ArtPlantae: In reviewing the literature about dioramas, I noticed that the educational value of dioramas is a topic that comes up often. In your article, Saved From the Trash, you state that dioramas are in danger of disappearing because they are considered to be “outdated displays.” How do you defend the value of dioramas when others want to replace them with, say, something more interactive?
Gary: There is a stark difference between an interactive exhibit and a diorama. Certainly interactive exhibits fit well with our cybernetic lifestyle. Dioramas do not, and that makes the diorama even more unique in today’s world. The “time freeze” in such an exhibit does not mean that the diorama is a contemplative and therefore outdated exhibit model. If done well, a diorama can evoke a powerful potential energy. Muscles straining on a tiger crouched in the grass or a ruffed grouse ready to bolt from cover can awaken something primal if we are willing to stop and really look. Publishers assumed that a child’s attention span was too narrow to read a book of over a hundred pages until J.K. Rowling blew that theory out of the water. The same is true of a diorama. I have seen young children, and adults too, thrill to that type of exhibit.
I have nothing against interactive exhibits. I actually think certain types of interactive exhibits keyed to elements within a diorama…
ArtPlantae Today 