outrage

Unbound, unframed, and unplaqued! A Rant.

This is a rant. Its about the small museum’s obsession with official, legitimate, super-important-making frames and plaques.

Cheap metal frames do not an exhibit make.

I work for a (very) small history museum. While I do have a part -time job at a large museum run by an even larger entity, I also freelance for other (very, very) small history museums. These are the kind of places with a microscopic budget raised by lasagna dinners and a handful of membership fees and donations. They are almost all volunteer-run. So this rant is accompanied by a huge helping of guilt.

I give as much advice as a I can to small museums. I’m for raising the bar at all museums and sharing knowledge is the first step. There is, however, something I haven’t told them yet. I can bring myself to break it to them. I’m not even sure that I know how to put it diplomatically. Its about the frames…and the plaques. Continue reading »

This may be a rant.

Early in my museum fellowship I learned about the glory of 3M Positionable Mounting Adhesive. Our space doesn’t have great ventilation, so we use this stuff for most prototypes. It’s pretty great, it basically turns anything into a giant sticker. Last summer I printed a life size mule and PMA’d him to foam core. Awesome. Continue reading »