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As to whether a museum exhibit has ever changed the world, I've  
spoken with many individuals who claim life-changing experiences from  
exhibitions: for example, a high energy physicist confided once that  
he chose to pursue his life's work when he saw a laser exhibit as a  
child visiting the 1964 NY Worlds Fair.  I think this qualifies as a  
resounding yes to the question of whether exhibition can change the  
world, albeit by setting my own conditions, more "micro-" to  
Charlie's implied "macro."

As an artist I've fielded the question of whether art can change the  
world many times, to which I usually respond that I, too, am a  
skeptic.  But I keep a running list of examples that offer  
affirmative (particularly "macro-") proof anyway.  (My favorite-- 
though arguably shrouded in so much legend, it needs to be taken with  
salt-- is the story of Shostakovich's 7th Symphony turning back the  
Nazi forces, ending the Seige of Leningrad.  That's a story for  
another time...)

As for the value of formal evaluation, I often cite a real world  
example of how the utility of the process was missed.  In short, I  
was involved in designing and producing a n exhibit which suffered  
copious text (forced by donor persuasion, ick).  There was a lot of  
nervousness on the museum staff about the word count, but one day,  
one of the exhibits team saw a young person using the exhibit and  
taking the time to read all of the text.  Horribly, in the formal  
evaluation vaccuum, like a staff-wide game of telephone, this  
exciting andecdote attentuated into testament.  At some point, our  
graphic designer was actually claiming to a group of nodding heads in  
the conference room that we'd discovered a font that encouraged  
visitors to read overly-long labels.  This may sound ridiculous to  
seasoned professionals, but in fact it's often the way information  
moves in the social systems to which we all belong.  I was swept up  
in the geist, as well, until these "findings" began to influence  
other projects, and I had a moment of clarity and blew a whistle.

All this to say, "institution-think" is a very real phenomenon,  
affects the wisest of institutions, and can be exceedingly  
dangerous.  Third-party, formal evaluation is one of the few tried- 
and-true checks and balances against memes-gone-wild.  We cannot rely  
only on what the critics write in the reviews.  (Cough.)

On the other hand, I'm a skeptic, too.  Formal evaluation in design  
shares similarities with big brainstorming sessions, of which I am a  
big fan.  But I am an even bigger fan of creative leadership that  
damns the committee and forges ahead responsibly toward a singular  
vision.

None of these thoughts are contradictory. because everything serves  
its own purpose in the bigger picture.

: Jason




__
JasonJayStevens
JasonJayStevensStudio
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www.potterbelmar.org/jjss
536 Roosevelt Avenue
San Antonio, Texas 78210
210.364.6305


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For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org.

Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at www.exhibitfiles.org.

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