Dodo Skeleton from AMNH

The American Museum of Natural History has always been one of my favorite places in the city, but for some reason I was really grouchy when I visited this time, and my notes reflect that. So, sorry AMNH, but this will not be the love song I might have written to you had I visited a different day.

My visit started off well; I felt the usual excitement that’s inspired by walking up the steps of the Met or the AMNH. I felt like part of a Tradition of The City, I was excited to see my old friends (the big horn diorama! the whale!), I was curious if I would see something new, and I was looking forward to the pleasure of being fascinated. The staff at the entrance was extraordinarily friendly. They even reminded me that I didn’t actually have to pay the full suggested donation for admission. They gave me a map. They told me to enjoy myself and smiled at me.  I could hardly wait to get into the Hall of Biodiversity. I turned to my left, and headed toward the darkened room…

And then what happened? Suddenly my mood turned from excitement and anticipation to gloominess and frustration. I still can’t quite figure out why. Where the taxidermy had just seemed bittersweet and charmingly anachronistic before, it felt oppressive and sad. Where the darkened exhibition rooms had felt like a kind of special sanctuary on previous visits, they just felt cold and forgotten this time. I tried moving on to the Hall of Ocean Life– who doesn’t love the giant whale?– but it felt disappointing to me, too. It just left me wishing I could magically transport myself to the Monterey Bay Aquarium instead. I halfheartedly pressed a few buttons on an exhibit to learn a little bit about water bears, but I immediately forgot what I had read. I tried sitting on a bench and people watching for a while, but even the visitors today seemed a little lifeless.

Since some of my favorite exhibits were feeling a little tired, I decided to visit some of the exhibits I knew hadn’t been updated for a really long time (or ever?). I wanted to see if the museum made more sense as a relic than as something that was trying to stay current. I wandered into a few halls that repelled me with an oddly chemical smell (hello, Hall of Planet Earth!) but eventually found my way into the Hall of New York State Environment. This exhibit seems hopelessly quaint, with its coverage of Dutchess County apple farming and its amazing use of typography. I felt like I’d walked into a time capsule.

It’s this time capsule side of the AMNH that I think a lot of New Yorkers love it for– it’s soothing to know that there are parts of the city that never change. On the other hand, it’s sad that this amazing treasure trove of scientific research resides in the heart of the city but doesn’t manage to convey the excitement of contemporary science very well.

My visit to the AMNH on my own was deeply contrasted by my visit with our class the next day. We went behind the scenes to see the ichthyology department and hear about how the museum’s researchers gather and study samples all over the world. Listening to this scientist talk about her work was infinitely more exciting than my visit to the Hall of Ocean Life had been the day before, despite the fact that she was showing us fish that I never would have thought I’d be excited about. Her enthusiasm for the subject was completely contagious, and I walked away from the experience wanting to go home and read as much about coelacanths as I could. From ichthyology, we continued on behind the scenes to the exhibits department, where we saw plans and models for various stages of exhibits, and we met people who were building camels and ship interiors for the upcoming Traveling the Silk Road. This was easily one of the very best museum experiences I’ve ever had. Listening to the process by which they are researching, developing, and building exhibits made the material of the exhibits come alive in a way that seeing a finished project doesn’t always do.

My two very different days at the AMNH provided me with so much food for thought, and so many questions that it’s been difficult to organize and reflect on all of it. I still have some miscellaneous notes that don’t seem to belong anywhere specific…

Being able to walk all the way around a tiger and see the details of its enormous paws is amazing. This is one of the things museums are best at– providing up close three dimensional experiences.

Feeling like you’re being let in on a secret or seeing something that not everyone gets to see is very powerful. It can make an audience really sit up and pay attention.

The AMNH’s interactive floor map is pretty cool. I wouldn’t mind having access to that while I was actually in the museum.

Meeting a real person who is absolutely passionate about their work is far more powerful and effective in conveying information than almost any sort of exhibit, no matter how interactive it is.