When I was living in Paris at the beginning of this year, I went to a minimum of three museums a week. While this luxury was made possible by the combination of an ICOM card and unemployment, it was founded on a passion for museums. Looking back, some of my favorite museum exhibits were on topics that were originally uninteresting to me, but they all exemplified some level of data visualization use, such as interactive maps and information design. After researching digital initiatives and data visualization in museums, I came to the conclusion that in addition to enhancing the in-person experience, data visualization can further be used to enhance the digital experience, and even as a brainstorming tool for curators.

當我今年年初住在巴黎時，我每周至少去三個博物館。 盡管ICOM卡和失業的結合使這種奢侈成為可能，但它建立在對博物館的熱情之上。 回顧過去，我最喜歡的一些博物館展品的主題本來對我來說并不有趣，但它們都例證了某種程度的數據可視化用途，例如交互式地圖和信息設計。 在研究了博物館的數字計劃和數據可視化之后，我得出的結論是，除了增強親自體驗之外，數據可視化還可以進一步用于增強數字體驗，甚至可以作為策展人的頭腦風暴工具。

數字化館藏 (Digitalizing Collections)

With museums closed nationwide due to COVID-19, visiting museums’ digital collections has been the safest and often only way to visit museums. Digitalization of museum collections didn’t originate during the COVID-19 era, however. Last year, the Cleveland Museum launched an open-access project allowing a website-viewing of their collections. Visitors can search by department, work type, etc., and even by how many views and clicks each piece has received as if it were a popularity contest. Other notable digital initiatives include the State Library of NSW that has an experimental, bird’s-eye view of their collection, Tate Museum with their online digital collection and collection dataset available to download, and the Cooper Hewitt, where you can search the collection by nontraditional methods like “tallest,” “shortest,” “widest,” etc. Digitalized collections not only allow prospective visitors to strategize their visit but also make collections accessible to wishful visitors at antipodes.

由于COVID-19，博物館在全國范圍內關閉，參觀博物館的數字收藏館是參觀博物館的最安全且通常是唯一的方式。 但是，在COVID-19時代，博物館藏品的數字化并非起源。 去年， 克利夫蘭博物館啟動了一個開放式項目，允許在網站上查看其藏品。 訪客可以按部門，工作類型等進行搜索，甚至可以按每件作品獲得人氣和點擊次數進行搜索。 其他值得注意的數字舉措包括具有實驗性鳥瞰圖的新南威爾士州州立圖書館 ， 泰特博物館及其在線數字館藏和館藏數據集可供下載，以及庫珀·休伊特 ( Cooper Hewitt) ，您可以在其中以非傳統方式搜索館藏諸如“最高”，“最短”，“最寬”之類的方法。數字化館藏不僅使準參觀者能夠制定出他們的參觀策略，而且還可以使對立的如意參觀者可以訪問館藏。

Going digital now could have huge implications for the future in terms of potential income revenues and creative curation. Beyond accessibility, digital collections could serve as preparation for a disaster similar to COVID-19. Museums were hit hard, and it’s not difficult to imagine various monetary gains from novel digital museum ventures: from paid guided visits to online membership catalogs for viewing collections, which would be akin to exhibition catalogs that are features of every museum bookstore. Digitalizing collections is furthermore the first step toward globally visualizing collections. This alone is powerful, as it allows viewers around the world to not only view collections but explore them and draw relationships between different pieces. These two points tie into a larger benefit: it’s an avenue for creativity, innovation, and exploring stories untold and lurking in museum collections.

就潛在的收入和創意策劃而言，現在走向數字化可能對未來產生巨大影響。 除了可訪問性以外，數字館藏還可以為類似于COVID-19的災難做好準備。 博物館受到了沉重的打擊，不難想象從新穎的數字博物館事業中獲得的各種金錢收益：從付費導游到在線會員目錄以查看藏品，這類似于每個博物館書店都有的展覽目錄。 此外，對館藏進行數字化是使館藏全球可視化的第一步。 僅此一項功能就很強大，因為它使全世界的觀眾不僅可以查看收藏，還可以瀏覽它們并繪制不同作品之間的關系。 這兩個方面帶來了更大的好處：這是創造力，創新和探索博物館藏品中不為人知的故事的途徑。

發展新故事 (Developing New Stories)

While navigating digital collections permits the visitor to hop between rooms, so to speak, in-person visits are not much of a choose-your-own-adventure. If you begin an exhibition, you step into a curated experience that leads you through a story, usually concluding in the gift shop. More often than not, the story thread is time, and subplots could be art movements like cubism, or impressionism, or even a particular artist. Can you think about the most unique museum exhibition that you experienced? What was unique about it?

在瀏覽數字館藏時，可以允許游客在不同房間之間跳動，可以這么說，親自參觀并不是您自己選擇的冒險活動。 如果您開始展覽，您將進入策劃的體驗 ，引導您完成一個故事，通常是在禮品店中完成。 故事情節通常是時間，子情節可能是立體派或印象派之類的藝術運動，甚至是特定的藝術家。 您能想到您經歷過的最獨特的博物館展覽嗎？ 它有什么獨特之處？

My first taste of creative curation was during a visit to the Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA), in California. I’ll be honest that I didn’t have high expectations. I expected local artists, and at least one Picasso reject, organized by time or artist. Instead, the curators pulled from nontraditional relationships. Rather than group them chronologically, the curators arranged the works by subject or basic theme, as light; pieces separated by hundreds of years were compared instead of contrasted.

我對創意策展的初衷是在訪問加利福尼亞的伯克利美術館和太平洋電影資料館(BAMPFA)期間。 老實說，我沒有很高的期望。 我希望按時間或藝術家組織本地藝術家，并且至少要有一位畢加索作品被拒絕。 相反，策展人擺脫了非傳統的關系。 策展人沒有按時間順序對它們進行分組，而是按照主題或基本主題將這些作品安排為淺色。 相隔數百年的作品被比較而不是對比。

This decision allowed me to spot relationships between works that I might’ve missed had they been divided by walls and space. Although I’m unsure that BAMPFA used data visualization for ideation, data visualization techniques can be used to clearly view relationships that might not seem obvious at first. Being able to compare multiple works side by side or to filter through massive museum collections with the press of a button facilitates conceptualizing relationships between pieces.

這個決定使我能夠發現如果被墻壁和空間分開，我可能會錯過的作品之間的關系。 盡管我不確定BAMPFA使用數據可視化來進行構想，但是可以使用數據可視化技術來清晰地查看起初似乎并不明顯的關系。 只需按一下按鈕，就可以并排比較多個作品或篩選大量的博物館藏品，這有助于概念化作品之間的關系。

A beautiful example of this is the Codex Atlanticus, which allows viewers to explore drawings and writings of Leonardo Da Vinici by subject, topic, year, and numerical order. Applied to a museum collection, such a system allows easy access to experimentation with the entire exhibition malleable at the touch of your fingertips. Like BAMPFA, other methods of content organization such as color, topic, substrate, etc. are all too easy to discover with data visualization techniques.

大西洋法典(Codex Atlanticus)就是一個很好的例子，它使觀眾可以按主題，主題，年份和數字順序瀏覽Leonardo Da Vinici的繪畫和作品。 應用于博物館館藏，這樣的系統使您只需輕觸指尖即可輕松進行整個展廳的實驗。 像BAMPFA一樣，其他內容組織方法(例如顏色，主題，底物等)也很容易通過數據可視化技術發現。

Whereas data visualization alone is more exploratory, designing infographics is all about telling a story. If more curators implemented infographics, they would be therefore forced to ask themselves, “What story do we want to tell?” and “How can we best tell it?” While a “traditional” approach may be appropriate, such as using chronology as the underlying story thread, this might not always be the case. Data visualization techniques could thus be beneficial to brainstorming during the ideation and exhibition development stages.

數據可視化本身更具有探索性，而設計圖表則只不過是講故事。 如果更多策展人實施信息圖表，那么他們將被迫問自己：“我們想講什么故事？” 和“我們怎樣才能最好地說明這一點？” 盡管“傳統的”方法可能是適當的，例如使用年表作為基礎的故事線索，但情況并非總是如此。 因此，數據可視化技術可能有助于在構思和展覽開發階段進行集思廣益。

Giorgia Lupi’s Draw Your Visit With Data workshop that was hosted at the SFMOMA demonstrates one such method. During the session, attendees explored an exhibition with works linked only by chronology and were instructed to find their own story by using data. Connections ranged from concrete information like the artist’s demographics to their own subjective feelings. Curators could use a similar technique to promote ideation and realize relationships between works. The existence of a digital collection or preexisting data set and some data visualization skills would only ease this exercise.

SFMOMA主持的Giorgia Lupi的“ 用數據吸引您的訪問”研討會演示了一種這樣的方法。 在會議期間，與會人員參觀了一個展覽，展出的作品僅按年代順序排列，并被指示使用數據查找自己的故事。 聯系的范圍從藝術家的人口統計等具體信息到他們自己的主觀感受。 策展人可以使用類似的技術來促進構想并實現作品之間的關系。 數字收集或預先存在的數據集以及某些數據可視化技能的存在只會簡化此練習。

展覽經驗 (Exhibition Experience)

Upon entering an exhibition, you are following the curator’s story and logic. In an exhibition on Native American history, for example, you might find a map with tribes’ locations, whereas in an exhibition on Ancient Egypt, you’d find a timeline documenting its golden years and its fall. Curators often use maps, chronologies, and other infographics to fill in story holes or to provide ample context. I was especially grateful for infographics when I visited the Tolkien exhibition at Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris. Next to an overwhelming timeline of Middle Earth that spanned at least 10 feet was a map projected on the wall that cycled through Middle Earth’s races and the location of each population. The use of supplementary material not only added depth to the exhibition, but furnished a foundation, and context, regardless of the visitor’s background. It is additionally useful for capturing attention from afar and making traditional textual content more attiring and skim-friendly.

進入展覽后，您將遵循策展人的故事和邏輯。 例如，在有關美洲原住民歷史的展覽中，您可能會找到一張帶有部落位置的地圖，而在有關古埃及的展覽中，您會發現記錄其黃金歲月和秋天的時間表。 策展人經常使用地圖，年表和其他圖表來填充故事空缺或提供充足的背景信息。 當我參觀法國巴黎國家圖書館的Tolkien展覽時，我特別感謝信息圖表。 在跨越至少10英尺的壓倒性的中地球時間表旁邊，是一幅投影在墻上的地圖，該地圖在中地球的種族和每個人口的位置之間循環。 不論訪客的背景如何，補充材料的使用不僅增加了展覽的深度，而且提供了基礎和背景。 此外，它還可以吸引遠方的注意力，并使傳統的文字內容更加時尚和易于瀏覽。

Interactive visualizations go one step further. Despite my love for museums, I am not one to spend all day at one. In fact, my visits tend to last only an hour or two. I reach a point where I can’t absorb any more text, and everything blurs together despite my 20/20 vision. Interactive exhibitions are a well-deserved break from digesting heavy material by providing contact with the content to allow for a more immersive experience. This type of information exploration can be done alone or collaboratively, thus supporting a solitary or sociable museum visit alike. Beyond recognizing the social aspect of museum visits, implementing data visualization can invoke a deeper curiosity and an incentive for deeper exploration of the content.

交互式可視化更進一步。 盡管我熱愛博物館，但我不是一個整日呆在一起的人。 實際上，我的訪問往往只持續一兩個小時。 我達到了無法吸收更多文字的地步，盡管我的視力為20/20，但所有內容卻一起模糊了。 通過提供與內容的接觸以提供更身臨其境的體驗，交互式展覽是理應擺脫消化沉重材料的突破。 這種類型的信息探索可以單獨完成，也可以合作完成，從而支持單獨或社交的博物館參觀。 除了認識博物館參觀的社會方面，實施數據可視化還可以引起人們更深的好奇心，并激發人們更深入地探索博物館的內容。

Data Visualization isn’t confined to supplementary materials but can serve as the feature of an exhibition, as notably demonstrated by Giorgia Lupi and Accurat, the data visualization studio that she cofounded. The SF MoMa purchased her and Stefanie Postavec’s Dear Data journey, while the XXII Triennale di Milano exhibited Accurat’s The Room of Change in their Broken Nature exhibit. The latter exhibition is composed of a “data tapestry” representing environmental changes in the past few centuries. Instead of illustrating the trends, the exhibition replicates its pattern so that the visitors can experience the change rather than passively view it. By employing data visualization’s storytelling and aesthetic techniques, this intersection of art and education can be a powerful tool for conveying information. Instead of being limited to a piece of paper that you analyze, the data becomes an experience, resulting in a bigger impact.

數據可視化不僅限于補充材料，還可以作為展覽的特色，由她共同創建的數據可視化工作室Giorgia Lupi和Accurat尤其展示了這一點。 SF MoMa購買了她和Stefanie Postavec的《 親愛的數據》旅程，而第二十二屆米蘭三年展則在其《 大自然的破碎》展覽中展出了Accurat的《變化的房間》 。 后者的展覽由代表過去幾個世紀環境變化的“數據掛毯”組成。 展覽沒有顯示趨勢，而是復制了模式，以便參觀者可以體驗變化而不是被動地觀察變化。 通過采用數據可視化的講故事和美學技術，這種藝術與教育的交匯點可以成為傳達信息的強大工具。 數據不僅限于您要分析的紙張，而是一種體驗，可以帶來更大的影響。

支持快速思考和慢速思考 (Supporting Fast and Slow Thinking)

Visualizations can support both fast and slow thinking: integrating visual elements help the viewer to get a quick overview of the data or phenomenon, however complex. Incorporating data visualization into museums therefore not only enriches the museum experience with supplementary material or as a storytelling technique, but I believe it can also aid the exhibition curation. It allows us to see common threads that might not have been visible before, such as organizing works by shape or substrate. Nevertheless, “data” has strong algorithmic, or scientific connotation and can scare those unfamiliar with it. We thus need to mold it to speak our language.

可視化可以支持快速思考和慢速思考：集成可視元素可以幫助查看者快速概覽數據或現象，無論多么復雜。 因此，將數據可視化整合到博物館中不僅可以通過補充材料或講故事的方式豐富博物館的體驗，而且我相信它也可以幫助展覽策劃。 它使我們能夠看到以前可能不可見的常見線，例如按形狀或基材組織作品。 但是，“數據”具有很強的算法或科學含義，可能會使不熟悉它的人感到恐懼。 因此，我們需要塑造它以說我們的語言。

Human-centric data visualization is exactly as Giorgia Lupi advocates:

以人為本的數據可視化正是Giorgia Lupi所倡導的 ：

“We are ready to question the impersonality of a merely technical approach to data, and to begin designing ways to connect numbers to what they really stand for: knowledge, behaviors, people.”

“我們已經準備好質疑僅采用技術方法處理數據的非人格化，并開始設計將數字與它們真正代表的東西聯系起來的方法：知識，行為，人。”

If museums are collections of humanity, data visualization can be a powerful tool that enhances creative curation and offers new potential for an immersive, impactful museum experience.

如果博物館是人類的收藏品，那么數據可視化可以是一種功能強大的工具，可以增強創意策劃，并為沉浸式，有影響力的博物館體驗提供新的潛力。