Have Museums gone TOO Far With Interactives?

http://www.artsjournal.com/realcleararts/2011/04/monet-water-lillies-now.html

This article discusses how a Kansas museum is using hands on interactives and technology to "enhance" visitor experiences- by using one of the most famous Impressionist works ever as a centerpiece.

Rather than just display the paintings as the artist intended, they have included archival footage, background music, "copycat" paintings that guests can touch, and a computer interactive that guests can create their own versions of the masterpiece and email it back to themselves.

As someone who works in a busy museum, I cannot see how any of these things will enhance the visitor experience rather than coddle their minds or encourage vandalism/boredom in more traditional museums. First, how arrogant to assume what sort of background music should be played with a painting. By playing background music the museum is "setting the mood" for how they think a guest will/should react to a painting. Next, by creating a touchable "copycat" version that shows the steps Monet took in creating his famous flowered scene, you can potentially cheapen his artistic ability to guests (the "Oh, I can do that!" syndrome) or give them the idea that museums are always supposed to have things they can touch (maybe I'm old school, but the whole concept of a museum is you come and look, not touch. Even now in a museum that HAS hands on interactives, I am reluctant to touch them out of habit/respect...). And the computer interactive sounds like an ok idea...so long as the computer systems work seamlessly. One missed email or glitch and you've ruined the guests perception of the museum/exhibit forever.

I give them two points for an effort...but maybe they should be trying to educate and stimulate ideas some other way.

TWhite