Real Clear Arts

Judith H. Dobrzynski on Culture

Technology

Another Google Cultural Initiative — World Of Wonders — With WMF

Not going away for a summer vacation this year? There’s a new tool from the World Monuments Fund* and Google that salves that wound. It’s called the World Wonders website, and it takes you to some of the world’s great places — all culturally significant sites – “through panoramic images, 3-D models, photographs, YouTube videos, and other information.” You can travel vicariously.

More than 130 sites in 18 countries are already up, and the WMF promises more to come. The project offers anyone anywhere in the world with access to the Internet an opportunity to view these sites and the ability to learn more about them.

Developing the site, Google deployed its Street View technology, which lets users navigate within destinations by moving their mouse, moving forward and backward, getting in close or panning pit. As MSNBC wrote a few weeks ago:  “Using the hand tool or on-screen compass, you can “walk” through the gardens of Versailles, amid ancient temples in Kyoto and along the waterfront in Cinque Terre, Italy. You can even walk inside the ring of megaliths at Stonehenge, something you’re not allowed to do at the actual site.

I explored a little — using Internet Explorer, not Chrome — and I like the way WW is organized: You can choose the site to visit by location (continent) or theme (gardens, palaces (a scene from the Royal Palace at Caserta, Italy is above right; and the Thomaskirche in Leipzig is at left), cities, historic sites, etc.).

WMF announced this in Madrid on May 31, but it hasn’t received much attention or notice.

It should. The World Wonders Project — aside from being fun — is also an educational resource. WMF has also developed educational packages for downloading from the site, for classroom use.

The potential for this project, if it expands, is huge. Not quite a vacation substitute, of course, but…

Photo Credits: Courtesy of World Wonders

*I consult to a foundation that supports the WMF

Lost In A Museum? Google To The Rescue

It’s true, museums are confusing to people who don’t frequent them. I don’t mind wandering, unless I’m in a hurry, but I know that other people do.

As the newsdesk of the Smithsonian wrote yesterday:

“What can we see?” and “How do we get there?” are two of the most common questions asked by Smithsonian visitors.

Naturally, Google, which annoyed me and other art-lovers by forcing us to use the Google Art Project only on its browser, Chrome, is making that up to us by using its mapping app in museums. All 17 of the Smithsonian’s museums (and the National Zoo) have been mapped room by room in cooperation with Google. As the Smithsonian said:

Beginning today, many of the millions of yearly visitors to the Smithsonian can electronically explore the building interiors, floor by floor, and pinpoint themselves within the building. The technology allows visitors with Google Maps for Android to navigate within and between each museum.

Users will see themselves on the map as a blue dot that will show their location and orientation within the context of exhibits, stairs, restrooms, eateries and other features. Step-by-step walking directions between destinations are also available within the app, providing visitors guided navigation within each museum.

Actually, it’s not just the Smithsonian — the De Young Museum in San Francisco, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Cincinnati Museum Center (?) and the American Museum of Natural History in New York have also submitted their floorplans to Google, which has made them available.

This is the same technology Google uses for airports, casinos, malls, Bloomingdale’s and other places people need directions. Made available last November, this app now includes more than 10,000 indoor maps, according to PC Magazine.

For its part, Google said:

More museums are adding their floor plans to Google Maps for Android soon, including the SFMOMA, The Phillips Collection, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. If you’re interested in getting your museum’s floor plan included in Google Maps, visit the Google Maps Floor Plans tool.

I was just talking about technology with a couple of museum directors in recent days, and while it seems that technology is coming to every museum, they may be forced to choose which company’s technology they’ll favor in their own use. It’s inevitable, I guess, but I’m not sure it’s a good thing.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Google

Can A Web Initiative Rescue Churchill From The Dustbin Of History?

Harry Benson, well known photographer of both presidents and pop icons — he accompanied the Beatles on their first trip to the U.S. — was recalling his long career recently when he mentioned something that troubled him: When he mentions Winston Churchill, young people don’t know who he is.

He’s not the first to notice: A few years ago, a poll in Britain turned up the startling fact that a fifth of teenagers there thought Churchill was a fictional character — even while majorities believed that Sherlock Holmes, King Arthur and Robin Hood were real. Another study of Britons of all ages showed that while Churchill still tops the ranks of those considered to be most significant in history, Princess Diana, John Lennon and Michael Crawford are  not far behind.

Now imagine the results of a poll conducted outside of Britain.

This is relevant, in particular, to the Morgan Library & Museum — now showing Churchill: The Power of Words. The exhibit includes items ranging his childhood letters to his parents, to Cold War correspondence with President Eisenhower, to drafts and recordings of his famous wartime oratory. How to engage those young people?

To the web! The Morgan, along with the Churchill Archives Centre at the at the University of Cambridge, created a website called DiscoverChurchill.org and are using Twitter and Facebook.

The website begins with a trailer, a takeoff on the popular Dos Equis beer ad about the world’s most interesting man — a fictional character — and sequeing into the idea that Churchill is the actual guy.

“A REAL MAN…A man who… lacked ambition (according to his first headmaster)…but went on to lead his nation in a time of great crisis…a man who…won the Nobel Prize in Literature…” Etc.

Elsewhere there are links to video clips of Churchill’s most famous speeches, 24 rotating quotes (Sample: “We are all worms. But I do believe I am a glow worm.”), and lists of places to go, things to see and do, and other websites related to Churchill, including Bletchley Park, where the Enigma code was cracked. There are linkups to pop culture — e.g., that Angelina Jolie paid tribute to Churchill in tattoos she added for her role in “Wanted.”

“The site is intended to be a portal, open wide enough to draw people in from many different backgrounds, and then designed to channel them to the most interesting Churchill sites and to encourage them to visit the exhibition,” Allen Packwood, director of the Churchill Archives Centre at the at the University of Cambridge, told me. “We wanted to establish a clear beacon for anyone who might be interested and we wanted to experiment to see if an integrated social media strategy, with web resources, Facebook and Twitter, could be used to stimulate interest among new audiences.”

Admirable, but — I don’t think it’s working very well. As of this writing, the Facebook page they created page has only 1,222 likes — how many of them are Millennials? The site is asking trivia questions — those who post the right answer first win tickets to the exhibition — without much traffic. Its Twitter feed has 109 followers.

I’m no expert on what attracts Millennials, but I think the sites are too direct, too earnest. Marketers always say young people are skeptical of direct pitches. I wonder if, instead of tweeting “Discover Churchill ‏@DiscvrChurchill –#ChurchillNYC Don’t miss it. http://discoverchurchill.org Exhibition is limited (now till Sept. 23),” the tweets should be the man’s own quotes.

Churchill’s words—powerful, humorous, clever— still resonate nearly fifty years after his death. That’s the point of the exhibition. I am reminded of the Massachusetts Historical Society, which in 2009 began posting one-line-a-day from the diaries of John Quincy Adams on Twitter. It kept people coming back to see the next line. Just a thought.

The Churchill exhibition runs through September  23.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of DiscoverChurchill.org

Along Comes Wikipaintings: A New Image Bank

Given the news — and excitement — about the expansion of the Google Art Project this week, I thought I’d mention another, related venture. It’s different but shares some of the same goals. It’s Wikipaintings.  

It’s a non-profit, like Wikipedia, and it’s trying to become the “most complete and well-structured online repository of fine art. We hope to make classical art a little more accessible and comprehensible, and also want to provide a new form of interaction between contemporary artists and their audience. In the future we plan to cover the entire history of art — from cave artworks to the new talents of today.”

The people behind Wikipaintings don’t identify themselves, but I think the project is based — or was started — in Russia, based on the most-viewed artists and the selections. Then again, that changes — when I looked just now, there didn’t seem to be a Russian bias. Whoever the founders are, they created a Facebook page on April 8, 2011, so I’d guess it started about that time. Here’s what they say in “About.”

I’ve explored a little — searching artists by name, movement, century, etc. Visitors can also search by art work — style, genre, technique, etc. But I haven’t spend enough time to know how useful Wikipaintings will be or how it stacks up against all the other art image banks. 

So I will refer you to someone who has: Wikipaintings was briefly reviewed, favorably, by a blog on The Teaching Palette last November, by one Theresa McGee, who compared it to the Google Art Project:

I still love Google Art Project for the amazing depth and detail, but Wikipaintings is much better for understanding and visualizing the growth of an artist through his or her lifetime.  I look forward to seeing how Wikipaintings grows once it is open to contributors; maybe it will even expand beyond 2-D work into sculpture and installation art.

And it’s still in beta.

Photo Credit: Magritte’s Listening Room, drawn from the Wikipaintings site

 

Google Expands Art Project, But Gets a Little Evil

Google announced today in Paris and Chicago that it’s expanding beyond the museums and art works that were part of its first launch in February, 2011 — way beyond the 17 museums chosen originally.

It now has 151 partners in 40 countries; in the U.S., the initial four museums has grown to 29 institutions, including the White House and university art galleries.

Here’s the full press release, which says in part:

From now on, with a few simple clicks of their fingers, art lovers will be able to discover not just paintings, but also sculpture, street art, and photographs. Creations from a wide variety of cultures and civilizations are represented, including Brazilian street graffiti, Islamic decorative arts and ancient African rock art.

The project has expanded dramatically. More than 30,000 objects are available to view in high resolution, up from 1,000 in the first version. Street View images now cover 46 museums, with more on the way.

Also check that link above for the ways the project has been improved technologically.

So why is Google evil? Because when I clicked on the link in the press release to the 151 partners, I received this message:

You’re missing out…

Sorry, the Google Art Project uses technology that your browser doesn’t understand.

Install Chrome Frame for Internet Explorer to improve your experience of using the web. It’s simple and only needs to be done once.

It’s true that I was able to use another link on the Art Project press site’s homepage to discover the U.S. museums now involved,  but it makes me wonder if this is the first step toward restricting the full functionality of the Art Project to Chrome users.

The photo above, a painting by Fernando Amorsolo, is drawn from the collection of the Ayala Museum in the Philippines, which takes some real effort to get to, except via the Google Art Project.