Museum Laboratories and Chrome Experiments!
It truly is difficult to write about an experiment untested with a hypothesis unknown, and in a lab unseen. But I’ll make an exception because Google is the scientist behind it. All that we know about the Chrome Web Lab, we know because of a minute long YouTube video:
“See the magic of the web brought to life through 5 Chrome Experiments.
Open to the world online. Live from the Science Museum, London.
Launching in beta, summer 2012.”
Instead of making grandiose, naive, and most likely, faulty predictions, all I will say is that where there is Google, there is oodles and doodles of interesting innovation. So this participatory exhibition at the London Museum of Science is one to experience and experiment with.
Coincidentally, another equally experimental space, called the Laboratory for Museum Innovation, is in the works at the Dallas Museum of Art. Having secured $300,000 in funding, the lab will soon launch a round of pilot projects designed to address museological issues such as : Access to Collections; Visitor Engagement and Participatory Culture; Advancing Digital Scholarship; and Transformative Infrastructure. The following was mentioned in DMA’s press release:
“The Laboratory will mount a series of short-term pilot projects that will investigate and focus on enhancing educational resources for K-12 students and teachers; expanding data and information on its collections to aid scholars and visitors; deepening understanding of how visitors encounter works of art; and improving global distribution of content from the Museum and its audiences.”
It’s going to be a summer of scientific experimentation in museums. A fine meeting of cultural and statistical significance!
About the Author
Naina Singh Naina Singh is a first year Master of Arts Management student at Carnegie Mellon University. Before coming to CMU, Naina studied Management, Art History, and Italian at Indiana University Bloomington. Naina's interests lie in the realm of strategic consulting for arts organizations and the visual arts. She is also interested in studying the role of arts and cultural organizations in shaping societal and global values. She has had prior work experience at Religare Arts Initiative, an arts organization in New Delhi, where she was the gallery and social media intern. Naina enjoys visiting museums, art fairs, galleries, and believes that everyone else should too!
