02.18.08
Masses @ MuMu (show opening)
Well what a hoot!
The British Invasion show at the MuMu opened yesterday, and I am super pleased with how it went. Abbey had a sort of last minute addition of a dance flag (Union Jack high overhead), and it worked out great..
….. cause people wouldn’t leave!
We started at 3 and were still going strong at 7!
In the first 21 hours, we had 105 unique visitors. A professor at Penn State is showing the exhibit to his Info Sciences and Tech class today in an auditorium. I also saw a pretty good recommendation in the Avastar
So I am stoked. There are things about the show that I dont think are done, or that I would do differently now. But… to use a Steve Jobs quote: “Real Artists Ship”. Much as I wanted to hold off on the show for a week, I couldn’t (Abbey reminded me we were already announced all over).
I’ve been asked quite a bit about the video stuff. Much of it along the lines of “I thought you couldn’t do that!”.
It’s true. It’s impossible!
Actually, the trick is to key video to the AV on the parcel, not to the entire parcel — Long story short: VidMon will be a product for sale in the not too distant future, and it will make the process of setting up per-user video pretty easy. Of course, the FFRC, info island, and non-profits will get VidMon for free!
In any case, thanks to all who have come so far. Come back and peruse when it is quiet. If you have not been to show yet, please drop by — and pick up a show program at the front desk (or the brick wall). There’s a good set of show notes in that.
02.03.08
British Invasion * MuMu * 2008
In February 17th, 2008, the British invade the Museum of Music on Infotainment.
My Co-Curator Abbey Zenith and I are hard at work immersing ourselves in the music of the 1960’s. The British Artists are:
- Animals
- Beatles
- Dave Clark Five
- Hermans Hermits
- Kinks
- Rolling Stones
- Who
- Yardbirds
This is the second MuMu exhibit. It will feature a very immersive 1960’s American household. We have extensive info on all 8 groups, lots of direct links to the music on Amazon, and some surprises in store.
A guiding bit about the MuMu is that we do focused shows on a given genre. We pick a time and a place. Something like “music of the 60’s” would be ridiculous. In narrowing down the British Invasion, some things get snipped out. We’re conscious / guilty of leaving out Petula, Cillia, Dusty, and Lulu. I also skipped Peter & Gordon. Limiting the show to the 8 groups gave it a focus we could tackle!
… And believe me, we will do a show that focuses on great women singers!
Another criteria of mine in selecting the bands was how they influenced things going forward. That was the thing that tipped my selection of The Yardbirds. Not only did they give some great mid-60’s hits, but they gave us Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page. That’s quite a spawning ground.
I’m looking forward to getting to opening night!
Bucky
Quick Notes: the banner pic is an early mockup, and I expect it will change a bit before the exhibit. Our executive producer is Lorelei Junot, and we’d like to thank the FFRC for a grant which has been of great help in getting this show together.
