Ethnographic Evaluation of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to spend a few days in New York over break, where I visited The Met.

Upon entering the space, it was evident how broad the audience and museum goers was. There appeared to be a great deal of diversity, while this could be surface level, it would be interesting to have a more detailed breakdown on the socioeconomic and educational background of the museum goers. I appreciated that at The Met, you are not required to pay a set fee, there are suggestions on the price that one should pay, but the individual has the power to chose what they want to pay for an entrance fee, whether than be $1 or $500, I believe this removes a large barrier that potential museum goers may worry about, it is considerate to ranges of economic statuses.

In regards to the technology in the space, I was very underwhelmed. Apart from text and arrangments of materials in varying physical manners, there were hardly any ways to engage with the material in a digital manner. The Met does have a mobil app, it lists the various exhibits, events for the day, and news regarding the museum. It has a very pretty interface, but the information was not transformed into anything valuable for me quick enough.There was an audio tour offered for around $7 and around the museum there were very few people making use of it. I am not a fan of audio tours for several reasons. I believe museum going can be largely social, and such social interactions can faciliate greater depth of understanding and engagement with the art, audio tours do not allow for social interactions, but rather restrict it completely. Additionally, with audio tours, I find that the user is prompted too quickly on what to think on particular works of art, rather than having an opportunity to explore and engage with the art. I would of have liked to see digital displays and interactive text fields. Throughout the museum the descriptions of the works were very vanilla and traditional, just text written on plaque on a wall next to the piece. Even the displays were dull and not visually appealing. This was very frustrating to me.

While I was looking at the various period rooms in the museum I envisioned a more exciting outlook on the space. The concept of preservation and museumification of spaces is odd to me. I like to think of the original functionality of a space and the individuals who interacted with the space on an everyday basis. Having furniture in a room, while it conveys interior architecture and design history to me, the purpose of the room isn’t always clear. I dreamt of having moving holograms of the people who once resided, worked, and interacted in the spaces being displayed. The holograms would be digital representations and extensions of the space. While some might find it distracting, I would greatly enjoy experimenting with interactive elements.Below is an image of one of the period rooms in The Met. It is stunning visually, but the effect is not longlasting and the majority of museum goers do not interact with the space at a deep level.

On another note, I was taken back in the best way possible by the stunning interior and exterior architecture of the museum building. It is large, open, and clean, as a result very welcoming. The clean space made me feel very comfortable and safe. For the amount of people at the museum I did not feel compressed, I was thankful for the open space and high ceilings, I believe it is an incredibly important feature of the museum. Additionally, the works are not cramped, they are nicely space out, as can be seen from the images, this helps give indivdiuls some privacy and sense of being while observing the works. Individuals should never feel pressured to move quickly through a museum, and I believe large crowds can have such an effect and can create great discomfort. While the interior and exterior are largely different, they both convey the grandness and importance of the building. The exterior has a large set of stairs that in conjuction with its locations draws attention to pedestraians and those transiting through the space.

While I didn’t have an opportunity to visit all of the exhibits in the museum, I felt as if I saw a large amount of the museum. Below are photos of my favorite works and gallerys from the museum, I hope from these images it is clear how there is no medium provided in the galleries to interact with the works apart from text. This is a large contrast to other museums I have visited, where museum goers can interact with the works, such as MoMA.

This museums houses a wide range of works. While the majority are not modern, I believe one should still have the opportunity to engage in a digital manner with the works, whether this digital engagement be limited to the app, offered through touch screen interactions and games in the galleries, it is missing something. There could even simply be QR codes located in the descriptions of select works, providing an opportunity to engage with the art deeper.