The Museum Magazine

The first ipad-based multimedia magazine about museums.

As an associate editor, I edited a number of stories for the first issue of this electronic magazine. Then I traveled and accumulated a lot of material for a second issue that was never released ; visiting different museums, interviewing curators and architects in and about Naoshima, Kanazawa, Aomori, Tokyo, Kitakyushu (CCA), Hobart Tasmania (Mona), Sydney (MCA, Kaldor Public Art), Melbourne, Hong-Kong (West Kowloon Cultural District Authority, Para Site), Buenos Aires, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Inhotim…
http://edition29.com/index_e29_the_museum.html

I have continued to gather interesting articles and blog posts about mobile technology in museums in my flipboard magazine “the mobile museum“, and about the museum of the 21st century in “the museum“.

Richard Serra, Monumenta, Paris

Can an audio guide give visitors value for money in a minimalist exhibition?

When Richard Serra decided to install “only” 5 massive steel plates in this huge exhibition space, the organizers were concerned about the reaction of the visitors.

I produced a very rich, multi-layered audio guide, commissioned original music and sound effects. Visitors stayed to listen to Serra and many other guest experts. Some even sat down during their visit, the guide thereby added demonstrable value to the visitor experience.

audio sample (“Ma – Zen Gardens”)

My role: producer, director, creative director

Pompidou multimedia guide, Paris

I produced a collections tour and an architecture tour in 4 languages, an audio description tour for the visually impaired, a kids tour, and many temporary exhibition tours. I designed and built the tours in the proprietary CMS. It was published as a Flash application on PDAs running Windows CE.

One of my highlights on this project was recording a podcast series with teenagers. Very spontaneous, very inspiring. Every opinion counts!

My role: producer, creative director

Anselm Kiefer, Monumenta, Paris

How can we change how audio guides are perceived by the public and prospective clients?

For Anselm Kiefer’s Monumenta show at the Grand Palais in Paris, I produced a one hour audio guide featuring the artist, the curator, a controversial art critic, extracts from poems by Paul Celan and Ingeborg Bachmann etc. And also an extra hour of “conversations” with specialists of German philosophy and German history, translators, etc. The take up rate was impressive for a contemporary art exhibition (it was free) and the feedback from visitors amazing.

Visitor: “I don’t want an audio guide, I came to see the artworks, I know about contemporary art.”
2 hours later: “Do you have this on CD? Can I take it home to listen again?”

audio sample (“Écrire sur les tableaux”)

My role: producer, creative director