An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within museums, galleries and exhibition halls, and World's Fairs. Exhibitions include [whatever as in major art museums and small art galleries; interpretive exhibitions, as at natural history museums and history museums, for example; and commercial exhibitions, or trade fairs.
The word "exhibition" is usually, but not always, the word used for a collection of items. Sometimes "exhibit" is synonymous with "exhibition", but "exhibit" generally refers to a single item being exhibited within an exhibition.
Exhibitions may be permanent displays or temporary, but in common usage, "exhibitions" are considered temporary and usually scheduled to open and close on specific dates. While many exhibitions are shown in just one venue,
some exhibitions are shown in multiple locations, such exhibitions are called travelling exhibitions.
Though exhibitions are common events, the concept of an exhibition is quite wide and encompasses many variables. Exhibitions range from an extraordinarily large event such as aWorld's Fair exposition to small one-artist solo shows or a display of just one item. Curators are sometimes involved as the people who select the items in an exhibition. Writers andeditors are sometimes needed to write text, labels and accompanying printed material such as catalogs and books. Architects, exhibition designers, graphic designers and other designers may be needed to shape the exhibition space and give form to the editorial content.
Art exhibitions include an array of artifacts from countless forms of human making: paintings, drawings, crafts, sculpture, video installations, sound installations,performances, interactive art, etc. Art exhibitions may focus on one artist, one group, one genre, one theme or one collection; or may be organized by curators, selected by juries, or show any artwork submitted.
Fine arts exhibitions typically highlight works of art with generous space and lighting, supplying information through labels or audioguides designed to be unobtrusive to the art itself.
Exhibitions may occur in series or periodically, as in the case with Biennales, triennials and quadrennials.
Interpretive exhibitions are exhibitions that require more context to explain the items being displayed. This is generally true of exhibitions devoted to scientific and historical themes, where text, dioramas, charts, maps and interactive displays may provide necessary explanation of background and concepts. Interpretive exhibitions generally require more text and more graphics than fine art exhibitions do.
The topics of interpretive graphics cover a wide range including archae
ology, anthropology, ethnology, history, science, technology and natural history. Examples of such exhibitions may be found at the Natural History Museum, museums of the Smithsonian Institution, the American Museum of Natural Historyand the Field Museum — to name a few of the largest museums of this kind.
Commercial exhibitions
With all the contemporary emphasis on modern sustainable architecture, sometimes we seem to forget that environmentally friendly architecture has existed for a long time. Built in 1980, Thorncrown Chapel was created with the idea of highlighting the natural setting, which was, and still is, an attractive natural setting for tourists in the area. The owner of the site, Jim Reed, hired well known architect, Frank Lloyd Wright alumni E. Fay Jones to design and build the site which used native timber to match the setting around it, and the result was a fantastic expression of architecture that was awarded the "25year award" by the American Institute of Architects.
Besides it’s spectacular architecture, what else can we learn from Thorncrown Chapel? What does a building which was created close to 30 years ago have to show us? Well, for starters, it shows us how proper planning can be done in order to disturb the site as little as possible. To make it possible for the chapel to be built without disturbing the natural environment around it, the vertical and diagonal cross-tension trusses were made from local pine sources and cut to size so that they could be carried through the woods. The selection of materials was also an important consideration- all the timber came from local sources (this was before FSC stewardship and the like), the floor is made out of flagstone, and lined with a rock wall, linking it with its surrounding environment.
Beyond any doubt however, the most important feature lies in how the building completely blends into its surroundings. The completely glazed facade turns what could be a rather heavy object in the middle of the forest into a light and sometimes invisible structure. From within, the transparent facade allows for the visitor to experience the forest while being inside the building. Indeed, what remains remarkable about this building is how every experience is different from the next, as the changes in the weather, and in the surrounding forest will change how the building is perceived. Meanwhile, during the night, the illuminated interior provides a sharp contrast to the darkened areas of the forest, with the glazing providing an almost infinite and ghostly reflection, creating a perception of an infinite expansion of the building into the forest.
http://www.thorncrown.com
