ITP grad student on the loose
New York Hall of Science
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.”
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