Selection of artifacts

For the practicality reasons it was at this point we decided that its would be impractical in terms of time to propose artifacts for all nine of our muses and made a decision that for the proposes of our proposal we would take thee muses forward this muses where, Terpsichore the muse of dance, Urania the muse of astronomy and Thalia the muse of comedy and science.

I selected these three muses because of the artifacts I had documented and found there was allot pieces that would represent them within the collection



(slides from pressintation)

Guidelines For Critical Review of a Museum Exhibition

(paul Hillen)

A good exhibition review should address most of the following points. Please consider the specific questions listed under each item to be suggestions rather than edicts. In other words, use your good judgment in adapting this model to the assignment.

WHAT STORY IS THE CURATOR TRYING TO TELL?

1. Include a brief description and summary of the exhibition's theme or subject. What is the thesis or message of the exhibition?

2. What do you think is the purpose or goal of the exhibition? What is the museum trying to accomplish with it?

HOW HAS THE CURATOR ORGANIZED THE EXHIBIT TO ACCOMPLISH THE PURPOSE?

1. What is the method of the exhibition, i.e. what kinds of artifacts make up the exhibition and how are they used to tell the story the museum wants to tell?

2. How are the artifacts displayed? Can you understand what they are and how they function as evidence to support the theme of the exhibition? Is there a sufficient number or variety of artifacts to support the theme? Are the artifacts displayed so that you get a sense of their historical context? Do the artifacts selected document a sense of change over time (should they)?

3. How is the exhibit organized? What is the logic of its organization? Why are the artifacts arranged just so? How do you enter or leave the exhibit (does it matter)? Is the exhibit in the form of a historical narrative? Is it thematic? Is it topical? Is it artifact driven? Are the artifacts ordered so that they demonstrate causality or motivation in human history?

4. What kinds of exhibition techniques have been used? In other words, what are the "constructed" aspects of the exhibition? Are there labels for the artifacts? What kinds of information do they convey? Are there audio-visual components or interactive displays? In what kinds of display cases or sets are the artifacts displayed? What kind of technical artistry has been emplyed in creating the exhibit?

WHAT IS YOUR CRITICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE EXHIBIT?

1. Does the exhibit tell the story the curator intends to tell? Is this an effective exhibit?

2. What are its strengths and weaknesses? What are the confusing parts (and why)? What are the enjoyable parts (and why)? Does any part of the exhibit make a point in a particularly dramatic or delightful way? Does any part of the exhibit cause you to lose interest?

3. Is the method effective? Are the artifacts chosen appropriate to the topic or theme? Do they convince you of the exhibit's message?

4. How effective are the constructed aspects of the exhibition? Can you read and understand the labels? Do the audio-visual segments communicate clearly? Do you understand the purpose of the interactive components? Did you learn from them? Does the exhibit create a "world" that tells an effective story?

5. Are there any biases or hidden agendas in the exhibit? Be suspicious! Who has underwritten the exhibit? Do you detect any biases in the story being told? Does the exhibit suggest that only certain kinds of artifacts are valuable to our culture? Does it suggest that only certain topics or subjects of history are important? Does it embody any "historical fallacies"?

WHAT IS YOUR INTERPRETATION OF THE EXHIBIT?

1. What is your summary judgment of the exhibition? What did it mean for you? What is its importance (did it teach you something? was it entertaining? did it exemplify "how not to do a museum exhibit")?

2. What does the exhibition communicate about American society or culture? Did you learn anything about American history? Did the exhibition convey a message relevant to contemporary American society? Did you gain any insight about yourself? about the characteristics of American culture?

3. Evaluate the exhibit as a cultural artifact in its own right. What are the cultural implications of the exhibit? What does it reveal about the values and priorities of the museum? about the values and priorities of American culture-at-large? http://otal.umd.edu/~vg/vjf96/guidelines.html

Exhibition Proposal

(paul Hillen)

The title of our exhibition is "Shrine of the Muses" which was derived from the very definition of Museum.

Our intention is to hold an exhibition with the theme of the "Nine Muses" from Greek Mythology, who presided over History, Science and the Arts. We also wish to promote the museum as a place of inspiration and learning.

The main focus of our project is the re-mixing and re-displaying of historical artifacts from the museums existing collection in an educational and inspirational way.

in addition to selecting a range of artifacts from the Museum's collection, we intend to produce seven pieces of artwork adding a contemporary element to our project that compliments our theme and the Museum's collection.

In order to generate interest and an educational factor, our project will be supported by the inclusion of a live element, whereby the "Nine Muses" come to life and conduct guided tours at set times throughout the duration of the exhibition. Also a film detailing the tour would play for the duration of the event.

The exhibition would focus on using the Museum:s cabinets and pillars to display artefacts and artworks, using non traditional gallery space in the main entrance area on the ground floor.
This could be advantageous as it hopefully would not conflict with the Museum's temporary programme. The main entrance area also attracts the highest visitor footfall.

The estimated cost for this event is £10,000 which covers the production of artwork, the employment and training of invigilators, outfit allowance, video shoot, advertising and expenses.

We are seeking funding from our local authority and The arts Council.


We propose to run our exhibition from the 30th April - 27th July 2013 and hope to attract children/families, school parties and students.this could be achieved by organising events such as Saturday workshops, also by working alongside the Museum's school visit programme by offering guided tours.

Should our proposal be accepted we would hope to attract students by starting to develop a partnership between Plymouth College of Art, Plymouth University and the Museum,as this type of project offers learning opportunities and could be used as a platform for future student driven events.

Contact details


Paul Hillon tel:
e-mail:

Beth Pethers tel:
e-mail:

Pippa Dowie tel:
e-mail:

Preposed Costs

(Paul Hillen )

Artwork.
mdf board 606mm -1220mm £11.68 each x 7 = £81.76
Decorative moulding 50mm £1.10 each (3652mm)
4mtrs per panel = £30.80

Plaster mould work
2x25kg plaster of paris = £19.80
3mtr mod roc bandages x 5 = £19.25

Paint supplies and materials/ fixings =£ 78.00

Total cost = £220.00

Live performance.
( based on two 1hr tours per day over 65 days april to July)
Nine invigilators

Cost 65 days x 2hrs = 130 hrs x 9 = 1170 hrs

1170 hrs x £ 6.08 (NMW)

Total cost £ 7113.60


Training
8hrs x nine people = £432.00 (NMW)
72 hrs x £6.08

Video Shoot
brief and first run 9 x 3hrs
final run 9 x 3hrs
54 hrs x £6.08

Total cost £486


Outfit allowance
£30.00 per person = £ 270

Advertising
leaflets £500
posters £100
invitation cards £100
Private show/expenses £800

Grand total cost £10,000

Critical Review

(Pip Dowie)

Critical Review of a Museum Exhibition

Museum Exhibitions change lives, maybe more than any media. Sculpture, painting, film, dance, theatre and music, all combined with the visitor into one experience. I believe that museum exhibitions have the opportunity to change lives.

Walking into the Plymouth museum, the amount of white pillars took to my attention that as a group; we would combine our ideas in creating the Nine Muses. A museum is originally from the Greek, which denotes a place, or temple dedicated the Muses, and hence a building set apart for study and the arts. The purpose of this exhibition is to highlight each space of the museum identifying a Muse. To accomplish this; we intend to have a live performance with costumed models and props showing people around the museum that identifies their muse abilities.

Imagine a hall with marbled floors, architectural floors for enclosed spaces open to light and air, tall white pillars surrounding the room; goddess muses standing in elegant postured positions waiting to enter your mind to show the space of the museum with their source of muse ability. Calliope the fair voiced, Clio the proclaimer, Erato the lovely, Euterpe the giver of pleasure, Melpomene the songstress, Polyhymia she of many hymns, Terpsichore the whirler, Thalia the flourishing, Urania the heavenly. The theme states back in the 5^th century BC, where the Greeks believed that the purpose of art was to edify, to create perfect forms of men and gods, illustrate the noble themes that express the triumph of Greek Civilisation. The live exhibition; the exhibit is in the form of a historical narrative explaining the religion of Greek mythology and also to give a source of inspiration.

The strengths of this exhibition are that it includes telling the story of the nine muses and the combined sources in the museum. It includes posters of the muses, photographs on how it has been organised together with costume design, props, film audio, lighting, a live performance from 12pm-3pm everyday for an hour in the duration of 3 months and funding.

The enjoyable parts of this would be the live performance; getting involved with the scenery of the museum, taking an interest in the background history and the arts. The exhibit may cause to lose interest if the guider talks about the exhibit too much; it would be better to talk about things briefly and well spoken about. Labelling everything in the exhibition will either be stated on the poster or on the models themselves that includes props of scrolls in their hand that has detailed information about the exhibition itself. Audio guides are also available when the muses are not there; there will be a television programme that goes on for an hour describing about the history, the muses and the mythology of it all. There are certain artefacts in the museum that states our history, which are the Greeks in the architecture of the building.

There are a few sculptural monuments scattered about the museum but also shows the ‘’ages of man’’ that means the stages of human existence on the earth according to Greek mythology. There are many different viewpoints from inside and outside the museum that will be of interest to go and explore. It will be quite entertaining as it all links ups with the history of the museum from West Europe culture and nature. That also identifies the centuries of preserving the arts.

Promotion

After the division of roles I as assigned the area of promotion.

The first thing to consider was our audience, after many dissuasions with Adam an James we drew the conclusion that our primary target audience would be 18 to 30 year olds as they have no problem bringing in younger audiences due to there extensive programs working with schools in the area and already have a large influx of older visitors

The second thing to consider Is where to find those people ?

Possible advertising opotunityes

· Posters

· Billboreds

· Flyers

· Local paper

· Museum website

· Plymouth events websites and forums

· Banners pop ups

· In and around local university’s

· Radio

For the proposes of this project I decided to produce a leaflet based on the British art show sevens family adventure pack I choose this forma because is it compact yet has a large surface area and six large area to be filled.

The imagery of both the leaflet and flyer will be produced by Pippa they will depict one of the muses

flyer design work can be found in purple folder.

Wall Art