Archive for the ‘website’ Category
Wednesday, October 12th, 2011
I bookmarked the Museum of Lost Interactions (MoLI) website three years ago when the exhibition was about Forgotten Chairs. Led by professor Graham Pullin, design students at the University of Dundee examine the history of interaction design before our digital age. In a Museum of Jurassic Technology-esque way, the students then research and exhibit their findings. Recent exhibitions have included Curious Timepieces and Hats from the Attic. The artifacts presented are a blend of historical fiction, social inquiry and design innovation. For each display, the students create supporting material for the exhibit; including photos, documentaries and re-creations of the forgotten devices.
I love MoLI because of its specificity – it was designed as an assignment for a University course, but has grown into something much richer. I am also interested because of the incorporation of design fiction. Exhibits are about connecting people with information and each other – the methods used to do this are completely open, whether it be from history books, the imagination or an intriguing blend of both.
Tags: Australia, Bookmarks, Museum of Jurassic Technology, Museum of Lost Interaction
Posted in interactive, museum, website | No Comments »
Monday, January 3rd, 2011
This seems like a good post to start the new year because it is filled with possibility. Last year, an Oxfam charity shop in Manchester, England did an interesting experiment with RFID tags and QR codes. They allowed people donating goods to record the stories (or histories) of their items. These recordings were then made available in the store through a hacked iphone that read the item-associated RFID tags, but they were also accessible to any device that could read QR codes (those barcode looking squares available in many smartphone apps).
The project was part of a larger effort by several UK universities to create a site, called Tales of Things, for sharing personal and social histories. While there are several obvious ways these kinds of tags can be used in museum-type settings, it is interesting to ponder other uses as well. Imagine buying a product that has been tagged in every step of the production and transportation process. Relatives passing down stories of family heirlooms. Or, as this article in the NY Times pointed out, your tagged tennis racquet updating your location on Foursquare. The future is scary and awesome.
Tags: England, future, Oxfam, QR code, RFId tags, Tales of Things
Posted in community, interactive, libraries, museum, participatory, social media, website | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 14th, 2010
It seems like more and more people want to know the story behind the products they buy, not only for environmental concerns but also to feel personally connected in a sometimes anonymous virtual world. After reading books like The Mesh and Collaborative Consumption, these kinds of business ideas make so much sense to me.
The Golden Hook is an example of a business capitalizing on this craving for personal interaction. Customers choose from a variety of hat designs, which they can customize by color and yarn type. Then they go on to select the grandmother they want to knit their design. Golden Hook has an arsenal of grannies that are expert knitters and are also looking to earn some extra income. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship; the kind that I think so many businesses are trending towards. I also like to ponder how these types of projects can be applied to our cultural institutions. I’m having visions of stories about museum acquisitions and personalized curatorial stories…slightly different than dancing sugar plums.
Tags: Collaborative Consumption, Golden Hook, The Mesh
Posted in businesses, good idea, interactive, retail, website | No Comments »
Thursday, December 9th, 2010
The BBC has a website called Save Our Sounds, where users can upload a sound clip from anywhere around the world. I just uploaded a sound (you can listen below) from my recent visit to Venice, Italy. While staying in the monastery at the Madonna dell’Orto (a 14th century church), I recorded a short clip of the choir practicing. The BBC’s aim is to save the world’s endangered sounds for future generations. I just love this project, the website was really easy to use and anyone can listen to sounds from around the world. The British Library has launched a similar version just for the UK.
Madonna dell’Orto Choir Practice
Tags: BBC, British Library, Venice
Posted in interactive, libraries, music, participatory, website | No Comments »
Sunday, September 5th, 2010
I have long been a fan of the Denver Art Museum’s (DAM) monthly late night events called Untitled. It seems DAM is now trying to expand their community oriented programming even further by introducing the Collective, a microsite that bundles all of DAM’s innovative events into one location. One of the features that caught my eye is their recently launched DDIY, which stands for Digital Do-It-Yourself. Every month DAM posts a creative project and asks users to upload their results, similar to the site Learning to Love You More. The first DDIY had participants ‘Make a Still Life for Your Afterlife’ (above) to coincide with their King Tut exhibition. While participation currently seems to be a little low, the site is still fairly new. This is another positive step for the DAM in creating a more inclusive visitor experience – looking forward to seeing how the site evolves.
Tags: Denver, Denver Art Museum
Posted in art, museum, one to watch, participatory, website | No Comments »
Saturday, April 17th, 2010
The V&A has opened a new exhibition on quilts that I have yet to see. Browsing through their website I came across the Patchwork Pattern Maker, an online tool which allows visitors to select photos from the V&A collection, or upload their own, and transform the pics into a quilt pattern. This is such a simple and lovely add-on for the show, allowing people to take their interest in the subject matter further by making a quilt of their own. While I’ve only tackled the most basic Denyse Schmidt projects, with the help of the pattern maker I’m ready to take things to the next level.
Tags: pattern, quilt, textiles, V&A
Posted in museum, textiles, website | No Comments »
