Although this week was a short week, I got a lot done. Firstly, I met with the students and the professor of the HTW. Uwe took them for a quick tour around the museum and after, we had a very helpful and informative meeting in the museum conference room. The students discussed many of their ideas, which also helped me to shape the direction of the crowdfunding campaign I am working on. Since Henry’s work and exhibition is photography based, I decided to visit other museums that focus more on art than the Museum für Naturkunde. I visited both the Gemäldegalerie and the Neue Museum in Berlin.
The differences I found were quite interesting. In both art museums, the information and exhibits were displayed much differently than in the Museum für Naturkunde. The art in the Gemäldegalerie was displayed with almost no context. In the Neue Museum, information was only found through the audio guide. Another interesting observation was how differently the audiences of the art museums and the Museum für Naturkunde acted. In the art museums, the visitors were silent: and if they talked, it was in whispers. In the Museum für Naturkunde, visitors were openly discussing topics and pointing to objects to converse about. Observing both, I think, is necessary in creating a comfortable experience for the visitors of the Henry J. Fair exhibit. This exhibit should make is easy for visitors to communicate and create dialogue, while also be able to peacefully reflect on the artwork in the exhibition.
Aside from my excursions to other museums, I also worked on compiling my information and work so far entirely on a powerpoint, which I will be presenting next week. I also met personally with Elly, who is the student of the HTW who was tasked with crowdfunding. We met and discussed our information and ideas. The meeting was immensely helpful, as she gave me insight on the German perspective of crowdfunding. These tips and even sources to information I may have missed because I do not speak German, was truly very helpful.
Because of the work I have done this week, my project is becoming much more fleshed out and well rounded. I am eager for the Skype meeting with Henry himself and the students of the HTW next week so some questions I have can be answered. And I can’t wait to hear what my colleagues have to say when I present them my progress so far.
