Art Museum Experience

During last week, I took the time to visit the Bellevue Art Museum in Bellevue, WA to view their "Love Me Tender" exhibit. This exhibit feature both 2D collages of currency artwork as well as 3D sculptures using currency. I estimated the total square footage of the space to be about 1500 square feet and the displays consisted of both pieces mounted on the walls, along with pedestal cases in the middle of the rooms. In some instances, cable suspension wires were used for a few of the hanging pieces of work. I noticed that all of the walls were stationary, so the ability to change the layout for separate exhibits was very limited but through the use of exhibit pieces and change in wall color they were able to direct the viewer through the space clearly. The environment colors were mostly dark with cream and grey wall colors, dark grey and black flooring, and a white ceiling. The only lighting sources were track lighting systems that spanned each room to highlight each piece as well as the cases situated in the center of the room. Although there was some daylight present it was filtered and redirected using resin panels so as not to affect the art pieces throughout the exhibit. I found their layout and directing through the space to be quite successful to emphasize the exhibit pieces and help highlight the most enticing artworks in the showcase. Overall the Bellevue Art Museum is a wonderful experience for artwork.

Visual Disability Experience

Riding an elevator

Attempting to use an ATM

 As someone who is already visually impaired, this was not much of a new experience to me. I have had contact lenses since I was 10 and glasses before that, so this activity just simulated how life would be if I did not have those corrections readily available. Everything appeared to be quite blurry and in order to read a newspaper or other element you must hold the object close to your face or get close to it. When walking around the CUB I found it was similar to walking around my apartment without my glasses or contacts in and I could navigate easily, but the problems arose when attempting to do simple tasks, such as pressing the correct elevator button or using an ATM. Although there were cues on the ATM machine of what buttons were which, without knowing how a keypad is normally set up, it would be difficult to operate without the knowledge of braille. Walking stairs was interesting due to the loss of perceptive depth and without having done this task multiple times without corrective lens I would have most likely tripped. Overall, certain aspects brought new light to my visual disability and made me better understand how to design for someone who has a visual impairment.