Time and Space: Things Lost in the Move
by Marilina Fontana

In transferring a genre from one medium to another, certain elements can easily be adapted while others may be compromised altogether. In both the Louvre and Guggenheim on-line, space and time seem to be concepts altered and redefined by the Internet. In physical museums, visitors can expect to be engaged anywhere from two to four hours. The buildings and showrooms are specifically designed to encourage visitors to spend as much time as possible inside the museum. (Gradwohl and Feldman: 1998, 185) In their study, Gradwohl and Feldman write that in transferring an exhibit or museum onto the Internet, many factors need to be considered. For example, space, as an organizational mechanism is a crucial element that needs to be taken into consideration. (Gradwohl and Feldman: 1998, 173)

In both the on-line versions of the Louvre and Guggenheim, space and time are tampered with. Surfing through the websites, one can see that insight, detail and narrative are sacrificed for the choppy and rapid pace of the web. In the physical Louvre or Guggenheim, each exhibit is carefully put together within their given space. They tell stories, histories and give depth that can only be completely experienced in person. One thing that is lost in transferring the museum genre into the web is a sense of cohesion due to the alterations of space and flow. Because on-line visitors can drop in and out of an on-line exhibit at any moment, the viewing experience is altered significantly. (Gradwohl and Feldman: 1998, 185)

It would be unrealistic to expect the same pleasure or experience from an on-line exhibit, as you would actually walking through a physical museum. This is partly due to the fact that there is a different code of operation and interaction on the web. The web is more of an individualistic engagement, as scanning is encouraged rather than deep involvement on behalf of the viewer. This characteristic is reflected in the depth of quality of both the Louvre and Guggenheim on-line.

These two on-line museums were designed to show various pieces of art but in an individual and solitary way. Such conventions like site map, search, archives, collections/exhibits, selected works on-line and virtual tours demonstrate how fragmented, independent and detached the works are from one another on the web. They also reflect the user’s power of navigation. In a physical museum, there is a sense of authoritarianism as the curators, designers, architects and artists are in charge of directing visitors through the content and space.

In such an environment, visitors are told a story, and works are placed in groups to communicate a narrative or some point of significance to the visitor. On the Internet, however, abundance, quantity and speed are much more prominent than any sense of narrative. Because the Internet does not allow for linearity or uni-direction, efforts in creating a cumulative flow would be completely wasted.

The visuals are from the Guggenheim's "e-card" section. Left: Photograph of the building's architecture. Right: Mark Rothko painting, untitled, 1949. (http://guggenheim.corporateecards.com/)

As an on-line museum visitor you can create your own pathway through an exhibit, customize your visit and be as selective as you want. The extensive source of links allows the user to tailor his visit according to his personal interests, needs and wants. He may choose to skip through galleries, search for a collection in particular or exit the on-line museum altogether. The Internet provides on-line museum visitors to pass through collections and galleries like a ghost, undermining all conceptions of time, space and boundaries that apply in the physical world.

The question still remains: how rich is the experience of visiting an on-line museum? There may be photographs of major works of art and virtual tours of all the galleries but do you walk away with the same feeling as you would after a four hour stroll through a physical museum? The answer is NO. But the answer is no primarily because it is nearly impossible to have the same experience by way of both physical and on-line museums. The same is true when navigating on-line museums categorized under the replication cybergenre.

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