March 24: Nkosi and Katherine

Date: March 24, 2005
Partners for the day: Nkosi Harvey(text) Katherine Harington(images)
Site(s):British Museum
Principal Buildings/Monuments: Sculpture from Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, Parthenon Sculpture, Nereid Monument, Bassae Frieze, Spinario Statues, etc.
Time Spent on Each Site: from ca. 10am to ca. 5:30 [ _7.5_ hours]
Weather: Partly Cloudy

For several members of the group the most impressive part of Parthenon frieze display was the introductory video that introduced the sculpture. The marbles are amazing. Even the rooms that house the marbles are amazing, but the video as an introduction to the exhibit impressed me the most. Before you reach the vast and majestic hall which houses the Elgin marbles there are two anterooms. In the room to your left contains a screen, a mock up of the Acropolis (c. 400) and a few pieces of the frieze. On the right are casts of the frieze which were taken by Lord Elgin. The video in the room on the left could have easily been cheap, repetitive and introductory. Instead, with the help of Ian Jekkins, it accomplished something which a college course and the display itself in the British Museum had failed to do. It showed the interior and exterior frieze as it would have been seen in relation to the rest of the building. The video was also able to visual explain the perspective scheme of the artists. Three years of work went into that 7 minute video. It was fascination and simply, the perfect introduction.

Two other displays are of note because of the effectiveness of their presentation based on the expectations of the audience. The Spinario statues which were presented by a member of the curatorial staff, Thorsten Opper, who also was responsible for the display. The other display I had no knowledge of and simply happened across. The first display was a temporary exhibit, given a very prominent place in the museum. We received quite a bit of information from Dr. Opper about the pieces’ history and its influence on other artists. He also gave us information on debates about the statues dates, the original inspiration and also decisions about display cases and stands. With his help we were able to compare and contrast the two figures. I mention it because the experience we received was completely different from the experience of the visitors aka the intended audience. I compare the random visitors experience with the Spinario statues to my experience with the floor mosaics hanging on the walls in the staircases leading from the Egyptian room to the Roman corridor. Upon first seeing them I was impressed by the size and technically skill, but in a way different from my experience with Dr. Opper. The amount of information as well as its presentation affected my understanding of the piece in terms of skill and historical importance. The mosaics impressed me because of their size and beauty. The Rosetta stone impresses people not because decoded Egyptian writing is so important to their everyday life but because they are aware of its historical importance. I am impressed by the Elgin marbles for their beauty but also because of the decoded information presented to me as a classics student. These two exhibits effectively highlighted what can be communicated given the audience and the choice by the curatorial staff about what is important.