Attendant's View Blog and Cartoons

As I say, Not as I do.

29/4/2014

The Third of a few cartoons relating to the same art exhibition - where beautiful yet delicate pieces of vellum were displayed in the open on plinths, secured by pins. First cartoon here. Second cartoon here.

The artist insisted that the pieces not be boxed up or roped off, which may have worked well in a dedicated arts venue, but in a mixed heritage site/local museum/visitor attraction it just attracted the wrong kind of attention.

A visiting group of French students were very loudly and clearly instructed by their group leader to not touch anything - she even gave instructions in English, so we'd know the students had been warned.
After the kids left the room, she tentatively went to touch a piece herself, until she saw someone watching her -_-

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Handy Gallery Attendant tip: Hold keys to avoid falling asleep fully.

29/4/2014

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See, this is why you hold a bunch of keys loosely in your hands.

Then when you drop off too much, you drop the keys and wake yourself back up.

Handy Gallery Attendant tip #65

(I never did this, I spent dull time copying artwork and sketching visitors, but one gent on our staff had perfected the art of not quite being fully asleep with the key trick. We sometimes wanted to cordon him off and label him as an exhibit.)

Image from here

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Vikings!

23/4/2014

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Well done to The Times newspaper!

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Easter - do we make best use of it?

15/4/2014

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I've seen a lot of museums, galleries, heritage sites and stately homes holding Easter egg hunts, find the bunny/chick/egg trails etc. This makes sense over a period when the kids are off school, you want to entertain those visiting you, and want to attract new visitors looking at a range of options - you tap into the reason for that holiday break.

This is the first year though when I've stopped and thought, but is this relevant, and in the long term, beneficial to those sites?

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Events over Easter

14/4/2014

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A colleague just sent our weekly update for large events we have planned - and I had to double take at his approach

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Robin Hood nets £13 million (no robbery involved)

10/4/2014

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Discovery Attractions has announced it has now secured funding for the Robin Hood attraction at Sherwood Forest, which is both a good thing, and a worrying one.

Good, because the forest is in need of greater income to maintain it, the visitor area would benefit from updated facilities, the local economy will benefit from the extra jobs created, Nottinghamshire does need to do more about Robin Hood, and the tourists will be less disappointed with a trip out there.

It's worrying because the plans still seem to be a little, er, 'Disney' to use a shorthand phrase. I expressed my feelings on the plans when announced, in a blog post here, concerned about the mixture of genuine history, Robin Hood myths and random ye medievale tymes myths. It seems to be a site of very mixed messages, which will no doubt be enjoyable, but could miss out on serving some clearer purposes.

I'll be keeping an eye on the development with interest.

Interestingly, the map they use has now changed a little, compared to the one they had in 2012, as shown here. It seems darker, and more (odd choice of word I know) realistic.

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Little helper

8/4/2014

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A young lad is chattering away to me as I carry out some tidying up of displays, and he eventually asks what I'm doing.

Me: "I have to look for anything broken, or out of place, so we can fix it."
Lad: "I can look as well!"
Me: "If you want to help, that would be very kind, just say if you see anything that looks wrong."

We continue moving cabinet to cabinet. He is silent and engrossed, looking closely at every item for any damage or detail out of place. After some time his dad joins us.

Dad: "Do you want a hot chocolate now?"
Lad: "Daaaa-aaad, I have a job to do. I can't just go drinking hot chocolate now, this is IMPORTANT."

I sense great potential in this one...

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It's like that for a reason

4/4/2014

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The second of a few cartoons relating to the same art exhibition - where beautiful yet delicate pieces of vellum were displayed in the open on plinths, secured by pins. First cartoon here.

The artist insisted that the pieces not be boxed up or roped off, which may have worked well in a dedicated arts venue, but in a mixed heritage site/local museum/visitor attraction it just attracted the wrong kind of attention.

People not only touched the vellum, but often tried to pick it up "for a closer look", and upon finding it pinned down, would pull it (wince) or in once case carefully remove each individual pin. It seems that even trying to nail something down won't stop some people... As the area wasn't permanently staffed (one staff member covering three rooms) the damage was often only discovered afterwards.

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As I say, Not as I do.

Handy Gallery Attendant tip: Hold keys to avoid falling asleep fully.

Vikings!

Easter - do we make best use of it?

Events over Easter

Robin Hood nets £13 million (no robbery involved)

Little helper

It's like that for a reason

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