Comments on: losing the ocean for the waves http://alchemystudio.com/2013/10/losing-the-ocean-for-the-waves/ Thu, 25 Dec 2014 16:36:59 +0000 hourly 1 By: Eileen Campbell http://alchemystudio.com/2013/10/losing-the-ocean-for-the-waves/comment-page-1/ Eileen Campbell Fri, 18 Oct 2013 19:31:36 +0000 http://alchemystudio.com/?p=2995#comment-9783 Bravo, Wayne, for being willing to think expansively about the exhibitions we create. Science centers are often leery of making explicit connections between the pieces, or of creating emotional, moving experiences. But many of the topics we struggle to address--climate change, extinction, population growth, cosmology--are too big, too interconnected, and too emotionally charged to be adequately covered by a collection of discrete, small-scale exhibits. Unless we move beyond that, we're limiting our ability to do these topics justice and make them meaningful. So, can we develop a vocabulary of visitor experiences that allow us to explore whole oceans? It will take a mind shift, and probably the way forward is through collaborations with artists, theater folk, storytellers, and others practiced in creating immersive and moving experiences. Bravo, Wayne, for being willing to think expansively about the exhibitions we create. Science centers are often leery of making explicit connections between the pieces, or of creating emotional, moving experiences. But many of the topics we struggle to address–climate change, extinction, population growth, cosmology–are too big, too interconnected, and too emotionally charged to be adequately covered by a collection of discrete, small-scale exhibits. Unless we move beyond that, we’re limiting our ability to do these topics justice and make them meaningful.

So, can we develop a vocabulary of visitor experiences that allow us to explore whole oceans? It will take a mind shift, and probably the way forward is through collaborations with artists, theater folk, storytellers, and others practiced in creating immersive and moving experiences.

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