A Map by Any Other Name

Everyone is getting in on the act. As more articles are written on the power of digital media, more individuals, companies and institutions are realizing they need to take advantage of the possibilities. A perfect example is the Metropolitan Museum‘s digital “Connections“. It’s a wonderful new online feature linked to the museum’s main site. It is a weekly digest, updated every Wednesday, of four (this week – some weeks will have less) minute episodes examining a theme by a museum staff member presented by the combination of an audio narration and accompanying slide show of the works of art.

The concept is terrific and deceptively simple. Its purpose is to show how different time periods and mediums can work together to present a mini thesis. Thomas Campbell, Director of the Met, explains it. “Here, as works of art are tied together—across time, cultures, and disciplines—we hear our staff’s individual responses to these objects, and by extension, introduce new ways to travel through and understand the Met’s incredible riches.”

It may not seem like a big deal but it is a major step, in a very accessible format, toward teaching people how to look and more importantly see – to make connections. And its ancillary, more subliminal, higher level objective is teaching how to think – how to broaden one’s perspective, specifically when looking at art.

When I was in college, interdisciplinary courses were just starting to be offered – comp lit was a relatively new concentration. Now, it’s standard fare, as is creating individualized interdisciplinary majors. But even young people don’t necessarily carry over that concept when they visit a museum. This is intended to soften the blow, to make looking and learning about art and how it relates to the world, less intimidating and more entertaining – and it succeeds.