the impulse toward interactivity in the displaying of static objects or artifacts. The Franklin artifacts on display are supplemented by a touch-screen interface which makes these static objects come alive. Through this interface you can learn more about the history of the objects and see how they were used. It is an interesting combination, in a single exhibit of the old and new exhibition modes.
Very interesting post! As a student in England studying American Studies, it's fascinating to read your first hand experiences of such exiting institutions. I was particularly interested by your account of the interactive dynamic to the museum, it's arguably essential that when presenting history it remains accessible to the masses (something you alluded to earlier on) and modernises to do so. I'm interested to know how you feel about the interactive exhibitions- notably the cell phone piece. Do you think these pieces inspire younger generations to become more involved in science, or do they act as another medium of entertainment that once left, is never really thought about in an academic perspective? Look forward to reading more of your posts and I hope your studying is going well. Oliver.
ReplyDeleteGreetings Oliver,
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time to respond.
I'm not sure if exhibits like the cell phone wall inspire kids toward science. Like some of the other pieces in Electricity exhibit it does tend toward entertainment that, as you observe, is forgotten as soon as you leave the museum. Or, put another way, the entertainment overshadows education - the message is lost. The exhibit's giant Tesla coil works in a different way. The frightening snap and crackle of the coil coming to life grabs your attention. It triggers a sense of awe and reverence, of curiosity in the visitor. This is the kind of experience, I think, leads people to science.
Thanks again.
Best.
Ben