Project Title:  "Our Lives" entrance walkway 

Museum/ Institution: National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI)  

Media Category: immersive 

Program Created:  unknown (museum opened 2004) 

Program URL (if available):   http://americanindian.si.edu/subpage.cfm?subpage=exhibitions&second=dc&third=current  

Project Image(s) and/or Video

Media Source(s)/Credit(s): all photos: Laurie L. Stepp

Program Description: (150-250 words)

The mission of the “Our Lives” exhibition area at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of the American Indian is to deflate the stereotypes that surround Native Americans, and to make sure that visitors remember that there are Indian people living in urban and rural areas, and working in all walks of life. Native peoples must cope with many stereotypes, and persistent references to Indian people in the past. This simple installation has very large screens on either side of dark walkway into the exhibit. We see “everyday”  people simply walking; dads and kids, a young woman, an older woman. They walk by at the same size and pace as the real visitors. They are all walking into the exhibit. The glass surface of the screens reflects the actual visitors, and it gives the illusion of a moving group. The figures are paced in a realistic way, walking and stopping. It doesn’t feel monotonous and the looping is not noticeable.

Firsthand or secondary review/critique: (150-250 words) 

This piece is hard to define. It could go in the signage/wayfinding category, since you can see it from a distance, and it helps you enter the exhibit, draws you in. The flat screens are related to electronic signage. I choose to put it in the Immersive Environments category. You must walk through the short, dark hall to enter into the exhibit.  Because there are two screens, face to face, it becomes something that you are in. It surrounds you. There is a blurring of the line between what is real and what is media, and also what is reflection. Children stop and stare, fascinated by the figures walking by, in scale and moving in a dreamy fashion. Everyone looks, most look quickly, but then you are walking side by side with these people, Native Americans. The piece (as in an art piece) effectively communicates a potent idea without words or text (this is consistent with the different philosophy of exhibition that is apparent through out the museum). It silently asks questions like: who is an Indian? Are we here and not here? It speaks to the many people in the museum who are not speaking English. There is no sound, a relief after the competing audio in the large exhibit area. It appeals to all ages. It never looks the same twice, depending on who is standing or walking there.

Technologies incorporated: 

The piece is video, but I cannot tell what the exact means of delivery is. The screens are very large. It could be rear-projection, or very large-scale monitors.

Internally or externally produced: unknown 

Entry Contributor and Date: Laurie L. Stepp 2/5/2011

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