Museums, media and cultural theory / Michelle Henning.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Henning, Michelle.

Series:

Issues in cultural and media studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Museums--Educational aspects.

Museums.

Museums--Public relations.

Museum exhibits.

Physical Description:

xiv, 183 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Maidenhead, England ; New York : Open University Press, 2006.

Summary:

Museums can work to reproduce ideologies and confirm the existing order of things, or as instruments of social reform. Yet objects in museums can exceed their designated roles as documents or specimens, in this wide-ranging and original book, Michelle Henning explores how historical and contemporary museums and exhibitions restage the relationship between people and material things. In doing so, they become important sites for the development of new forms of experience, memory and knowledge.

Henning reveals how museums can be theorized as a form of media. She discusses both historical and contemporary examples, from cabinets of curiosity, through the avant-garde exhibition design of Lissitzy and Bayer; the experimental museums of Paul Otlet and Otto Neurath; to science centres; immersive and virtual museums; and major developments such as Guggenheim Bilbao, Tate Modern in London and the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C. Museums, Media and Cultural Theory is unique in its treatment of the museum as a media-form, and in its detailed and critical discussion of a wide range of display techniques. It is an indispensable introduction to some of the key ideas, texts and histories relevant to the museum, in the 21st century.

Contents:

1 Object 5

The life of things in the museum age 5

The democratization of treasure 12

Curious things 18

From the marketplace to the museum 27

2 Display 37

The overcrowded cemetery 37

Dioramas as popular education 44

Attention and mimesis 53

The art of exhibition 60

3 Media 70

Materialist media theory 70

The mediatic museum 75

Interactives and hands-on science 82

From things to experiences 90

4 Public 99

Itineraries 99

Aesthetic experiences 109

The universal museum 113

Mirroring the museum 121

5 Archive 129

Archives, indexes and copies 129

Collection and recollection 137

The return to curiosity 143.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [163]-174) and index.

ISBN:

0335214207

0335214193

OCLC:

61176485

Publisher Number:

9780335214204 (hbk.)

9780335214198 (pbk.)