Museum Exhibit Inspiration: The Work Of Arthur Ganson

One of my favorite artists is Arthur Ganson. I've been a big fan of Arthur and his work ever since I met him many years ago while working in the Boston area. (And I can take some small credit for bringing Arthur to Austin for a show that led to the inspiration for his toy called "Toobers and Zots.")

Speaking of Boston, if you find yourself within striking distance of the MIT Museum, you should see Arthur's ongoing exhibition called Gestural Engineering. It's a magical collection of his witty and intricate sculptures.

The video below is from a talk Arthur gave at the TED conference that gives a nice overview of his work and approach. Enjoy!




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Museum Exhibit Design: Be On The Lookout For Unusual Sources!

Sometimes exhibit resources and exhibit materials show up in unexpected places.

A recent posting on the Dinosaurs and Robot Blog by Todd Lapin highlights this.

While working on his house, Todd came across AW Direct, a mail order catalog that sells parts and equipment for tow trucks. One of the non-traditional uses he made of a tow truck step was as a soap dish for his shower! It just goes to show that interesting design possibilities can pop up in the most interesting places.

I love finding interesting exhibit possibilities in the aisles of stores, like the new "green" line of toys from Toys R Us, or in catalogs or websites, like Sublime Stitching (for glow-in-the-dark string) or United Nuclear (for "dangerous" science supplies.)

What are some of your favorite "non-traditional" museum exhibit design sources? Let us know in the "Comments Section" below.

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Playing Around With Science: An Interview with Peter Rea

Peter Rea is the founder and president of Arbor Scientific, a company based in Ann Arbor, Michigan that imports, develops, and sells science education products and toys to teachers as well as the general public.

I first met Peter nearly twenty years ago at an MDSTA (Metro Detroit Science Teacher’s Association) meeting where he was demonstrating the Genecon hand-held generator from Japan. Since then, I’ve used many of Arbor Scientific’s products in museum programs and exhibits, so I thought readers of the ExhibiTricks blog might benefit from Peter’s take on science and science education.

Another great resource from Arbor Scientific of particular interest to museum folks is their CoolStuff Newsletter. You can view the CoolStuff Newsletter via the ArborSci website or subscribe via email. The Newsletter offers demo ideas, lesson plans, and free downloads of other fun science stuff. One of my favorite entries featured Anamorphic Art and other Optical Phenomena.

So after you enjoy my interview with Peter, check out the Arbor Scientific website and the CoolStuff Newsletter!


What’s your academic background?
I have a BA in Economics from Albion College and an MBA from the University of Michigan.


How did you start Arbor Scientific?
I started Arbor Scientific with a friend who had worked as a sales representative for one of the large science supply houses. He had discovered some very innovative products coming out of Japan that weren’t available in the US. These products, which included the Genecon and Magnetic Field Observation Box were an immediate success and started our reputation for having the “cool” science toys.


Were you a “science geek” as a kid?
I wouldn’t say that I was or am a “science geek”. I’m very inquisitive and have a real interest in how and why things work. My dad had a PhD in Engineering, but it was my older brother who became the physics teacher. My passion is for customer service --- which to me means finding the best new products and offering them at the best value to our customers. I’m fortunate to have met and established relationships with some of the best science teachers in the country. They’re a constant source of inspiration for new products and wanting to give teachers the tools that will help them do a better job.


What new products are you most excited about?
Two years ago we were the first company in the US to import and sell a model hydrogen fuel cell car kit that produced its own hydrogen. We’ve sold close to a thousand of them since, and are very excited about a new bioenergy product from the same company. In addition we will be carrying a laser viewing tank that was developed by science teacher in California that is very cool.


Do you handle particular products that you think would be useful for museums?
Many of our products are used in science museums, primarily in hands on demonstrations and outreach programs. The Genecon and Visual Electricity Demonstrator have been very popular, as well as the Hand Crank Van De Graaff Generator.

What trends in science products do you see coming down the road?
I don’t think we will see very much change in the products themselves. The change will come in how teachers learn how to use the products. Although we have for years provided curriculum ideas along with our products, the web allows us to use video to show them how to best use our products. We are in the process of producing video clips that will teach the teachers how to use these products.


What can a parent do to encourage a child’s interest in science?
Visit science museums, buy science related toys, and most importantly encourage their involvement in science classes, especially as they get older.

What’s you favorite museum?
The Exploratorium in San Francisco is my favorite, and we have a great hands-on museum here in Ann Arbor.

What’s your favorite science-related experience?
I chaperoned a group of high school physics students to an amusement park for “Physics Day” It was great to see the enthusiasm displayed in completing their assignments. It also gave me a greater appreciation of the creativity teachers express in teaching their students.

Was there ever a product you were sure would be a hit that never (or hasn’t yet) taken off?
I’m fortunate to have a brother who is an award winning physics teacher. Many ideas for new products have come from him. A number of years ago he suggested we sell a product for teaching projectile motion that he had obtained at a physics teachers meeting but was no longer being sold. After a couple of years of pushing this idea, I capitulated and introduced it in our catalog. The Air Powered Projectile quickly became one of our best selling products.

Thanks again to Peter for his candor and insights!

You can find out more about Arbor Scientific by visiting their website.

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InterfaCE: An Art/Science Collaboration

How can an artist's sensitive pastel drawings of Antarctic topography be useful in creating new nano-surfaces for micro-biological forms to grow?

Cynthia Pannucci, the founder/director of Art & Science Collaborations, Inc. (ASCI), a 20-year old nonprofit organization based in New York serving the international art-sci-tech field recently told me about the unusual, on-going, collaboration of New Zealand artist, Claire Beynon, and New York-based polar research biologist, Sam Bowser.

Their work is highlighted on this month's ASCI Featured Member Page

Claire and Sam's collaborative art-science work began with several field research trips to Antarctica, but fundamentally it is distinguished by a unique collaborative process in which each has embraced and been influenced by the other's work and process (in the field, laboratory, studio, and gallery settings.) Most artist-scientist collaborations that I have seen over the years involve the artist being inspired by the scientist's research and/or helping the scientist visualize his/her research. Rarely does it move in the other direction of influence!

Sam studies an ancient group of unicellular creatures called Foraminifera ("forams"), in an attempt to understand their role in the functioning of marine ecosystems.

In their novel art/science collaboration, Claire's artwork, inspired by a season's research in Antarctica with Sam's team, is taken by Sam and miniaturized through nanolithographic methods and used as a template to produce a feature-rich growth substrate for forams to inhabit. Information on their motile behavior and structure is gathered using time-lapse video light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, which in turn is applied to generate scientific hypotheses for more formal experimental tests. Claire then utilizes these scientific images as prompts for new artwork.

To their knowledge, this work is the first to explore ways in which Antarctic microorganisms are influenced by topographic features similar in scale to that of their native environments. By cycling information through artistic, scientific, and microbial processes in a way that is analogous to how energy and resources flow through Antarctic ecosystems, they believe their collaborative process presents a new creative paradigm that will be widely applicable to other life science disciplines.

The various iterative art/science products and collaborative dynamics of the Beynon/Bowser team were recently presented via INTERFACE, a visual display and lecture at the Frances Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York on May 2, 2008.

Please contact Cynthia Pannucci, ASCI Founder/Director if you have any questions.

ASCI has an open membership of artists, scientists, technologists, and those interested in the intersection of these fields.

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Exhibit Design: Museum SketchUp Group?

Lucky me! I got invited to attend SketchUp Basecamp coming up in June at Google's Headquarters (aka, The GooglePlex) in Silicon Valley. (If you're not already familiar with SketchUp, check out this previous posting.)

I mention SketchUp Basecamp, not to regale you with my upcoming travel schedule, but rather to solicit interest in a Museum/Exhibits related SketchUp group. Do you use SketchUp? Would you be willing to share and trade ideas, and SketchUp renderings in one handy accessible spot? If there is enough interest, I'd love to set up a Google SketchUp group for Museum and Exhibits folks. Leave your contact info in the Comments Section below, or send me an email to indicate your interest.

UPDATE: A Museum and Exhibits SketchUp Group has been created! Get more info by clicking here. Also check out the Museum and Exhibits Collection in the Google 3D Warehouse as well.

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Museum Design: Where's Your Workshop?

It used to be that every museum had an "exhibits workshop." An unsettling trend (to me at least) is the continuing wave of museums that have deliberately left exhibit workshops (staff access, not visitor access spaces) out of the mix.

Can any museum that features interactive exhibits, or really any type of exhibits, ever become great (as opposed to just good) without some sort of workshop?

Let me be clear, I don't think every museum needs a full cabinet-making workshop with full welding capabilities and paint booth. But if you don't have at least one place with a bench and basic tools to tinker, to prototype, or to just pull busted exhibits off the floor while you repair them, can your museum's exhibit program ever be living up to its full potential? Workshop spaces build and increase your museum's internal exhibit development capacity and create a tremendous staff feeling of "ownership." Especially as it relates to "we built that here" exhibits and the entire exhibit development process.

I'm afraid that if you don't have a funky space to create, and explore exhibit ideas, your museum will inevitably cede some (or all!) of this important exhibit development process and skill-set to outsiders. And outsiders, including many architects with exhibit developer aspirations, are often the ones most responsible for eliminating workshop spaces from new building plans. If your designers and architects don't give you a workshop space with convenient loading/unloading access to the outdoors they are starting you and your museum off at a disadvantage.

I'll never forget a visit a few years ago to a beautiful new children's museum. After walking around the space with the Director of Exhibits, I innocently asked to see the "exhibits workshop." He ushered me into a small rectangular office with a desk and chair wedged into the far end. One entire remaining length of wall was lined with deep shelves holding the cans for the 26(or more!) different colors of paint that the architect had used throughout the building. I was dumbfounded. I asked, "Where do you build new exhibits?" The answer: "We don't build new exhibits. We just hire other people to build them for us." Then I asked, "What happens if an exhibit breaks?" The answer: "Most of the time, we just put an "OUT OF ORDER" sign on the exhibit and call somebody to come and fix it." I worried then, and I worry now, about what the long-term effects of "workshopless" museums will be --- both for visitors and the museum field itself.

How do you handle exhibit workshop space(s) in your museum or in museum projects you've helped create? Are workshop spaces a neccessity, or am I just hopelessly "old school"? Let us know in the "Comments Section" below.

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