Real or Not?

This week's focus on the dichotomy between real and not real with objects that have been digitized is interesting. I don't think the focus should be on whether one is better/worse, or if one is "real." Instead, like with most forms of technology, historians and museums need to figure out what the best uses of each type of medium are, and how to create "real" experiences for the viewers.

The recorded lecture for this week touched on some of the benefits of a student being able to hold a physical object. It creates a connection with the history. Holding a document that you know that George Washington held (http://catalog.mountvernon.org/digital/collection/p16829coll18/id/595), or even standing in front of it in an exhibit, is very different from reading a digitized version on a screen. This is part of the reason I chose museum work as my profession.

However, there are benefits to the digitized versions that the physical objects cannot match. The lecture said that seeing a huge painting in person is a different experience than seeing it on a small digital screen. But with that digitized image, the viewer can zoom in to see all of the tiny brush strokes (if the image is good enough). They wouldn't be able to get close enough to do this at a museum. I'd say that this brings you closer to being able to understand the workings of the artist than seeing the whole canvas does. Also, the digitized image can be placed side-by-side with any other digitized artwork to compare them, which a visitor obviously can't do in a museum. These experiences of the artwork are still "real," but different. Just like reading an e-book is still reading a book, but with a different type of experience.

On a side note, today so many things are "born digital" that this idea of real and not real becomes irrelevant. Photos, documents, emails - all are only in a digital form. The digital is the real in these cases. 3D printing is also changing this idea of the real and not real in very interesting ways, particularly in museums. But all that a philosophical matter for another day ...