Koven J. Smith Dot Com - Latest Comments

Re: “Dance For a Small Room” w/Cornfield Dance – Abrons Art Center – 06/20/08

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Re: Dragon’s Egg at the Construction Company

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Re: What’s the point of a museum website?

Bruce Wyman — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 20:58:31 -0000

By virtue of our presence in the real world, I think we have a leg up on authority in the virtual world. However, you need to actively participate in the virtual world to actually *maintain* that authority. If you just set the stage and expect everyone else to dance on it, nobody remembers you when everyone has gone home for the evening.

The online world is simple and follows the real world. Participate and you have authority. Don't participate and you're quietly forgotten.

Now, of course, the next step is to actually have something to say, but we'll leave signal vs noise for another discussion. ;)

Re: What’s the point of a museum website?

Koven! — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 17:16:00 -0000

Glad you liked the talk! I do want to be cautious here, though--I'm not necessarily saying that "museum websites suck" or that they're overrated, but rather that they're (often) based on a template that hasn't really ever been proven to work, or at least hasn't been proven to serve an obvious function for potential web audiences in the same way that born-digital properties like Wikipedia do. I also don't necessarily want to throw out that template entirely, either (though I suspect it may be necessary to throw most of it out), but I want to have a clear need be served by anything and everything that we put out.

Re: What’s the point of a museum website?

suse — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 17:15:44 -0000

BTW - I should make it clear that I don't only want my art to be self-curated... there's no way I would pick the best selection of things. I would love to also be able to choose to access beautiful exhibitions as well - brought together by curators to tell a story. But maybe it would be cool to be able to choose from the best exhibitions from a single portal, rather than having to troll dozens of websites to try to find something I want to look at. Serendipity is useful here... it means there is more opportunity for chance and discovery, and for me to find things I didn't even know I was looking for.

Re: What’s the point of a museum website?

suse — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 14:00:12 -0000

Koven - I agree that we have not yet earned trust in the digital domain. I think that museums just assumed the associated gravitas of the physical realm would carry over, and I'm not sure that it is the case. After all, it's a lot easy to make people gape in awe when you have giant buildings to humble them...

As you know, I spent lots of last week exploring museums and galleries over NYC. Whilst there, I was thinking about what I could want from an art/museum website that could make art new again - that could make me want to bring it into my home and explore and actually use a collection site. And while looking at the Picasso guitar exhibition at MoMA, I started thinking about how cool it would be to be able to self-curate a collection of works of art, and have them 'on display' in my own home... so, if I was having a 50s/60s party, I could curate myself a collection of pop art from the era, and have that 'play' in my own home for the duration (on something like a large ipad, or a wall display etc).

To do this, we would need to be able to link art collections together across institutions; to make the information and images customisable to people's needs, and to do something similar to the new Tate website and have different levels of information available for different types of users. But by somehow linking these artists and art stories together, I think we could create new journeys of discovery, and could make old art new again.

What's more, I think doing something like this could potentially drive people back into the Gallery. If you've been able to look at a series of Van Gogh's in your own home for a couple of months, then naturally if you have the choice to see them in the flesh at any time you'd do so, because you have an actual connection to them in some way. I don't know - maybe I'm assuming too much - but I think we need to give people the chance to have a new relationship with art.

Re: What’s the point of a museum website?

Biancabocatius — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 13:27:48 -0000

This talk represents very much my own sentiments! Thank you! Museums' websites are (sometimes) overrated!

Re: What’s the point of a museum website?

Koven! — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 12:05:41 -0000

Ed,

Great post! As usual, you articulate the message more succinctly in one sentence than I was able to in five minutes of hoarse yelling: "...we continue to make more sophisticated versions of a kind of construct that is becoming increasingly irrelevant to the people who we want to use them." Love it, love it, love it.

The reference to Kristin Purcell's keynote is interesting--I'm particularly interested in that first bit: "People still need trusted experts to help them discern when information is accurate and trustworthy." In further discussions with museum/library people after MW and Ignite, one thing that is starting to become clearer is this issue of trust and authority. I tend to think that we in museums entered the digital domain assuming that the authority we acquired in the physical domain would transfer there easily, and I'm not sure that has proved to be the case. It's something I mentioned briefly in the Ignite talk, but haven't really had a chance to parse out too much yet--asking whether we've actually earned the authority that we assert on the Web or not. I think that we actually might have to start that process over again, and earn trust and authority by becoming an online destination that people come to again and again.

Still trying to figure this out. Again, fantastic post, Ed!

Re: What’s the point of a museum website?

Ed Rodley — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 09:37:30 -0000

I think you've done a great job of whacking the hornet's nest, as it were. We do seem to be moving into a world where the smorgasbord website that tries to recapitulate the physical museum is becoming irrelevant. People can get at what they want without the organizing structure of the site, and apps completely circumvent that structure. What will the future look like? I dunno either. But it's time we start experimenting. I blogged more on it at http://exhibitdev.wordpress.co...

Re: My top whatevers of 2010

Victor Samra — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 23:20:30 -0000

As brief as it was, that Jawbox reunion/"show" was one of my top live music experiences, perhaps ever.

And that risotto was one of my top culinary experiences of the past few years too.

Happy New Year!

Re: My top whatevers of 2010

Wesley Verhoeve — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 18:00:46 -0000

Koven! What a great compliment for Pearl and the Beard. Thank you :)

Re: My top whatevers of 2010

Nate Solas — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 17:07:33 -0000

Yeah, po-boy from a truck. Amen, and happy New Year!

Re: My take on #CloughMustGo

Koven! — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 19:03:47 -0000

Also, check Museum Nerd's post explaining why he feels that Clough should be fired: http://museumnerd.wordpress.co...

I'm still not convinced, but he makes a strong case, nontheless...

Re: My take on #CloughMustGo

Koven! — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 18:50:49 -0000

I agree with this general approach, Steven. While I (mostly) agree with Tyler Green that it was a (mostly) missed opportunity, the approach that the Warhol Foundation has taken seems to me like the right approach. Denying funding or loans, though mostly a symbolic gesture, still establishes the principle without handing conservative activists a bonus victory (by creating an opening for a significantly more conservative head of the organization, as John Gordy points out).

The problem, though, is that Clough represents the entire Smithsonian Institution (that includes the zoo, Folkways, etc.), so I'm not sure where other organizations would draw the line here as far as support goes. The NPG, for its part, seems to not be on board with the decision to remove the work, so punishing it seems counterproductive.

Re: My take on #CloughMustGo

Koven! — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 18:43:27 -0000

Thanks, John--I hadn't seen that quote from Clough; I think it expresses eloquently why he's been good for SI (this most recent episode notwithstanding).

Re: My take on #CloughMustGo

John Gordy — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 15:46:09 -0000

Good post. I disagree with the decision but if the Smithsonian were to replace him in this climate it would be with someone much more conservative. Those who would dismiss him without looking at his full tenure are as short sighted as those who criticized the exhibit without stepping foot in NPG.
Extract from Clough's Holiday message to Smithsonian staff
"I could not review this year without commenting on the National Portrait Gallery’s exhibition, “Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture.” I supported the concept for this exhibition from the beginning. I believed then, and I believe now, that the exhibition helps explain the story behind these works of art and the artists who created them.

I am being criticized for removing one item from the exhibition of 105 works, but I stand by my decision. Whether we left the video in or removed it, we would face criticism. Some critics have cried “censorship.” I do not agree. I believed the protests over a small part of the exhibition would potentially drown out the voices of the many other artists in this carefully curated show. Others have criticized the placement of the entire exhibition in a publicly funded museum.

The Smithsonian, by its location and history, is a visible, iconic organization, and its actions create news. What has been obscured in the media buzz is the fact that NPG and the Smithsonian had the courage to mount the exhibit, making its important works available for free to all Americans and to people worldwide. I am certain that in the course of time, this view will prevail. I hope you have a chance to see the exhibition before its scheduled conclusion in February."

Re: My take on #CloughMustGo

Steven Holmes — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 12:50:08 -0000

I don't think Clough should go. But I do renew my call to AAM member museums to end loans to Smithsonian branches until FIRE is restored, until DW is given retrospective at a Smithsonian museum, or until show is renamed "Hide/Seek/Hide Again". NPG has failed in its most basic responsibility as a museum: to educate and interpret culture. No attempt was made to explain the work to the right. Starve them of content until they return to acting like a museum.

Re: On pilot projects and other things that don’t work

Dominic — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 16:56:35 -0000

You may be right that pilot's make organisations more comfortable when it comes to IT, but technologists have done little to help their cause in this respect and IT projects using new technology often fail to meet expectations. There's nothing wrong with making people (managers) feel more at ease with new technology (particularly if they don't) and pilots can provide an opportunity to do this with reduced risk for all parties. If initiated in good faith, pilots can provide the opportunity to work with new technology but more importantly, if done properly (and well), provide a useful means of bridging the gap and improving communication between the IT department and the business.

Re: “A great place to plan your visit!”

Kyle Jaebker — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 20:51:49 -0000

We have not looked at this specifically on the Steve project yet. But I think this would be something that would be interesting and with the diverse set of museum/works in the Steve database the data is there to make this happen.

The wheels in my head are turning.

Re: “A great place to plan your visit!”

Musebrarian — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:53:41 -0000

@edmj Other kinds of preferences cluster in all sorts of interesting ways. Music is often organized by Artists, groups of artists, similar genres, musical venues, etc.. If you like Monticello you might also like Montpelier. If you like small intimate exhibits more than giant blockbusters, try this. If you like Neo-Impressionism, you might also like Fauvism. The behavior of expert connoisseurs may be the a model here.

@5easypieces I don't know if we've invested enough thought in what our recommendation engine would be. I think it runs against the grain of how we view the museum experience. Is Steve.museum looking at any of this? (by looking at tagging behavior? hmmm)

Re: “A great place to plan your visit!”

Eric Johnson — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:22:57 -0000

Curses--that came from me, not from @TJMonticello.

Re: “A great place to plan your visit!”

Monticello — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:20:57 -0000

For some reason, when reading Richard's suggestion my brain hadn't clicked over to Koven's idea of not only recommending items within any one institution that I might like, but suggesting entire institutions. Heck, the best way would do it in layers: based on previous habits, you might like these specific items, or you might like these particular exhibitions (collections of items), or you might like this entire museum (collections of exhibitions). Could such a system be able to read all kinds of preferences: articles posted on Facebook, music preferences on Last.FM, items posted on Smarthistory, etc., and make predictions based off of that?

Either way, that would be brilliant.

Re: “A great place to plan your visit!”

sebchan — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 19:28:52 -0000

Geez . . . that wasn't supposed to submit when I clicked that . . . damn Disqus UI!

OK so yes I have that data.

And people who are planning a visit spend more time on site but visit less regularly (average museum visitor to a paying museum visits maybe once a year?). Collection visitors along with blog readers etc are more likely to come back multiple times to the website and spend shorter time on site looking at less pages (I expect because they are focussed on using the website to perform a 'task').

I'd suggest that you are right - there is very little evidence of 'pre-planning' in great detail. Perhaps that was the *hope* when we started to make complex websites etc . . . but the reality of the museum in the digital age is that the physical visit is now more than ever focussed on an 'overall experience' rather than about individual objects per se. Not surprisingly the desire for individual objects ends up being where the websites have excelled - where museums have realised this change.

(Caveat - this will apply unevenly to natural history, science, social history and art museums)

Re: “A great place to plan your visit!”

Nate Solas — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 17:00:58 -0000

I've been following your tweets on this notion, and my biggest rebuttal is that I don't really know of a website that actually allows people to do the sort of planning you mean. Nobody has their galleries mapped out well (or, someone in Chicago might?) with actual up-to-date info on what's on the wall where, so it's basically impossible to say "first this piece, then that one". You know? Seems like you're saying "no one does this thing that's impossible!" Maybe if we had some sites where this functionality existed we'd see some uptake? I, for one, might actually use it -- skip all the boring stuff, right? :)

But I agree about the trap of trying to make the website only about the physical visit. Danger, danger.

Re: “A great place to plan your visit!”

Koven! — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 16:15:15 -0000

Is there a correlation between intention to visit a museum and time spent on that museum's website? Does anyone have statistics on this? It seems like this would tell us a lot.

If website users with a stated intention to visit the museum spend an equal amount (or more) time in the content (i.e., not the "directions/hours/parking") areas of the site as users with no intent to visit, then we could probably consider optimizing our sites for these kinds of visitors. If, however, non-visitors consistently spend more time in the content areas of the site than visitors (which is what I would expect), we should focus on those users in our design(s).

I would love to see statistics, if anyone's got them. @mpedson?