Museum Object Lessons for the Digital Age

by Haidy Geismar

Among the challenges museums face when displaying digital objects are widely held assumptions about the nature of these objects and the material, social, and political foundations of digital art practices.

Museum Object Lessons for the Digital Age urges readers to question their assumptions through four wide-ranging chapters, each focused on a single object—a box, a pen, an effigy, and a cloak. The book begins with an introduction exploring the legacies of older forms of media and earlier museum practices of collection and then offers a critical analysis of contending theories of knowledge production in museums as it relates to digital projects. From there, Haidy Geismar guides readers in lively, accessible prose through a range of objects, from ethnographic and decorative arts collections, bespoke digital experiments, and even the Google Art Project, revealing what these objects can tell us about both the past and the future of digital collection and display.
 

Genres: Nonfiction

170 pages, Hardcover

Published August 15, 2018

Reviews

[Swimmers of The Nile · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sorry, I hated this book. I think its the definition of non necessary academic jargon.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once upon a time, museum collections were entirely analog—objects and associated records, photographs with negatives, etc. Today, the digital cannot be separated from the physical. Geismar’s lessons demonstrate the strengths and weaknesses of digital surrogates and the innovative ways digital media make new connections possible (when used in meaningful ways).