Section ANTHROPOLOGY

DIGITAL CODE OF THE MUSEUM AURA

Prof. Alexander S. Drikker1
Prof. Eugene A. Makovetsky 2
1, 2
Saint Petersburg State University, Russian Federation

ABSTRACT
Works of art, museum pieces cause strong emotional feelings from a viewer.
Such influence traditionally contacts with emanation of a museum object. The
aura of a sacral unique subject in museum-temple is perceived as his organic
attribute. However the prompt pace of civilization actively transforms a museum.
The technical reproducibility washes away aura of museum pieces.
The explanation of this phenomenon can be found if to believe that during an
era of technical reproduction not the work of art with its emanation, but museum
atmosphere experiences pressure first of all. Perception and imagination of a
viewer fades out in depleted poor atmosphere. Neither Leonardo's picture, nor a
game of pianist will cause deep emotional experiences if they will not meet of
their own viewer. A work of art is only medium, mediator between artist and
viewer. It confirms lack of material traces of aura. And the viewer brings with
himself the energy for very strong art excitement. The originals are not a score of
opera or novel text, it is some emotional projecting of the artist, of his spiritual
inspiration.
The viewer in the museum has to know visual language of graphic signs,
which seems to all available. However the civilized modern glance is a superficial,
sliding look. Rational consciousness, having visually identified an irritant, doesn't
hold attention on it, fixing only the general informative contour. While the artist
doesn't copy an object, but he enters in intimate relationship with the subject
(Mount Sainte-Victoire or Van Gogh's chair), these relations are result of fixed,
concentrated contemplation. Similar sympathetic vision gives rise to aura which
inspirits the viewer in zoological, natural-science, historical or technical museum.
And just technology which has buried aura gives hope for revival of a similar
look. Present progress of IT is capable to concentrate and to adjust a viewer
already today. But feelings when forming an image interact with personal
experience, with remembrance. The incentives which are capable to awaken
interest and to activate attention of viewer, it is possible to find only in this
experience. Today's visitor of museum user -- most fully is reflected in network
which contains a huge set of his personal data. It is fine base to detect and analyze
preferences to connect the interests of the visitor of provincial museum of local
lore with history of mammoth which roamed in vicinities 15000 years ago.
Software-based initiation of associations is a promising way to intensify the
personal choice.
Though "society hasn't ripened yet to turn a technical progress into own tool",
expansion of virtuality, taking root into mind and mentality more and more
deeply, develops accustoming and is potentially capable to influence perception
considerably. Heartless dematerialization in digital progress accelerates an

13
NORDSCI CONFERENCE

emotional advancement of artificial intelligence and gives a new hope to see

Renaissance of museum aura.
Keywords: Museum, aura, reproducibility, virtuality, original

INTRODUCTION
It is enough unexpectedly that a museum becomes one of the major
cultural institutes during a democratic information era. Decided expansion of
virtual reality (which isn't limited to the sphere of speculation and imagination
any more, but it more and more resolutely interferes in "objective" material
life) especially sharply asks about the future of the museum. Whether the
museum-temple has finished its mission, obviously giving way to absolutely
new education the democratic museum, or its potential still should be
revealed during a new era.
RELEVANT AUDIT
The bright prospects and tremendous success of the modern museum
policy, which answers by the current cultural trend, seem unquestionable. A
Museum with its hundreds of millions of visitors, with constantly increasing
number of new museums on all six continents, with a powerful coordinating
center ICOM (the International Council of Museums), and with new
academic discipline (museology) -- is triumphant institute. "The Work of Art
in the Age of Industry" of Walter Benjamin is one of the cornerstones of this
policy [1]. However, despite the importance of Benjamin's texts and the
attractiveness of the ideas of social responsibility, the views of the modern

while working out the concepts of the new museology [11], museum of
participation [9], or post-museum [5]) are perhaps too unambiguous. The
uncontested course toward democratization, where a classical museum is
regarded mostly as a relic, does not seem too convincing. The culture is a quite
economical owner, who does not reject achievements and discoveries
resigning with the seasonal change of fashion.

technological changes of the social environment. At the same time eyes of his
contemporary, a Soviet psychologist Lev S. Vygotsky, were focused on the
psychological aspects of perception (though he also adhered to the social
position common for his times) [12]. It can be useful to combine Benjamin's
social and technological approach with Vygotsky's psychological views, while
considering both theories in the context of the information culture.
Traditionally a museum formed its own specific spiritual world, using
purely material objects (whether it is a Velasquez canvas, a frontal bone of a
Heidelberg man, or a rock crystal). Materiality is a basic characteristic of any
museum object. A m

certain set of characteristics: its content, material, shape, structure, size,

deliberately isolated from the

14
 Section ANTHROPOLOGY

[7].

). The
museum space turns everything one singular engraving from the series of
similar prints, a ceramic shard, and even a telephone set assembled on a conveyor
belt into a selected specimen. This happens due to the specific place in the
cultural landscape, the place which is defined and comes to light in an exposition.
At the end of the XVIII century the museum turned into a temple, and all the
exhibits, like any details of the temple interior and ritual, became sacral. That is
emanation of a museum object is perceived as the
essential part of exhibit, though the museum as an institution became firmly
established in a rather godless era.
However, analyzing the cultural dynamics of the XX century, Walter
Benjamin exposes a fundamental technological influence in the rapid democratic

methods of technical reproduction of a work of art, its fitness for exhibition

increased to such an extent that the quantitative shift between its two poles turned
into a qualitative transformation of its nature. This is comparable to the situation
of the work of art in prehistoric times when, by the absolute emphasis on its cult
value, it was, first and foremost, an instru
dissolves sacral grounds and then ritual foundations of an art and washes the aura
of an artwork off.
Benjamin expressed his assumptions a century ago. In our days, the process is
progressively accelerating by the hour and seems to be close to its obvious
apogee. The accessibility of mass reproductions is pushing the sacrality of the
museum exposition aside. Museums, which only yesterday were regarded as
temples, are transformed into educational and entertainment centers. This
transformation is radical (the Sony Museum in Tokyo, the Guggenheim museums
in New York and Bilbao) or not-so-obvious (the Louvre, the Hermitage), but it is
inescapable. The expansion of virtuality sets a fundamental question: Is there a
place for the Museum in the information environment? It also casts a new light on
the problem of museum aura: Should we bury this idea honourably, or, on the
contrary, try to revitalize it?
PROBLEM OF AURA IN MODERN CULTURE
The presence of aura in the museum of past centuries is indisputable, to which
there are many authoritative testimonies. For example, the great Russian writers
Nikolai V. Gogol and Feodor M. Dostoevsky wrote about the impression
sily

not a picture, this is a vision: the more you look, the more you are convinced that

revealed on the canvas a miracle, which had happened inside it. Not having seen
the original, I wanted to buy a print of this picture in Dresden; but when I saw the
original, I did not want to look at a print anymore: it might be said that the print

15
NORDSCI CONFERENCE

insults the holy relic

Dresden Gallery, written by Vasily A. Zhukovsky in 1821, in Germany).
It is true that this passage can be attributed to the personal sensitivity of the
romantic poet. We can also assume that in a dynamic rational world the ability
to feel the aura is being lost, or that the aura becomes thin and disappears in a
rather atheistic atmosphere.

aura of a museum object. The aura implies that an original has some unique
properties which cannot be reproduced by technical methods. It is these
properties that make possible extrasensory perception of the psychic vibrations
of the author, the ability to feel emanation of the work. The ideas of the energy
impact are especially natural and popular in the sphere of the performing arts.
Konstantin S. Stanislavsky wrote about the electric charge, the induction,

the body by emotion like a battery by electricity, then emotions are fixed in a
bodily, well-

experience is beyond doubt. However, when we examine a work of art, it

seems impossible to localize some specific source or material traces of this
mysterious field (and, in my opinion, it will never be possible).
We can assume that molecular structure of marble touched by the hand of a
genius or the magnetic sound of Chaliapin's voice contains a kind of elusive

there is no room for anything enigmatic and the theory of emanation loses all
credibility. A film is not a storage of any
the projection of twenty-four frames per second and the reading of sound
and that is all. In a canvas, we will find only multi-layered and multi-complex
where letters

Information does not exist by itself, it comes into existence only when a
message is perceived by an addressee, who is able to read (decode) it. That is
why neither an ancient sculpt
feelings in the absence of the audience. It is not Konstantin S. Stanislavsky
was right, but Sergey Eisenstein [3] who said that a spectator contributes his
own energy to get the strongest artistic affect.
For centuries Leonardo's canvas remains almost the same whereas the
perception has dramatically changed nowadays. The intense rhythm of
pragmatic life, the powerful advertising stream of external impressions makes
a viewer always hurry and deprives him or her of the will and wish to
concentrate; the viewer seeks action, not contemplation. In the era of technical
reproduction, it is not a work of art and its emanation is primarily affected,
but the museum atmosphere, which loses ozone. As a result, the view
imagination dies away and aura grows dim.

modern world gives grounds for the conclusion that a work of art in its

16
 Section ANTHROPOLOGY
materiality is just a medium, a mediator between the creative impulse, project of
an author and a viewer. But any given form of this medium (for example, acoustic

a listener) can be repeated in one way or another: you can record any sound that
you can hear; you can scan any image that you can see. Nowadays, the problem of
the copy and the original acquires another dimension, and something almost
incredible happens.
The apparatus of virtual reality nullifies the possibility to distinguish between

detects one more dangerous rival, that in a fairly near future will guarantee the
viewer all sensations of genuine and perfect contact with the exhibit.
Dematerialization is a stage even more significant than the invention of a technical
apparatus for perfect duplication and scanning.
MUSEUM IN THE DEMOCRATIC, POST-TECHNOLOGICAL
ERA
Thus, the unshakable position of the museum exhibit, the very essence of the
museum has been shaken: both the cultural environment as a whole and the
perception of a democratic viewer, who can copy or download any masterpiece,
have been radically changed. So, what happens with the museum today, what are
its prospects?
Let's take a unique exhibit with its aura that determined the essence and
meaning of the museum's presence in the culture. Since traces of the aura cannot
be detected by means of spectral analysis, maybe, our approach to the search is
wrong?

at provoking emotions in people and try to recreate the corresponding emotions on

typographic or even handwritten text of the poem nor a brilliant performance of

projection of the author and his spiritual insight. This kind of an original (and the
inspirational aura which generates it) has always been difficult to access.
Nowadays, this original with its aura has become almost unattainable for the
perception of modern democratic viewer armed with the latest technologies. The
ultimate goal of the museum is to create an conditions, an opportunity to approach
it.
The modern museum, the vector of new academic discipline of museology,
and the ICOM policy aim to serve the
-

introduction of people to the treasures of culture and favour the satisfaction of the
spiritual needs of the broader audience.

17
NORDSCI CONFERENCE

However, it's a pity that in the course of this massive process the museum
not only obtains new features but is also evidently depreciated. Much as we
would like to do it, we will never find the aura in the noisiest museum in the
world, the Chicago Museum of Science and Technology [6]
notwithstanding all its advantages. The deficit of emotions, a certain scarcity
of a prosperous life is quite obvious in the technogenic world. But until people
retain their nature with its need for sensations and experiences generated by
the material world of culture and nature no lesser than the need for food and
water, the museum will still be the rare place, where a aura a unique
manifestation of the great creative principle will cast its light on the
impressions.
Although it is more and more difficult to observe this luminescence. What
is the reason for the apparent inadequate efficiency of the museum (despite the
loud, well-grounded, and victorious declarations)? It is connected with the
problem of language which is the main problem of the XX century. Attempts
to comprehend this problem stimulate the development of the semiotic
approach, the analysis of museum communication [ the
in the
visual language of iconic, figurative signs. It would seem that the language of
pictorial signs is the most understandable and accessible. However, its
simplicity forces an unsophisticated viewer to a simplified, superficial contact.
Consciousness instantly recognizes an object, does not pay any attention on it.
It discharges memory and registers only the basic informational outline.
A museum, however, requires an another look. Museum seaks a stare,
-
should become similar to the vision of an artist, who does not make copies like
a camera or a scanner but expresses an intimate relationship with subject,
whether it is a jug in a still- -
Only this inquisitive, sympathetic sight gives birth to the halo, which
inspires and captivates the viewer in a real museum (in historical, technical,
awaken this specific sight?
IN SEARCH OF AURA IN THE DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT
There is no point in groundless hopes for the ideological rehabilitation of
the perception, typical for the museum and artistic environment of the past
centuries, as well as in calls for the revival of classical heritage. These hopes
have no convincing base and are absolutely insolvent. In technologically
unified, homogeneous democratic culture they are one of its mass trends. And
the only real chance for the revival of the museum aura can be found in the
very technology that has buried it. But we should search it not in those
amazing opportunities that, while expanding and enriching the environment,
not only do not activate and do not stimulate but often even simplify and
deaden the psychic perception of the exhibition. If our goal is not to attract
crowds of tourists (modern civilization offers a lot of entertainment) but to
recreate a specific museum atmosphere, we should think about something
more profound than the societies of the m

18
 Section ANTHROPOLOGY
Modern technologies can be something more than just fun for a bored tourist.
Even today headphones, helmets, contact lenses (the prototypes of iOptik) are able
to create an environment suitable for concentration and to shielding the external
stimuli (sensory deprivation) in order to help a viewer to focus, to get ready for an
aesthetic experience.
It is much more difficultly to make the next technological (or rather
psychological) step. While an image is being shaped, impressions always interact
with memories and personal experience. Such an experience is the only source of
stimuli that can awaken interest and activate the attention of a viewer. But how
can we address the memory so, that a visitor of the local museum in Zaraisk sity
would find some interest in a woolly rhinoceros, that roamed the hills on the
border between Moscow and Ryazan area? How to stimulate associations so that
the plastic frame of VEF Spidola (a transistor radio, which was an object of the
wildest dreams for the Soviet people of the 1960s) enable a viewer to feel the

we do not even seek for the solution.

Nowadays people do not read books: they most fully express themselves in the
web, where a huge amount of personal data of customer is stored. These data
exist in many variants of space Net. A hero of our time is not able to use them, but
they form an excellent base for the analysis and identification of preferences,
selection and search for correlations of personal experience, tastes, and
impressions brought from the museum.
Software initiation of associative links is a promising way to stimulate a purely
personal choice, which will form the basis for maturation of user. If we set the
appropriate goal and outline ways to achieve it in the concrete circumstances of
modern culture, taking into consideration the interests of a specific consumer,
ception, evoking
spontaneous interest and vivid emotions that leave a trace in the memory. And the
gadget, which is part and parcel of the life today, will, probably, become a very
effective tool.

CONCLUSION
The main problem of modern culture is the emotional simplification in the
comfortable and safe environment of the information society. However, exactly
soulless dematerialization and digitalization (which make more and more perfect
digital copies of an antique sculpture, a spinning wheel, or a Diplodocus skeleton)
open the possibility to bring lost close attention back to the museum and to return
sympathetic look. An aura opens itself in such attention.

technology as its org

development of a democratic viewer.

It remains to wait for the emotional progress of the available software, which,
by developing stable reflexes, will be able (we should hope) to affect significantly

19
NORDSCI CONFERENCE

the perception, impressionability, and aesthetic sensitivity of a user and thus to

help people (maybe not to everyone, it is not necessary) to find the path to a

REFERENCES
[1] Benjamin W. The Work of Art in the Age of its Technological
Reproducibility. In: Benjamin W. Selected writings / Edited by Michael W.
Jennings, Howard Eiland, and Gary Smith. Harvard University Press, 2006.
Vol. 3. P. 101-133.
[2] Cameron D. A. Viewpoint: The Museum as a Communications System
and Implications for Museum Education. In: Curator, Vol. 11, #1, 1968. P. 33-
40.
[3] Eisenstein S. M. «Hold On!». In: Eisenstein S. M. Collected works in 6
volumes. Moscow, Iskusstvo, 1964. Vol. 2. 648 p. [Eisenstein S.M.
«Odolzhajtes'!» // Eisenstein S.M. Sobranie sochinenij v 6-ti tomah. Moskva,
Iskusstvo, 1964. T. 2. 648 s.]
[4] Finjagina N. P. The study of Museum objects of the modern period in
historical and historical-revolutionary museums. Moscow, 1978. 72 p.
[Finjagina N.P. Izuchenie muzejnyh predmetov sovremennogo perioda v
istoricheskih i istoriko-revoljucionnyh muzejah. Moskva, 1978. 72 s.]
[5] Hooper-Greenhill E. Museums and the Interpretation of Visual Culture,
London, Routledge, 2000. 195 p.
[6] Hudson K. Museums of Influence. Cambridge University Press, 1987.
220 p.
[7] Razgon A. M. The Museum object as historical source. In: Problems of
source studies of Soviet history and special historical disciplines. Articles and
materials. Moscow, 1984. [Razgon A.M. Muzejnyj predmet kak istoricheskij
istochnik // Problemy istochnikovedenija istorii SSSR i special'nyh
istoricheskih disciplin. Stat'i i materialy. Moskva, 1984].
[8] Shljahtina L.M., Fokin S.V. Basics of Museum business. Saint-
Petersburg, 2000. 160 p. [Shljahtina L.M., Fokin S.V. Osnovy muzejnogo
dela. Sankt-Peterburg, 2000. 160 s.].
[9] Simon N. The Participatory Museum. 2010. URL:
http://www.participatorymuseum.org/preface/ (Date of access: 28.05.2018).
[10] Stanislavsky K. S. Actor Working on a role. In: Stanislavsky K. S.
Collected works in 8 volumes. Moscow, 1957. Vol. 4. 477 p. [Stanislavsky
K.S. Rabota aktera nad rol'ju // Stanislavsky K.S. Sobranie sochinenij v 8-mi
tomah. Moskva, 1957. T. 4. 477 s.].
[11] The new museology / Ed. Vergo P. London, Reaction books, 1989.
230 p.
[12] Vygotsky L. S. Psychology of art. Moscow, 1968. 572 p. [Vygotskij
L.S. Psihologija iskusstva. Moskva, Iskusstvo, 1968. 572 s.].
[13] Zhukovsky V. A. Aesthetics and criticism. Moscow, 1985. 431 p.
[Zhukovsky V. A. Jestetika i kritika. Moskva, Iskusstvo. 1985. 431 s.].

20