Museum Techmuse

AZA: Elephant dung on my shirt

Lunch at the AZA (Assoc. of Zoos and Aquariums) annual meeting in Philadelphia. I show up, and on my chair is a pin in the shape of an elephant. Cute. I fumble with it and finally pin it on.  Then someone says, lo and behold, did you know, those pins are made of recycled elephant poop? (I reach for my Purell.)

All jesting aside, the pins are part of a lineup of eco friendly papers made from elephant dung in Sri Lanka. Yes, elephant dung. Because the elephants are vegetarian, the poop is largely cellulose which lends itself to the handcrafted paper-making process. And the income from this fair-trade process provides incentives for villagers to value elephants, rather than put them in conflict with elephants over agricultural land use.

So, I'm pleased to wear my elephant poo pin on my shirt, and am looking into making business cards out of the natural fiber paper. You can check the project out here.

30 Minutes in the Vibro-acoustic SerenityChair

After a long day in the exhibit hall at AASLH, I decided to check out an intriguing description in the Omni Hotel's spa pamphlet: an opportunity to experience a "profoundly relaxing, yet revitalizing" session in a small darkened room ("Sanctorum") with falling water, tropical plants, the sound of rain, and a reclining leather chair that rumbles with occasional thunderclaps.

I tried it, and yes it was relaxing. It made me wonder how few spaces we create in the public world designed to encourage a sense of "serenity" and well being. In museums, we don't design for serenity, but we do want places where visitors can relax and reflect. The Exploratorium has a space where visitors can recline back and look at the sky projected on the ceiling. I had some good conversations from this reclined position with other attendees at Museums and the Web a few months ago.

Kinesthetic Experience: Climbing the Castle on Peachtree

I'm at the AASLH conference in Atlanta, and the evening event was at Rhodes Hall, a historic house also known as "the Castle on Peachtree Street."  The highlight for me: we had a special behind the scenes tour taking us out to the top of the turret of the castle. The historic house had some beautiful stained glass, but the memorable moment for me was instead this seeming detour to the roof above it all. We climbed some very steep (and potentially dangerous) stairs, and stepped out onto the top of the turret. It felt a little dangerous and exhilarating; I loved breathing the air and looking at the city lights around us.

This kinesthetic experience embedded in the midst of a historic tour reminds me that some of the most compelling visitor moments may have nothing to do with the content. Kinesthetic experiences (such as Tom Luckey's climbing sculptures, the amazing tunnels in the City Museum in St. Louis, and the shipboard hammocks in the USS Constitution Museum) may be the most compelling experiences for visitors.