Museum walkthrough

I got a chance to walk through the art institute today and instead of the Modern Wing I focused on the exhibits in the older section of the museum. I got a chance to visit the Impressionism exhibit again (it's been ages) and felt great to see van Gogh again. Although exciting to see and literally wanting to touch it, I noticed they have a glass barrier in front of it. Darn. I guess I'll have to talk to some staff people if there is a way I can physically touch his impasto oil style (I kinda sound creepy now).

The overall walkthrough of the original museum felt nostalgic and peaceful when walking through the various parts of the rooms and floors. I got a chance to to walk through the Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Art, American Art before 1900s, exhibits from the Indian, Southeast Asian, and Himalayan Art, and American Modern Art. I did trip an alarm in the Chinese Art gallery (oops) since I was trying to read a plaque of a chinese stone door piece. But what I observed is that there wasn't much of a interactive technology display in the older areas. Besides the usual Pathfinder screens at the main entrance and the occasional people with audio tour equipment, I didn't see anything else groundbreaking or new. I was a sad panda.

Something things I'd like to see would be some sort of interactive pathway through the museum. Perhaps several more screens in between exhibits of where you can make your own route and upload it to your ipod or iphone or email it to whatever mobile device you have. Then maybe a lighted pathway on the floor: this would not only entertain the kids but help visitors go to certain exhibits and routes to particular places (bathrooms, staff, etc). This would be tricky since it can't be too bright, no noise, and yet still noticeable for people to see and follow. Like several people already suggest, more screens around certain rooms and perhaps update the interactive children's center.

The website can also be updated with current exhibits, showings, lectures, and such since I know more about it on paper than online (plus I saw that there are auditoriums in the museum–that's pretty cool since I didn't know!). There is a lot about the musuem that can be shown more or be better accessible online (think overall improvement of the sites UI).

First trip to Modern Wing...Sweetness

The Modern Wing of the Art Institute was a cool experience to check out. And it's been several years that I came back to the museum in general. I wanted to run to the second floor and check out the Impressionist art work (and blankly stare at all of the paintings including van Goghs) but I had to explore the new addition. The architecture of the building was quite impressive and new. I got a chance to see the Architecture and Design exhibit and the Contemporary Art exhibits. I was also desperately hungry too which I couldn't walk as far. So my hopes to the second floor will have to be another time.

In addition to the new building it was quite interesting to see the latest technology available at the museum's disposal. Rachel showed us the Education Center, which housed the latest media equipment for classrooms and events. Checked out the Educator Resource Center and listened to Japanese music in Studio B classroom. Rachel also showed me the Pathfinder Kiosk (displayed on a Mac screen, righteous) which shows me a path to whatever exhibit I want to see plus more. Now only if they added a 3D walkthrough then that would be helpful on the kiosk...

Nonetheless this needs more time to explore. I plan to go again this weekend and hopefully say hello to Vincent on the way.

Video Editing in Ann Arbor! Keynote next?

It seems that I do a lot of driving lately. Perhaps it's because this is the start of a new school year and I'm still adjusting to my new surroundings. Whatever the case, I came back to Ann Arbor. I promised to help my g/f Rachel to work on her video presentation.

I was planning on doing it on Final Cut Pro (since I taught it in the past and pretty good at it) but she was using iMovie 09. It was tricky to learn at first but after a few guided tours on Apple's website and playing around with the advance settings on the program, I was able to tweak the edits pretty darn close to what I want. I have to admit iMovie 09 tried to incorporate the editing style of Final Cut but into a more user-friendly/visual interface way. Where was the time code? Clip mark numbers? etc? It was more visual editing rather than precise number editing. Nonetheless we got the 12 min video done and I was pretty impressed of myself in editing this all in iMovie 09 (with help of Audacity, iTunes, Photoshop, etc).

Overall this got me thinking of my upcoming project for Cyberpedagogy class: Who R U? Keynote presentation. This should be pretty easy at first since I worked a lot with Keynote during my first freelance projects after my undergraduate years. But about me in 10 slides or less? That's pretty challenging since I tend to go overboard. I do have a few highlights about myself (just browse on Facebook and see my profile) but there are a few tiny things about me that people don't know (I can teleport? You're just imagining things...). This should be a fun and creative project and will be great to see how everyone else in class presents themselves. I'm curious if costumes are allowed...

Trip to Sear's Tower with alphabet in mind

I just got back from a trip to the Sears Tower. Btw, I still call it Sears because I believe it's the spirit of the building and I don't really care how much money you have if you want to change the name to a historic site (someone explained to me that chicagoians still call it Sears and yell in discouragement when called Willis Towers *cough wheeze*). But overall it's a pretty cool exhibit: the Skydeck Ledge. Sure there are the other exhibits – the history of the building, the founders of the site, events during the construction of the tallest building, and so forth. Overall it's a great place to blend in history and art to a specific installation, especially on one of the beloved towers in Chicago.

During my trip there and back I was busy hunting for structures that shape letters of the alphabet. I found the easy ones pretty fast – O, W, M, H, V, I, P – but the tricky ones I still need are A, R, K, D, G, Q, and Z. I think I should get a majority of them tomorrow if I don't see any today. Piece of cake? I don't think so.

Cyberpedagogy Laboratory Begins

Currently in class at the moment, testing the first blog for this class.