BYU Exhibit + Ipad = Awesome?

Tonight my wife and I went to the Carl Bloch exhibit at BYU. I was expecting some neat art with some insight, but what I got was a whole different experience. When I got to the exhibit I saw, no joke, a pack of eight kids with "Ipad's" and head phones running around. I couldn't believe it! I have never seen so many "Ipad's" at once and they were in the hands of little kids. I had to figure out what was going on and the next thing I know my wife is handing me an "Ipad" that she rented for $3 bucks. I knew that this exhibit was going to be a different experience for me.

The "Ipad's" were our very own personal guide. For every painting we approached we could find the painting on our "Ipad" and click on it. It would then bring up a slew of interactive menus. One menu had biblical references to the painting. Another menu showed the painting in its original church it was in and gave the reader some information about that town. But the coolest menu was a menu where you could click on any number on the painting and either the BYU curator, a church scriptorian, or a Danish expert on Bloch would tell you some insight or information. I had a panel of experts at my fingertips. These experts were so insightful and really brought the art to life. That was the most I had ever learned in a museum/exhibit without a personnel guide. The "Ipad" was the perfect medium to bring something so ancient as 17th century art to life. Here I was looking at a picture of "Christ with a young child" while my "Ipad" was playing "Come thou font," and the experience for me transcended that of an art exhibit. With the help of technology I was able to see and feel exactly how Bloch intended me to feel. It was the perfect balance of technology, aesthetics,  and substance. The mix and blend was masterful, if this is what the future holds then I am all for it.

"Christ with a Young Child"