Digital BW, The Print

On Jan 16, 2008, at 1:25 PM, Harold Jackson wrote:

> I thought that this discussion was about standards.  If the median  
> height of men in this country is 69 inches, that means that half of  
> the men in the US are taller than 69 inches and half are shorter.   
> Does that say anything about those most likely to attend a given  
> gallery opening?  Of course it doesn't?
>
>   It just makes more sense to me to adopt the standard set by a  
> gallery that has put on thousands of shows and not try to make up   
> ad hoc rules as we go along. If the viewing height is set to a  
> standard, most people will be comfortable but a few will not.  Such  
> is life.

Would a Museum's experience be relevant? Since this thread was begun,  
I tuned in late to a PBS TV program on the makeover of "the DMI".  
(While I watched, the "D" was never decoded, but enough was said  
about the DMI's urban setting to make me think it must be Detroit.)  
In any case, what the DMI did in the way of pre-makeover homework was  
to film and analyze the behavior of the Museum's visitors - where  
they stood in relation to the works, how they examined them, how  
long, etc., etc. And as a result, they went around the Museum and  
lowered all the works by a few inches. (I think it was three.) By  
what standard they had been hung in the first place wasn't revealed.  
But it is interesting that a standard set by close observation and  
analysis of human behavior can differ from whatever the conventional  
wisdom was by enough to justify adjusting a whole museum's display.
--
Sam