July 10, 2019

We got an early start this morning in order to make the almost 2 1/2 hour trek to the Kroller-Muller Museum! I really enjoyed the travel to this museum because we got a chance to see more of the countryside here in the Netherlands, and also to bike through a national park (rather than on busy, uneven streets) on the way to the museum. One of the things I found most interesting about this museum was its collection of Van Gogh, because the experience of viewing Van Gogh was completely different in the setting of a more house-like structure compared to the entirety of the Van Gogh Museum. Noticing the stark difference in the experience of Van Gogh as a viewer in each setting helps position the role of the set designer in creating experience. At the Van Gogh Museum, the visitor is smacked in the face with the overwhelming amount of amazing art produced by one individual, while at the Kroller-Muller Museum the visitor kind of stumbles upon the Van Gogh exhibit among many other exhibits, all ranging widely in the type of art being displayed. In terms of the user's opinion upon exit, I personally left the Van Gogh Museum feeling more in awe, while I left the Kroller-Muller Museum feeling more warm towards the art. Although I preferred the Kroller-Muller experience, what's more important to note is how different users have different preferences in terms of their involvement with the art, and how hands-on the exhibits are, and I think it's important for all types of innovations to be explored, because although the Van Gogh Museum is probably objectively more "successful" in terms of number of visitors and programs available, there are also plenty of people who prefer the up-close and personal feeling of the Kroller-Muller Museum. When we consider that the purpose of museums is to spread information to as many people as possible, in as many different means possible, we can start to recognize just how critical it is to disperse collections between museums to try to reach as many people as possible, and also how critical it is that there continues to be variety in the museums themselves to attract different populations to the art.