Favorite Object: Penn Museum

Okay... this was not an easy assignment. How would one simply chose a "favorite object" in this museum full of beautiful and significant objects? Statistically, it wasn't even possible... I didn't even see all of the objects so how can I name one of them my "favorite"? During our field trip I was completely overwhelmed. I couldn't focus on any objects knowing there are hundreds more in the same room. I wanted to give every object a chance, which quickly became a daunting task seeing as every object was significant, important, intriguing, beautiful, and, in some cases, a favorite object to someone else at one time. I went back to the Penn Museum over break, to give myself more time and not rush, and still felt that there was no way to choose one object. Even reviewing my photos, I still can't decide. Oy.

My visits to the Penn Museum were unreal. I didn't know what to expect when I first visited. I had no idea how large it was, how it was laid out, and what type of things I would see. The Egyptian Galleries gave me chills. Viewing the Chinese and Japanese collections under the spacious Rotunda was surreal and made me feel tiny and small, but in an awestruck sort of way. The combination of objects and artifacts with their history was a lot to take in, but the Penn Museum also provided a lot of information about how the objects were collected providing me with the history about the history of finding the objects. This fascinated me, and added to the tricky task of choosing ONE thing. 

And then I found out that the Penn Museum has over a million objects and only 5% are on display.

So long story short, for my favorite object, I chose an interactive in the Artifact Lab. I partially feel like I'm taking an easy way out, since there are so many amazing objects filling this museum. But it was interesting and I liked how it was presented. 

See What a Conservator Sees Interactive

September 2012

The See What a Conservator Sees interactive is an activity involving high powered microscopes connected to computer screens to easily display the magnification. With it are slides of materials that conservators look at. There is two of each type of material, a newer version and an older version, to allow for comparisons between the two. This display was engaging and interesting to see how some materials change over time and how conservators look for these changes to understand how old and figure out the story of some objects.

Materials provided included: Copper, Linen, and Papyrus

This object is found "In The Artifact Lab" room that was opened on September 30, 2012. It is very new, and does not have a lot of wear. Its location in the Artifact Lab is right up against the lab windows, allowing visitors to almost feel as though they are in the lab as well, working on analyzing the materials. Since it is right next to the lab glass, there are real mummies nearby along with other instruments and tools for conservation that the conservationists are using, though they are on the other side of the glass. 

The interactive is very modern and simple and fits in with the lab setting. The technology is easy to use and not overly complicated and shows the magnification very well. I now presume an Exhibit Developer created this concept since it is very easy for the public to understand and use and it explains what the conservationist are doing with the microscopes in their lab, and what they are looking for. The slides were very durable and the directions were easy to follow.

Other fields of study to enrich my understanding would be conservation, and further knowledge on these materials and textiles in relationship to anthropology. In addition, knowing more about how these materials break down, and how they date the objects (carbon dating or other methods) would also be something to explore. 

Those not interested in this interactive could be those more interested in the mummy next to it. As I was exploring the interactive, everyone else in the lab was right up against the glass looking at the mummies and talking with the conservationist. Also those who are not interested in the small details and how conservation is done, but rather would like to know the history and story about the objects and materials, not the scientific process that is involved with figuring out the history. 

Only text provided with this activity

Opposing views would find the object to be too simplistic and doesn't provide enough text about how materials and how they relate to the conservation process. I agree, and wish there was more information about each of the materials or about the microscopes. I do not know what magnification the microscope was and wish I knew, and what type of microscope it was why they chose that type and if it provides advantages over other types of microscopes.

Programming for this interactive would be to already have magnifications of the materials and do a matching activity with the old material vs. the new material to see if visitors can determine which is which before using the microscope. Also providing anomalies and examples of things that provide a lot of information in the materials such as discoloration of a certain type of metal means that "xyz" took place at one time.