Ruxy Staicut
ITP grad student on the loose
How To’s based on Dra’Wii’ng Jackson Pollock
Mar 28th
Dra’Wii’ng Jackson Pollock is one of my favorite projects I’ve worked on at ITP. It was my final for ‘Intro to Physical Computing’ taught by Tom Igoe. It was showcased in a few places – The ITP Winter Show 2008, CHI 2009 Conference, Gizmodo, Abc News, and NY1. Here is a demo of the project.
Dra’Wii’ng Jackson Pollock will now be in the ITP Book 2.0 for which Si Heun Cho and I wrote a couple of how to’s. Without further ado, here they are!
A. How to use the Wii Remote in Processing
1. What you’ll need
Mac OS X*, Darwiinremote, Processing, Wii Remote, Infrared LEDs (or just a strong light bulb)
* You can also do this on a PC, but you would need to find an appropriate replacement for Darwiinremote.
2. Set up Processing
First, download Processing if you haven’t already done so from http://processing.org/.
3. Set up DarwiinRemote
Next, download DarwiinRemote with IR Sensor support from http://code.google.com/p/darwiinosc/downloads/list.
DarwiinRemote is an application for Mac OS X v10.4 or above which receives data from the Wii Remote through BlueTooth to a Mac. The computer needs to have Bluetooth enabled in order to use the program.
4. Getting data from Darwiinremote to Processing
When you download Darwiinremote, it comes with a folder called “wiiControllerOSC” which contains two processing files. If you open the two files you’ll see that the one called “wiiController” is the class which gets the data from darwiinremote and the one called “wiiControllerOSC” is an example of how to use the data. The WiiController class was a little buggy and was missing IR sensor data, so we posted an error-free version of the class here: http://code.google.com/p/dra-wii-ng-jacksonpollock/.
5. Using the data from the Wii Remote
Open the wiiControllerOSC class in Processing and modify it for your own purposes.
6. Running your file
When you run your Processing sketch, make sure Bluetooth is on and discoverable. Darwiinremote should be running in order for the data to be received from the Wii Remote through Bluetooth and sent to Processing.
Tip: Sometimes after connecting the Wii Remote, the device will still appear as connected under System Preferences/Bluetooth. Make sure you remove the device in this menu so that it will work again.
B. Printing from Processing (by touching a Wii Button)
1. In Processing
In the wiiControllerOSC class, listen for a button press on the Wii Remote to send a message using the OscP5 library. You can find more details on this library at http://www.sojamo.de/libraries/oscP5/. Here is a snippet of the code used for Drawiing Jackson Pollock to do this. It saves the frame in Processing as an image that will be printed later.
if (wiiController.buttonOne){
saveFrame();
saveFrame(“fileToPrint.tif”);
OscMessage myMessage = new OscMessage(“/print”);
OscP5.flush(myMessage, myRemoteLocation);
saveFrame(“fileToPrint.tif”);
OscMessage myMessage = new OscMessage(“/print”);
OscP5.flush(myMessage, myRemoteLocation);
}
2. In Max/MSP
Use Max/MSP/ to receive the message and call an AppleScript called “print.scpt” in order to print the file “fileToPrint.tif”.
Use Max/MSP/ to receive the message and call an AppleScript called “print.scpt” in order to print the file “fileToPrint.tif”.
3. AppleScript
Here is the AppleScript used :
tell application “Preview”
print “Users:siheuncho:Desktop:pollock_wii_02:fileToPrint.tif”
end tell–do shell script “rm ~/Desktop/pollock_wii_02/fileToPrint.tif”
print “Users:siheuncho:Desktop:pollock_wii_02:fileToPrint.tif”
end tell–do shell script “rm ~/Desktop/pollock_wii_02/fileToPrint.tif”
New Blog
Mar 13th
I loved my former website. It was a Flash website in which a picture of a hand acted as the navigation menu. Each of the fingers was a category, while each nail of a different color – a highlight for the category if you wish.
I kept it for two entire years since I loved it so much, but it was time for it to go. Say hello to my new website! I wanted the blog to be the main part, but I’m still building out more pages within the menu that will showcase my projects.
The Tenement Museum
Mar 7th
All I knew about the Tenement Museum before I went there is that it’s a museum about immigrants in New York and that many friends recommended visiting it. So, naturally, I expected a museum similar to the Jewish Museum or the Museum of Jewish Heritage – a medium-sized building which would take you throughout several galleries in which you can explore what it meant to be an immigrant in New York through pictures, text, artifacts, videos, etc.
If you have been to the Tenement Museum before, you can imagine my surprise when I got there. I first thought: is this it? This museum shop? It was hard to tell which entrance was the one to the museum because there was no big sign or logo indicating it. I decided to go into the museum shop to ask about how to get to the museum’s main entrance. The help desk was inside and I could get a ticket and more information there. I was still in denial though, and assumed this is just one entrance and the museum was in the same building, probably on the superior floors. I was wrong. All the tours go to other buildings in the neighborhood, depending on which tour you choose. So it’s more like a museum without walls in a sense, but with wall because you visit buildings (if that makes any sense).
I was a little irritated with the tour guide structure. When I got there they were sold out of tickets and I had to wait for about an hour to get on the next tour. Also, the tour made me feel very restricted. I know I always write posts about how much I enjoy clearly delineated gallery tours in museums, but this was a little too much even for me. I had to wait for the tour guide to show me anything and I didn’t have any freedom of wandering around at all. Also, the tour wasn’t even that long, we only visited a few rooms.
I did like the discussion opportunity with an expert since the guide was there, and I understand why they would structure the museum experience in this way. The buildings are old, so they need to be careful about the volume of people passing through them. I also enjoyed the authenticity of the display of the objects throughout the apartments and I think they would have had to put hard cases and many guards if they would decide to let people around. It’s also important to note that the story is what is most important about the experience there, so I assume they wanted only expert guides telling the story so that the experience would always be a good one. It’s easy to not read some text or look at some objects around you, but when you have a guide you generally listen to everything they have to say.
The technology use in the tour seemed a little out of place. Here we were in this very very old building that looked like it was about to collapse any moment and the tour guide starts this very ridiculous slideshow projected on a window with some very loud music. I can understand the songs were relevant to the tour and the story, but I think it would have been much more effective to use only sounds and the pictures wouldn’t have to be projected, they could just be displayed in cases to preserve the feeling. There was another awkward use of technology. During the tour, an older woman asked if we were allowed to take pictures. Kate, the tour guide, replied that it’s not allowed but that they have some Flickr pictures posted. It was obvious that the woman didn’t know what that was. Also, at the end of the tour Kate encouraged us to look at their blog. Again, looking at the audience they get, that didn’t seem something of interest. However, I do think that it’s better to have these options then not to, for people who are interested. Still, it felt a little awkward.
From what it looked like to me, most visitors fall into the statistics we discussed in our first class: mostly white older visitors and groups of children on school field trips. The group tours at the museum are intended for this audience. I went on the Moore Irish Family Tour and there were especially many U.K. tourists on that tour. Kate, the tour guide, asked at the beginning why we were on the tour and if there was a special interest in coming to the Tenement Museum. Two older women replied: “We like going to museums.” I thought this was especially relevant to the audience that the museum gets and it was in conformity with what we discussed before in Cabinets of Wonder.
Different Perspectives
Person with a walking disability: “I cannot go to the Tenement Museum because the buildings are so old they don’t have elevators and I can’t get through with my wheelchair.”
Person with a vision disability: “I really enjoy the touch and verbal description tours at the Tenement Museum. The museum also has a Braille brochure which is very helpful.”
MOCA, Magnum Photos and Museum Websites in General
Mar 7th
There is a basic structure I expect when I visit a museum’s website. For example, I always look for hours and admission details before I first visit a museum on its website. So I’ve come to expect the keyword “visit” in the main menu as well as other keywords such as “collection” or “education”.
MOCA’s website is simple and to the point, that’s what I like most about it. It follows this simple structure that I’ve come to expect. The homepage only displays the information which is more important to those who are part of the community: news, events, membership, rss feed, email subscription form and a slide show with museum shots. The main menu at the top announces the other parts of the site which you can explore. Two other things I enjoy are the pun on the museum’s acronym and the mocha colors chosen for the design, and the small menu on the right-hand side of each section which contains a twitter widget, a small email subscription for and a button to share on Facebook. I think those are all essential in order to get the word out about them, especially since they are a new museum.
Unfortunately, most museums just don’t know how to keep it simple. They know the average site visitor will only click on a link or two, so they try to lure them in by displaying too much information on the homepage. This is especially attractive to do for large museums since they have so much they want to share with the visitors. The MoMA website might be the best example of what not to do on a homepage. They display all the information in what feels like a very chaotic way to me (even though their website is similar to their gallery structure in that sense). The Museum of Jewish Heritage website does a little bit of that as well, but there is a more rigid structure to their website in comparison to MoMA’s.
Another example of trying to include too much information in one website is the National Museum of the American Indian website. For each item on their main menu (e.g. visitor information, exhibitions, events) there is a submenu which separates into the museum in Washington and the museum in New York. I think it would be easier to navigate by just having separate sites for each museum at the two locations.
However, I do expect that the structure of website for an art museum would be different than that of a cultural or ethnic museum. A good example of this difference is the Asia Society website. I’m not a big fan of their website as I think they need to work a little more on the user experience. For example, if you click on the “visit” link, it displays the following text: “Click here for location, directions, hours, and other information on visiting Asia Society and Museum, in New York City.” I would prefer to get the actual information on that link, rather than another link to the information. Still, I think they do a good job at establishing a community. They have two main menus: one contains the main information about the museum and the other contains potential useful and interesting information about current topics from all through-out Asia.
Another website I looked at was that of Magnum Photos. In comparison with the MOCA website, Magnum Photo’s website has a less rigid structure. It has three main menus and one submenu, which is in my opinion way too much. There’s a lot of repeated information throughout the site, and I think just by organizing the information better they could solve that problem.
New York Hall of Science
Mar 7th
I visited the New York Hall of Science last April on a field trip for Pixel by Pixel, a class I took last semester on computational algorithms in image processing through openFrameworks with Danny Rozin.
Danny Rozin’s work is mostly focused on optical illusions transposed into the digital work. I was very excited that he shared one of his inspiration sources with us. Needless to say, we spent most of our time on the exhibition on optical illusions.
When I first walked in I noticed many groups of elementary school children and so I felt a little out of place, like I was too old to visit this museum. When I first heard the name of the museum, I had expected something more serious, and I was surprised of the playfulness of the museum. As we walked around, we could experiment with all the different exhibits which were there to prove a greater scientific theory. All the exhibits seemed like projects that would come out of a physical computing class at ITP. It felt like a huge ITP Winter Show with an educational purpose. However, I couldn’t help but feel a little upset that this museum is only targeting children. Even the furniture was only meant for children, there were little tables and little chairs in certain places. It seems like any adult would find many of the topics very interesting and inspiring and would enjoy playing with the exhibits too. I know I did!
The museum’s website also conveys the message that this museum is only meant for children. It does that very clearly through its design: it’s very colorful and there are pictures of children having fun in every section of the website. They even organize birthday parties!
Three Perspectives
A young artist who happens to be a student at ITP: “The New York Hall of Science is a very inspiring museum. There are many interesting concepts displayed which I can further introduce into my projects. I also heard there are some ITP projects displayed, which doesn’t surprise me.”
Little kid: “I had so much fun! yuuhuu!”
13-year old: “I enjoyed my field trip at the New York Hall of Science because I saw how the theories I learn in school apply in real life.”
American Museum of Natural History
Mar 7th
I recently re-visited the American Museum of Natural History. I have first visited it on my first trip to the United States which was more than ten years ago. My first impression when I walk through the door today is mostly the same impression I had when I first stepped in: it’s huge(!), there are many children on field trips, many families, many tourists, it sort of feels like a fake zoo in some galleries and it’s a place where I could get lost very easily.
One thing that has changed a lot over the years at the museum is the technology. One of the galleries that especially caught my attention is the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life. The technology was used very effectively there. The sounds, videos, and water-like projections on the roof are much more attractive and they make the hall seem more alive. All throughout the museum, I’ve really appreciated the use of technology. It was only used sparingly for exhibits where it really made a difference. There are some halls that only have surround sound. At first, I didn’t even realize that the sounds were there, they are very discrete, but effective in setting the mood.
Despite the shape and size of the building, I found it very easy to get around. The guards were friendly, the restrooms were well placed, and there was many seating areas all around. One thing that I thought they could change was thinking out the subway entrance better. I entered through the bottom-most entrance and I thought the signs were not very helpful. There was a tiny help desk, but it had no fliers.
One thing I find very interesting about the American Museum of Natural History is that it encourages social activity and conversation through its content. The exhibits are easy to digest and talk about casually, and they are especially easy to talk about with children. This is one of the reasons why there were mostly groups of visitors there, and not many were visiting alone. For example, at the Frick Collection there were many more individuals visiting alone because of the content – visiting art seems more personal – and probably the structure of the tour – the audio guides are free and therefore that forces people to visit alone or separate. It works out well for the museum because it creates a more quiet environment (and I assume that’s what they are looking for in a place like Frick).
Different Perspectives
Spanish tourist who doesn’t know English: “It’s easy enough for me to get around, I have a map in Spanish with a detailed floor plan. However, most of the descriptions for the dioramas are in English. It’s easy enough to grasp their content, but it would be nice to be able to read more detailed information in Spanish.”
A kid on a school field trip: “This place is so huge. But it’s the best! It’s so much fun!”
Ethnic Museums
Mar 7th
Last week I visited several museums which are focused on certain cultures and ethnicities: The Jewish Museum, Museum of Jewish Heritage, Museum of the American Indian, The Asia Society and Museum of Chinese in America.
Asia Society
The name made me imagine something other than what the museum actually stood for. So when I went to visit, I felt a little dissatisfied with what I saw. The building is very modern and sleek – extremely beautiful – and the architecture was consistent with the work showed inside since there were only contemporary works displayed. However, when I heard the name “Asia Society” I expected there would be a more classical part of the museum dedicated with showing old artifacts. The building is tall, but only two floors are dedicated to showing work. All the other floors were marked as ‘offices’. So I turned to their website to get some answers.
By definition, a historical society is ‘a nonprofit organization devoted to preserving the historical record of a place, institution, people, activity or thing.’ So naturally, this is why I felt like I was missing the artifacts. However, society in this context means ‘an organized group of persons associated together for religious, benevolent, cultural, scientific, political, patriotic, or other purposes.’
Asia Society is more interested in keeping people up-to-date with current events rather than past ones. On their website, they address many current important issues such as global health, the environment, human rights, arts, culture, economics, religion, tradition, and conflicts between countries to name just a few. They also have extensive educational programs for children and students. Their calendar shows many events which would interest their audience. So my conclusion was that the galleries shown are just on the side of everything else they have going for them.
The Jewish Museum and Museum of Jewish Heritage
Both museums were extremely impressive, although different in their focus. The Jewish Museum presents some contemporary art and it also has an impressive permanent exhibition on Jewish History presented as a timeline and displayed on two floors. The Museum of Jewish Heritage focuses more on the Holocaust and what it means to be Jewish, as the name implies. Both museums used technology extensively and it was very effective. I was impressed with the natural progression from one gallery to another that both museums presented. I found it the easiest to find my way around these museums from all that I’ve seen so far.
I first visited the The Jewish Museum. They used a combination of the old and the new to create a certain mood and it was very efficient. For example, you would hear sounds of a sermon while looking at an old Torah. They had a really nice display called “Modern Culture and the Cafe.” There were a few tables organized as in a cafe with world maps on them. Some of the cities on the map had buttons and when you pressed them you would hear the story of that city from a Jewish perspective.
I thought I was really impressed with all the sounds and little documentaries displayed there until I went to the Museum of Jewish Heritage. This one really blew me away. As soon as I walked in, there was a room with three huge projections displaying a documentary on what it means to be Jewish. It was overwhelming. As I walked around, there were many interspersed screens on the wall among the older objects displayed. The screens were showing different Jewish stories. It was most efficient not because I would stop and look at all the screens, but because just by passing by them I would hear the stories. The voices were loud and they were coming from everywhere. Also, there were too many objects and pictures displayed, it was impossible to pay attention to everything that was there. Instead, by seeing so many objects and stories together, one would understand the magnitude of the topic.
What I most liked about the Museum of Jewish Heritage was what I felt when I got to the end of the gallery. The gallery is in a sort of tomb or temple in a spiral. However, at the last floor the architecture changes completely. You walk through a glass bridge and can sit down on a bench. There is a beautiful light installation that reflects blue tones similar to water to relax and soothe you. You can bask in the sunlight, look at the water and Battery Park, and the Statue of Liberty. It makes you realize you are safe.
National Museum of the American Indian
Before I went there, Marco told me he was struck with the building chosen for this museum. I went to see for myself and he was right, the museum is located in a huge Colonial European building which seems a little out of place for the purpose of this particular museum. In the center of the building, the murals in the rotunda show majestic depictions of European ships coming to America. I was confused, but to my help I found a ‘Resource Center’ that seemed very handy. So I went in and asked the woman there why this particular building was chosen. To my content, I found there was a great reason: the building was built on what used to be a fortress the American Indian had built against the Dutch. I was very satisfied with the answer and I was wondering why they didn’t include that story in the guide.
The museum is a great place for kids. In the back there is a small room with many interactive educative displays. I was lucky to see a group of children go in there and they went crazy over those things. Clearly effective in attracting attention, I’m just not sure how much they actually learned from them.
Timeshifting, Placeshifting and the Future of Television
Mar 7th
Timeshifting/Placeshifting
My life changed when I discovered podcasts. They are a good example of timeshifting because they give you the option of tuning in to radio shows at a time that is convenient for the listener. They are also a good example of placeshifting because you can transfer them on you MP3 player and listen to them wherever you are. I listen to a lot of electronic music and many of my favorite DJs have radio shows at various radios throughout Europe. However, I would never actually tune in at the scheduled show times because of the time difference and because I’m not always in the mood to listen to them when they are scheduled. I now get my favorite radio shows on my iPhone and can listen to them whenever and wherever I want.
Future TV feature I would love to have
One of the things that bothers me about the television experience today is the mess that comes with it. It seems to me that the physical part we still call a TV now acts as just a screen that can connect to and display a multitude of components that I think are absolutely necessary in order to have a pleasant viewing experience today. We use a cable box, a stereo receiver, a DVD/VCR, a game console, and a computer, and all of these components connect to the TV. While trying to make all the connections between them you get a big mess in your living room. One of the things that I would love to see is a way to bring all these things together, in one single physical object. A way to customize your tv in order to somehow contain all of them.
Brooklyn Botanical Garden
Mar 7th
Looking back through my notes, there’s one word I used excessively during my visit to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden and that is ‘surprising’. I haven’t been to a botanical garden since I was five, so I didn’t remember much about what a botanical garden is. I thought it was a little park with the names of the plants next to them and nothing more.
I expected to see exotic plants, but I was surprised to find plants that you could see in Central Park or by walking on a trail through the Adirondacks, just a little north from New York City. At first that bothered me, but I soon came to the realization that it’s the structure of the gardens that matters the most in a botanical garden. In fact, The Native Flora Garden was my favorite because I had a comfortable homey feeling while I was there. I know that it would have probably been difficult to maintain exotic plants in the temperate weather. There would have to be large greenhouses, and I enjoyed walking outside more than walking through a controlled environment in a greenhouse.
During the first class of Cabinets of Wonder, Nancy presented some statistics about museums and their visitors. The museums with the most amount of visitors were zoos and botanical gardens. As I walked around I felt mesmerized by the smells and the sounds, and I realized what makes botanical gardens so special. It’s that fact that they play with all of your senses: your sight, smell, hearing, touch and even taste. The sounds were mesmerizing; there were many beautiful birds that were chirping, crickets, squirrels munching on acorns, bees flying from one flower to another, and all sorts of insects I didn’t identify. The smells were intoxicating. As to touch, I was surprised to find out that I could touch most plants and walk on grass. That went against my instincts because just knowing I was in a museum made me think I should watch everything from a distance and not get involved. All of these feelings made me think back on the organization of the gardens.
I really appreciated the effort that went into organizing every garden to such a great level of detail. I know that happens at every museum, but it was much more obvious to me here. I’m not only talking about how they made sure they played with your senses in every garden at any time of the year, but also about the decorations. There were many Ancient Greek elements such as statues, fountains, a Greek theater, and stone benches. These elements gave the botanical garden a very noble feel to it, as if we were strolling through the gardens of European palaces such as Versaille, Schonbrunn or Kensington.
From the informative perspective, I always had a sense of where I was, I thought the signs were very helpful. The restrooms were also on the signs and it didn’t take very long from any corner of the garden to get to the information center.
The visitors consisted mostly of many families, older couples, nannies with strollers, mothers with their children, and some international tourists. Also, considering that statistically 91% of the population of museum goers in the United States is white, I remarked that the audience at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden was more diverse.
All in all, The Brooklyn Botanical Garden was inspiring. After going there in the morning I was much more prone to noticing everything beautiful around me. I thought of art, I had many ideas and I felt very creative. It’s strange how MoMA doesn’t always make me feel like this.
Other Perspectives
- Mother with small children: “I enjoy coming to the botanical garden with my children because it’s safe to let them run around for a while and there is a lot of playing material here, nature is a kid’s best playground. At lunch we have a picnic on the grass by the cherry trees. It’s a good chance for all of us to get some fresh air.”
- A nanny with an infant: “The fresh air is good for the baby and it relaxes her. It’s easy to walk around with the stroller and there are many benches to sit on. I’ve made a few friends here, especially with other nannies.”
- A student (me): “It’s an ideal place to bring your family. While I was visiting I kept thinking how much my mother or my sister would love this place. Tuesdays are free so that goes well with my student budget. I can see myself coming here every Tuesday and sitting on a bench to do my school reading.”
Cabinets of Wonder – Week 1
Mar 7th
The first two museums I visited for Cabinets of Wonder are the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and The Frick Collection. I very much enjoyed seeing such different museums only a few days apart.
The Frick Collection
The collection is housed in the exquisite New York mansion built by Henry Clay Frick, right on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 70 Street with the lovely address of ‘1st East 70th Street’. It contains some of the best-known paintings by the greatest European artists, eighteenth-century French furniture and porcelains, enamels, Oriental rugs, and beautiful sculpture.
As soon as I entered I saw a big “Do not…” type of sign. Even though the doorman was very welcoming and informed me of the way to the admissions desk as soon as I walked in, I couldn’t help but feel the rigidness of the place. To add to the feeling, I initially felt a little out of place, like I was not dressed sharp enough to enter such an elegant and luxurious building. On my way to the ticketing desk, the same “Do not…” sign appeared twice more. After purchasing my ticket I grabbed a flier to read a little about the pieces before entering, but to my surprise the flier contained just more museum rules (children under 10 are not permitted for example).
However, as soon as I started walking around the galleries I was struck with awe. There’s something very special about seeing art in a mansion that was specifically tailored to each of the pieces of art in the collection.
On the practical side of things, I really liked the organization of the galleries. They were all in linear order so it was easy to move from one to the next without losing your way. The couches were more and more frequent as you walked towards the end of the tour. It was a little tough to find the washroom though (i only saw one).
It seemed to me that the visitors were not so much the touristy type. As was expected from the statistics presented in our first class and the type of museum, the visitors were mostly of an older crowd (over 50). There were also many young women (generation Y).
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
As you all know, the art at MoMA is completely different from what you can see at The Frick. And as you would expect, the museum reflects that difference. The architecture of the museum is very sleek and modern. I did actually see some “Do not…” signs, but they were only a joke: “Do not blink” said the sign in front of some screens. “Do not obey these signs” said another.
One of the main things I don’t like about MoMA is the organization of the galleries. It’s very easy to get lost, miss a room, or that you have to pass through a room twice in order to see another. I feel like Grover when I’m there. I think the curators made it this way so you can be guided by your interest rather than your thoroughness, but I personally much prefer the linear transition between galleries at The Frick. On the other hand, it’s practical through its consistency: information desks and restrooms are on each floor and in the same place. There are also some computers all throughout the museum that can be used to search through the collections.
As to the visitors, there were many young couples (generation Y and generation X) and most of them tourists throughout the permanent collections of the museum. However, I also had the chance to visit Monet’s Water Lilies special exhibition as a member’s preview event. It was interesting to see what type of people were members at MoMA. I would have expected more young women from generation Y as myself, especially since I have many friends that are members and belong to the category. But it was mostly older women (>50 yrs old) and some older men. I was in the gallery for about 15 mins, and only two members of the moms in their 30s and 40s category showed up.
The Museums through Different ‘Eyes’
- Kids under 12 at MoMA were not at all interested in Monet’s Water Lilies, although their moms insisted on trying to pick their interest: “Look, they’re flowers, look how pretty they are!” However, the Architecture and Design Collection was full of possible toys, even though they were not allowed to touch anything.
- A student at Frick says: “I felt overwhelmed with details. Every inch of the mansion was so ornate. It was interesting to see how a very wealthy influential fellow would choose to decorate his home in New York in the beginning of nineteenth century.”
- Someone with a disability at Frick says: “It was very easy to get around the entire place since it’s all on one floor. It’s more difficult to get around in taller museums such as the MoMA, where you have to wait a long time for the elevator just to get from one floor to the other.”