Science Museum Photo Challenge #20-25

The last 6 photos from my last 6 days!

#20

This is atmosphere! (officially, always with a lower case 'a')

In addition to the Chronophage, I've been doing some work in this gallery, specifically on the 'CIPs' (central information points).

Here are some bonus photos of the specific CIPs I've been evaluating:

They are about argo floats and radiosondes and puddingstone and forminifera and other things with names that are fun to say.

 #21

The ships gallery. With a mezzanine level designed to look like the upper deck of a cruise ship.

Quite creepy after 6pm when all the visitors have left!

#22

The ships gallery has some gorgeous models. This is one of my favourites - the Blair Athole. The real thing was almost 260ft long.

#23

Replica Geissler Tube, 'a glass tube for demonstrating the principles of electrical glow discharge'.

Yes. I had to look that up.

#24

Artwork in the Energy gallery.

Of course I touched it.

#25 

Lights off. Home time!

Science Museum Photo Challenge #19

From the 'Who Am I?' gallery - a display on how genetics make you who you are.

Science Museum Photo Challenge #18

Yesterday's photo!

Look at all those people. Looking at the lovely clock.

And not at the video.

Why don't they watch the video? 

Is it to make me cry?

I could not have more appreciation for that café stand being there. The guys who run it take pity on me standing around waiting to interview them on something they don't tend to do. Yesterday I got given 2 free bottles of juice about to go out of date. Score.

Science Museum Photo Challenge #17

I'm working both days this weekend (just like last weekend - I'm having mondays & thursdays off instead), so here's today's Science Museum picture!

This is part of an amazing art installation which goes all the way up the back wall of the Science Museum's Wellcome Wing (at the back), as seen from the Atmosphere gallery on level 2.

Those little bars of light 'carry' messages from visitors throughout the frame, and there are various 'rules' for how they travel - they bounce off each other, junctions switch direction etc - but each time one meets a screen, it displays its message as it scrolls across. And it remembers which way up the messages are travelling at all times, so sometimes they'll scroll across upside down or down to up or up to down and all sorts. Great fun to watch.

Bit too much fun, actually.

Science Museum Photo Challenge #9-16

I have been remiss. I am a terrible person.

To make it up to you. Here are 8 photos from the Science Museum ALL AT ONCE to make up for the last 8 days I have worked there and not posted anything.

#9

In the energy hall - they actually had this running the other day. Steam everywhere.

 #10

The materials house!

Here's a close up:

(that's an extra!)

 #11

The upside down plan just outside my office door.

Yes.

 #12

Jellyfish?

No. Wait.

Huygens Titan Lander parachute. 

 #13

'Nother plane, yes. I have to walk past all the planes a lot. I've been trying to get a good picture of the 'slice' through a jumbo jet they have in there, but it's not happening.

 #14

This is what the main entrance looks like right now. I've seen the plans for the redevelopment and it looks swanky, but man the roadworks are a pain.

#15

My view from one of the galleries I am doing evaluation work in. I like to spy on people downstairs.

#16

Lovely people playing lovely games in the Who Am I? gallery. My personal favourite exhibition. Definitely recommend it, and especially for kids (I'm just a big kid).

Forgive me now?

Science Museum Photo Challenge #8

No Science Museum yesterday or Wednesday, although I did get a field trip on Wednesday! Exciting times. I travelled down to Maidstone with a couple of the other girls from Audience Research to do some accompanied surf observations at a school. Great fun and a good experience - plus, we had a sneaky peek at Maidstone Museum on the way back. I recommend it! And I'm going to have to go again myself. Very good shop (that's important, we all agreed).

But today, I was back in London!

This clock is an exact 2:3 scale model of the astronomical clock from Hampton Court Palace.

I've seen the real thing! This version is in the Science Museum's Cosmos & Culture gallery.

Science Museum Photo Challenge #7

It is a chandelier. A chandelier made of pens.

Pens that are a chandelier.

Awesome.

(also from 'Plasticity')

Science Museum Photo Challenge #6

Toyota's 'i-Unit' concept 'car of the future'.

In the Science Museum's 'Plasticity' gallery.

Science Museum Photo Challenge #5

Today, I spent a large part of my working day standing around this clock.

This is the Midsummer Chronophage, a clock designed by Dr John Tayloe, OBE. It's the 2nd of a planned series of 4 clocks (the first is in Cambridge) and it's an absolutely genius design. LED lights are revealed in 3 concentric rings to represent hours, minutes and seconds while the pendulum swings and the insect atop the clock 'eats away' at time.

After an introduction/tour for staff held on Tuesday morning, the chronophage is known generally in our office as 'the creepy clock'. The insect at the top and its movement which makes it look as if it's gobbling up time, is supposed to represent the inevitable passing of time and the fact that once that time is gone, it can never be retrieved again. A kind of momento mori for the modern day.*

But it's not even that simple: this is not the kind of clock to set your watch by. While it is accurate every 5 minutes (although no one seems sure which 5 minutes this is...) the length of each minute on this clock is different. Every so often the clock will speed up, or slow down, a minute, and you might spot this. Sometimes it's subtle, but if you hang around long enough, you might see the pendulum slow down, or even stop. Or you might see the insect perform some of its 'tricks'. The idea is to represent time as a relative concept: a minute may be experienced completely differently by one person compared to the next, as long or short, whizzing by or dragging out.

The thing is bloody hypnotising.

Oh, and it's made of solid gold. Pretty awesome thing to be working around all day.

*Fun fact: the clock's chime on the hour is supposed to represent a set of chains clanging against a wooden coffin lid. Cheery.

Science Museum Photo Challenge #4

Just walking back to my office after lunch...

Better watch out for the plane.

In the 'Making the Modern World' gallery, ground floor.

Science Museum Photo Challenge #3

This is a really awesome little project tucked away in a corner of the Science Museum. It's just one case, one object, but it brings that object out of storage and into the public eye where it has never been seen before! Awesome to start with, but then 5 different museums each take the object and write their own label for it, which I think is a fascinating insight into the ways different institutions' interpretation policies can really effect the museum, right down to the simplest things. It also highlights the huge range of information that can be connected to one small object, and the importance of making the right choices from it for your museum.

Knowing that information is the domain of the curator. Knowing which information to choose and how to present it is what interpretation is all about. (Can I haz job in it now plzkthx?)

Personally I think it should be in a slightly more prominent place in the museum, and not tucked away (if you visit, see if you can find it!) but I don't suppose most Science Museum visitors find it as interesting as me.

Here's a closer look if you want to actually read some of the labels - they should be easily readable if you click on this photo to enlarge it:

And here is the object itself:

I almost forgot my challenge today - oopsie! Staying up late after working just to post this. I won't forget tomorrow - I have a good one planned!

Science Museum Photo Challenge #2

Here's today's photo!

I walked past a ton of time today on my way to and from the gallery I was doing observation work in. It's a stand alone piece, dedicated to the iPod (obvs) and I just had to take a picture so I could read the whole thing. Every time I was walking by I didn't have the time to stop so I would read one more bit each time I went by - this is a much easier way of doing things!

Science Museum Photo Challenge

I started my work placement at the Science Museum today! It's a compulsory part of my MA but I'm really glad I have this placement as it's going to be valuable beyond that. I'm working with the audience research team, doing some evaluation there, which looks like it's going to be a lot of fun and some good experience.

Anyway, since I'm going to be there for at least the next 4 weeks, I've decided to set myself a photo challenge! Every day I am working at the Science Museum during my placement, I'm going to post a photograph (at least one, anyway) of a different part of exhibit in the museum and say a little about it.

The photos won't be amazing quality, as I don't plan on carting my SLR into work through rush hour every day, but hopefully they'll be kind of interesting and a nice little extra project for me. Not like they haven't given me enough real work to do or anything!

So anyway, here's photo #1:

This is the Science Museum's 'Energy Hall' - the main hall you enter into - with 8 metre high 'Energy Ring' suspended from the ceiling which displays different Q and As from visitors around the topic of energy production and consumption. This is where I'm working!

And lord, I never realised how truly huge the Science Museum is! I predict I will get lost at least once a week. I already tried to be clever by taking the stairs somewhere instead of the lift and got myself very confused.

Oh, go on, one more photo: