If you have ever taken an introductory art history class, you’ve probably had to develop a response to the question “What is art?” For Scott Davis, a more pressing question is “Where is art?”
Davis is the director of exhibitions and design at the Museum of Photographic Arts (MoPA) in Balboa Park. Since last fall, he has been working with the Balboa Park Online Collaborative to digitize the estimated 7,000 collection objects at MoPA. Staff and interns have been photographing the collection and researching the biographical information about each of the photographers to create a comprehensive electronic database.
Davis said that the project has helped him to have a better sense of all the images MoPA has and how they could fit together in upcoming exhibitions.
“Instead of physically moving objects, we can lay out the thumbnails next to each other to look at placement,” said Davis, adding that he already has 2,500 thumbnails on file. Staff at MoPA have started to use the digitized images in different ways, such as inserting them into informational flyers that visitors can pick up to learn more about each photograph.
MoPA has also created a channel on YouTube for podcasts that feature personal reflections about some of the photographs on display. With an iPhone, Droid, or other smartphone of choice, a visitor can go to the YouTube link posted next to a photograph to hear another person's thoughts and interpretations about the artwork.
For example, a photograph of Burmese refugees offers a link to YouTube for a 2-minute reflection from Andrew Rae, a MoPA staff member who once lived and worked in a refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border.
“It’s not an audio version of a wall label,” Davis explained. “It’s more like a Yelp review.”
