A visit to a museum, any museum, is a pilgrimage for me. The message of the medium and you coexist with few distractions. What a relief. Never once have I strapped on an audio-guide contraption to convey me through the art-decked halls as if I were making my way through dance steps drawn on the floor. Art tells me its own story and I seldom care about its context; that you can glean from an art history book. Besides, the inner Monk would compel me to spend hours disinfecting my ears after donning the funk of god-knows-who. (I have severe problems with hospital waiting-room magazines; just the sight of them causes me to retch. Strange pathology, but it is mine).
My iPod is going to journey with me to NYC in less than two weeks, but now it may have more purpose than offering me musical solace in the CNN- and cellphone chatter-filled concourses of the American airport. In With Irreverence and an iPod, Recreating the Museum Tour, the NYTimes sheds light on a replacement for the authority-sanctioned audio tour offered at New York’s and, I hope, more of the nation’s art museums. “Hacking the gallery experience” through podcasting offers an alternative with the help of your own iPod. Even if you’re not a tour lover, this is a great way to get children and adults excited about art, and rekindle the passion for others who are more familiar with these museums. All in the form of the funny, the risqué and, most importantly, the interchangeable.
At Marymount [Manhattan College], on the Upper East Side, Dr. [David] Gilbert said he was partly inspired to create the unofficial guides after listening to the museum’s audio tours for children, which he found much more entertaining and engaging than the new ones recently introduced for grown-ups.
But Dr. Gilbert said his larger point was to try to teach his students to stop being passive information consumers – whether through television, radio or an official audio guide – and to take more control …
Hmmm, maybe there is something to this concept of a swappable tour that breaks pre-existing notions. Funny that it found its origins in an idea more overstretched than taffy:
… these museum guides are an outgrowth of a recent podcasting trend called “sound seeing,” in which people record narrations of their travels – walking on the beach, wandering through the French Quarter – and upload them onto the Internet for others to enjoy. In that spirit, the creators of the unauthorized guides to the Modern have also invited anyone interested to submit his or her own tour for inclusion on the project’s Web site.
Wonder what French Quarter soundseeing is like. “I’m walking on Bourbon with a Hurricane in one hand and a Hand Grenade in the other. Oh my god, I have never partied this much in my whole life. Whoooooooooooo!! Beads! Beads! Me, me, me! Right here!” I’d be the last person to tell you that that is what the larger FQ sounds like, but, when it comes to most visitors … you get the idea.
I would love these for my favorite museums, Chicago’s Art Institute and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. At the very least, it’s a great experiment in perspective and rediscovery. Yet another way to connect with the extraordinary — with my own cooties.
The Smithsonian Natural History Museum is one of my favorites also. I am going to Chicago for the first time in a few weeks — what besides the art museum do you recommend?
Chicago is a great town — the Magnificent Mile, Michigan Avenue that is, offers so much in the way of art, science, shopping, food, people-watching and just being there. Summer is also the best time to hang out by the lake!
If you are into natural history, you will love the Field Museum at 1400 S. Lakeshore Dr. — home of the lovely Sue, everyone’s favorite T-Rex. I spent a few hours simply chilling with her. Right next door to the Field museum are the Adler Planetarium and Shedd Aquarium, in case you enjoy that sort of thing.
Personally, I like to spend a weekend there and work my way up the lake from south to north. Don’t forget to end up at Millennium Park, right by Grant Park. Lots of edgy metal sculptures and cool views of the city. Across the street is Artist’s Cafe where they have quite healthy and reasonably-priced sandwiches, salads, etc.
Shopping — Michigan Ave. has everything from kitschy tuck shops to Chanel. Water Tower Place is great because I can shop there and then enjoy healthy cuisine from all over the world at foodlife. You can tell I like good food!
After that, hit the nightlife on Halsted — Kingston Mines at 2548 N. and my favorite place, Prodigal Son, at 2626 N. Drink Chimay at the tiki bar while enjoying kung-fu movies and the punk band in back. Free bacon on Wednesday nights.
Go up to Devon St. for Indian food; if you are from Houston — wild guess — forget it.
“I’m walking on Bourbon with a Hurricane in one hand and a Hand Grenade in the other. Oh my god, I have never partied this much in my whole life. Whoooooooooooo!! Beads! Beads! Me, me, me! Right here!†I’d be the last person to tell you that that is what the larger FQ sounds like, but, when it comes to most visitors … you get the idea…….
He,he,he………………….
0. The Department of Economics at the University of Chicago.. might be a place of pilgrimage to some :-). I’m always struck by how such an utterly unremarkable campus produced the most remarkable body of ideas in the last 50 years, unequaled anywhere else. Test this cliche for me – throw a brick at random and see if it hits a Nobel Prize winner..
1. If you’d like to see 4 of the Continental United States from one room, head up to the deck on top of Sears Tower at Adams and Franklin..
2. If you’d like to see pretty darned far while sipping some of the best martinis ever mixed, head to the bar on top of the Hancock building (conveniently located on Michigan Avenue). Do this at or after sunset. Ask for a North/West/South facing table unless you like to look at a placid body of water. Be prepared to wait an hour in line..
3. If the weekend is sunny, take one of Chicago’s architectural tours, either by riverboat or walk. The largest number of F. L. Wright buildings in the world are in Chicago, unfortunately not situated in one convenient campus.
4. Go to the corner of Jackson and Lasalle. Face south. Ahead of you – the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. To your left, the Federal Reserve. To your right – HQ of the Northern Trust Bank .. Weep at this juxtaposition of Free Markets and Capital.
No, seriously. I laugh each time I see some tour guide at this location pointing out something utterly unremarkable like a bird’s nest on the eaves of the CME to squinting tourists… talk about missing the woods for the trees.
Oh, the most recent Batman has a scene shot in the 100 foot wide cul-de-sac I just described, the scene where a black helicopter hovers between these three buildings. I awaited a crash and resulting fireball while watching this stunt from my office window, and was happy to be disappointed.
http://www.dakshinachitra.net/scripts/interactivelayout.asp
Mites – I was thinking about this ‘museum’ in Madras – looks like they are one step away from an audio tour too.
Sweet! I’m so excited to investigate this site. Did you pass it on to the sight sounding people yet?
You’re so cool, Ms. T!
Thanks for all the Chicago suggestions! I’m a museum nut, so I’m looking forward to that. And yes, I’m from Houston.