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The Big Bang was spectacularly misnamed, having been “the quietest firework of all time”. Sound waves need matter to propagate through, so the explosion that created it can’t have made a din. This misnomer, testament to our inability to imagine a Universe without noise, comes early in the exhibition Silence, which runs in Paris at the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie until the end of August. As well as examining how the Universe has become noisier, the exhibition explores how sound levels have risen on Earth over the past century……..Continue reading…..
By: Laura Spinney
Source: Nature
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Critics:
There are different kinds of art exhibitions, in particular there is a distinction between commercial and non-commercial exhibitions. A commercial exhibition or trade fair is often referred to as an art fair that shows the work of artists or art dealers where participants generally have to pay a fee. A vanity gallery is an exhibition space of works in a gallery that charges the artist for use of the space. Temporary museum exhibitions typically display items from the museum’s own collection on a particular period, theme or topic, supplemented by loans from other collections, mostly those of other museums.
They normally include no items for sale; they are distinguished from the museum’s permanent displays, and most large museums set aside a space for temporary exhibitions. Exhibitions in commercial galleries are often entirely made up of items that are for sale, but may be supplemented by other items that are not. Typically, the visitor has to pay (extra on top of the basic museum entrance cost) to enter a museum exhibition, but not a commercial one in a gallery.
Retrospectives look back over the work of a single artist; other common types are individual exhibitions or “solo shows”, and group exhibitions or “group shows”). The Biennale is a large exhibition held every two years, often intending to gather together the best of international art; there are now many of these. A travelling exhibition is an exhibition seen at several venues, sometimes across the world. Exhibitions of new or recent art can be juried, invitational, or open.
A juried exhibition, such as the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in London, or the Iowa Biennial, has an individual (or group) acting as judge of the submitted artworks, selecting which are to be shown. If prizes are to be awarded, the judge or panel of judges will usually select the prizewinners as well. In an invitational exhibition, such as the Whitney Biennial, the organizer of the show asks certain artists to supply artworks and exhibits them.An open or “non-juried” exhibition, such as the Kyoto Triennial, allows anybody to enter artworks and shows them all.
A type of exhibition that is usually non-juried is a mail art exhibition. A pop-up art exhibition is a temporary showcase of artwork that takes place in unconventional or unexpected locations. It offers a unique and immersive art experience outside of traditional gallery settings, often appearing spontaneously and capturing the attention of diverse audiences. Although preservation issues are often disregarded in favor of other priorities during the exhibition process, they should certainly be considered so that possible damage to the collection is minimized or limited.
As all objects in the library exhibition are unique and to some extent vulnerable, it is essential that they be displayed with care. Not all materials are able withstand the hardships of display, and therefore each piece needs to be assessed carefully to determine its ability to withstand the rigors of an exhibition. In particular, when exhibited items are archival artifacts or paper-based objects, preservation considerations need be emphasized because damage and change in such materials is cumulative and irreversible. Two trusted sources – the National Information Standard Organization’s
Environmental Conditions for Exhibiting Library and Archival Materials, and the British Library’s Guidance for Exhibiting Library and Archive Materials – have established indispensable criteria to help curtail the deleterious effects of exhibitions on library and archival materials. These criteria may be divided into five main preservation categories: Environmental concerns of the exhibition space; Length of the exhibition; Individual cases; Display methods used on individual objects; and Security.
One factor that influences how well materials will fare in an exhibition is the length of the show. The longer an item is exposed to harmful environmental conditions, the more likely that it will experience deterioration. Many museums and libraries have permanent exhibitions, and installed exhibitions have the potential to be on the view without any changes for years. Damage from a long exhibition is usually caused by light. The degree of deterioration is different for each respective object.
For paper-based items, the suggested maximum length of time that they should be on display is three months per year, or 42 kilolux hours of light per year – whichever comes first. An exhibition log report, including records of the length of the exhibition time and the light level of the display, may prevent objects from being exhibited too frequently. Displayed items need to be inspected regularly for evidence of damage or change. It is recommended that high-quality facsimiles of especially delicate or fragile materials be displayed in lieu of originals for longer exhibitions.
The most common way to display bound materials is closed and lying horizontally. If a volume is shown open, the object should be open only as much as its binding allows. Common practice is to open volumes at an angle no greater than 135°. There are some types of equipment that help support volumes as they displayed openly: blocks or wedges, which hold a book cover to reduce stain at the book hinge; cradles, which support bound volumes as they lay open without stress to the binding structure; and polyester film strips, which help to secure open leaves.
Textblock supports are best used in conjunction with book cradles where the textblock is greater than 1/2 inch, or where the textblock noticeably sags. Regardless of its method of support, however, any book that is kept open for long periods can cause damage. One should turn an exhibited book’s pages every few days in order to protect pages from overexposure to light and spread any strain on the binding structure.
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