Try to discuss the details of the exhibition design

The exhibition is a cultural product of the museum, a comprehensive display of the museum's collection, research, education and other business work levels, and also a method and way of communication between museum staff and museum audiences. It is a systems project, which mainly includes the following aspects: overall design, content design, art form design, design and production of auxiliary exhibits and equipment, site construction and layout. And each aspect is made up of many details. This article will take the exhibition of the new museum of Nantong Museum as an example to discuss the role of details in the exhibition.

First, the details in the content design are conducive to highlighting the theme and showing personality.

The expression of the display in the "Fundamentals of Chinese Museology" is as follows: "The display is an exhibit group that provides aesthetic appreciation and disseminates scientific and cultural knowledge in a certain space, based on cultural relics and specimens, with appropriate auxiliary exhibits, and in accordance with certain themes, sequences and art forms." This expression not only reveals the essence of the museum's exhibition, but also clearly defines the display as an "exhibit group". Therefore, when the content designer writes the text according to the theme, combined with the reality of cultural relics and specimen exhibits, skillfully handles many of the details of the problem, which plays a decisive role in highlighting the theme and highlighting the personality. The details in the content compilation are mainly reflected in:

1. Break the boundaries of categories, organically combine exhibits, and change the display content from abstract to image

Exhibits are the "protagonists" of the exhibition and an important part of the content design. Through careful and ingenious combination, the exhibits on display can not only accurately reflect the theme, but also solve the defects of insufficient number and type of related thematic exhibits. In recent years, the construction of new museums in various places has been in the ascendant, and the display of local cultural history has become the focus of the exhibition and construction of new museums as a region and the characteristics of the museum. The exhibition of local cultural history is often composed of cultural phenomena of various historical stages. How to use exhibits to express complex and abstract cultural history is a test for content designers. By carefully selecting exhibits and constructing details, it is often possible to achieve unexpected results in the exhibition. For example, in 2005, China's first public museum, Nantong Museum, in order to welcome the centennial celebration and the centennial celebration of China's museum undertakings, held the "Humanistic Jianghai - Nantong Regional Culture Exhibition" in the newly built exhibition hall, of which the "Southeast of the Quilt" feature mainly reflects and reflects the development history of Nantong local textiles in modern times. This kind of display is usually displayed with textile equipment such as spinning wheels and exhibits such as cloth and clothing. In order to increase the visual effect, the content designers carefully selected several pieces of porcelain painted with textile character patterns such as spinning, as a contrast and background, so that the audience can appreciate a scene of textile in that year from the ceramic crafts. On the one hand, this makes different types of exhibits correspond to each other, breaking through the traditional boundaries of relying on textile machinery and textile products to reflect the theme of textile units; on the other hand, the audience also understands the influence of textiles on culture and art at that time to a certain extent. After the exhibition was opened, it attracted widespread attention.

The exhibits are skillfully combined so that the isolated exhibits have a certain plot between them, thus effectively expressing the theme. This treatment is particularly important and diverse in the exhibitions of the Museum of Nature. For example, in the specimen display, usually the use of related animal and plant specimens to form a special topic, in order to send a message to a theme, such as mimesis, food chain and other small thematic landscape layout, while popularizing biological knowledge, but also ecological knowledge is a kind of image performance, so that the audience can see that organisms including humans and the environment are inseparable, environmental protection ideology education is embedded in it.

2. Grasp the theme of the unit, flexibly use text, and accurately reflect the information of exhibits.

Another important part of the display content design is the text material, and good text material can play a role in highlighting the theme. Because the same exhibit may express different meanings under different theme units, at this time, content designers need to pay attention to highlighting details, designing display instructions, and defining the different meanings represented by exhibits in different units, so that it is conducive to fully expounding the theme, expressing the inner meaning of the exhibits and displaying personality.

For example, in the Nantong Museum "TiancaiHua - Nantong Natural Resources Exhibition", a specimen of Chinese sturgeon known as a "living fossil" is exhibited. Chinese sturgeon is a very precious migratory fish existing in the Yangtze River, migrating through the waters of the yangtze river in the south of Nantong City, located in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and naturally bred in the eastern sea of Nantong City, so the Chinese sturgeon has both local and rare properties, and must be displayed in the two units of "endemic species" and "local rare protected species". In order to enable the audience to avoid doubts and aesthetic fatigue. The designers of the exhibition deliberately arranged text descriptions for the Chinese sturgeon from different angles, so that the audience could happily obtain relevant knowledge.

Second, the details in the formal design are conducive to explaining the theme and enriching the connotation.

"The display is through design, the use of spatial planning, layout, lighting, color configuration and other means to create a display environment full of artistic appeal and personality, and through this environment, the display content is displayed to the audience in a planned, purposeful and logical manner, and strives to make the audience accept the information conveyed by the designer's plan." In the overall and partial design of different themes and different types of exhibitions, the details of the formal design through the intentional arrangement have a unique role in fully reflecting the exhibits, expanding and enriching the display connotation, and deepening the theme. The details in the formal design are mainly reflected in:

1. Scientific planning of space and rational design of exhibition lines.

The design planning of the space is the first step in the overall design of the exhibition, and it is the division of the specific position of each unit in the exhibition hall under the premise of understanding the theme of the exhibition by the formal designer. Reasonable space planning can not only improve the utilization of space, but also make the exhibited units more compact and coherent. In addition, displaying as many objects as possible in a limited space to convey more information to the audience, or in a larger space, so that the audience can all watch an exhibition without going back, these are the details that the designer should consider carefully when designing.

For example, the Dinosaur Hall of the Nantong Museum. The saleable area of the exhibition hall is only 350 square meters. It is a difficult task to display the contents of the "Mystery of the Dinosaur Kingdom" and the huge dinosaur skeleton specimen in such a small space. Fortunately, the space of the exhibition hall is higher, the form designer has carried out three-dimensional planning of the display space, the exhibits are distributed at all levels, and there are projectors arranged from the top to the end to play short films about the reproduction and extinction of dinosaurs; several huge dinosaur skeleton fossil specimens are displayed on the indoor rockery; under the rockery, there are various cabinets arranged to display some smaller fossil specimens of paleontology; some landscapes are also designed on the ground plane to display flat fossils. In order to make the most of the space and convey as much knowledge of paleontology as possible to the audience, a phantom imaging multimedia device was deliberately set up under the platform for the audience to watch the short film. On the other hand, in order to allow the audience to visit without going back and browse as many exhibits as possible, the designers cleverly designed the exhibition line, and the entire exhibition is based on the history of biological evolution, in chronological order, coupled with scene interpretation, focusing on the evolution of Mesozoic dinosaurs from survival, reproduction, evolution to destruction. Let the audience explore the origin of life and the evolution of life on earth through a time and space tunnel from ancient times. Discover the mysteries of the dinosaur kingdom from its rise to extinction. In this way, when the audience visits along the tortuous route, they can not only watch the dinosaurs with different shapes from different angles, but also feel the complexity and hardship of the evolution process of paleontology.

2. Adapt to local conditions and create a unique display environment

In the exhibition display, the space atmosphere must first serve the accurate reflection of the theme, usually using color, lighting, background music, and space layout to achieve. The creation of spatial atmosphere details, while revealing the theme of the image, can also make the whole display appear rhythmic and rhythmic, and the highlights are prominent. For example, in the Dinosaur Hall of Nantong Museum, in order to show the audience the rise and fall of the huge family of dinosaurs, the designers specially produced a short film of about 10 minutes. In order to match the playback of short films, a large number of sound, light and electrical facilities are configured. When the short film is released to the scene of the reproduction of the dinosaur family, the entire exhibition hall creates an atmosphere of revival and prosperity through green spotlights. When placed on an asteroid to hit the earth and cause a series of natural disasters such as tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, etc., the lights turn red in an instant, accompanied by smoke, flickering light, faint dinosaur bones (fossil specimens) and loud sounds, causing a strong visual and auditory impact.

The creation of this atmosphere is both conducive to highlighting the exhibits and shocking. Of course, the use of this technique should be appropriate, otherwise it may have adverse effects, such as the illusion of the audience due to the relationship of light; some small audiences are afraid of the dark and dare not enter the hall. Considering that the strong sound and photoelectric effect can cause discomfort to children, the elderly or patients with high blood pressure, a "friendly reminder" should also be posted outside the exhibition hall.

3. Relying on research results, bold creation, image expression exhibition special unit

In the current exhibition of the museum, the scene has gradually become an important means of display. The creation of the scene is a concrete embodiment of the unity of the exhibition content and the perfect art form, and it is a leap from the written text content to the three-dimensional intuitive image. Relying on the scene, the display designer can tell the things that cannot be explained by pictures and words through the setting of various details, and the audience can learn the information that the exhibits do not have from the scene and deeply appreciate the connotation of the exhibits.

For example: "Natural Ecological Landscape of Nantong Wolf Five Mountains Area" in the Natural Resources Department of Nantong Museum. The ecological environment in the entire natural landscape, taking the typical rocks and plants in the Five Mountains area of Nantong Wolf as an example, is made of simulated materials. Among them, in order to truly reproduce the species, living environment, living habits, etc. of wild animals, the form designers carefully placed the location of various wild animals according to the research data obtained by the relevant researchers in Nantong City over the years from the field investigation of the Nantong Wolf Five Mountains area, which naturally reflected the scene of certain biological chains such as "eagle-snake-frog" and some familiar idiom stories (sandpiper-clam competition). Through these details, the interdependence and interdependence between organisms and nature in the landscape are clear at a glance, and the emotions of protecting nature are also born.

In historical museums, the scenes are mostly the restoration of past events. Designers must take into account every detail when making, such as the image of the character, clothing, daily necessities, labor tools, etc. must be based on the relevant research results, and the mistakes of that detail will cause errors.

For example, the new exhibition hall of Nantong Museum "Humanistic Jianghai" exhibition, "The Life Scene of the Qingdun Ancestors in the Neolithic Era" in the chapter "Breaking My Grass". On the basis of browsing a large number of archaeological excavation reports and field investigations about the "Qingdun Site", the staff made the structure of the house, the livestock raised, the hunting tools, and the daily life of the people so realistic. But still ignored a detail, in the reflection of the Qingdun people built the "dry column building", laid several strips of wood, but some experts pointed out that in the early and middle Neolithic human beings can not make wooden planks, so the dry column building built can not appear wooden board making platform, human habitation, activity surface is generally bound by a number of trunks. Although the audience could not detect such a mistake when visiting, this scene left a lot of regret in the eyes of connoisseurs. In the design and production process of the scene, the construction of attention to details not only increases the point of view, but also makes the audience reminisce endlessly.

4. Carefully design auxiliary exhibits to paint the finishing touches for the exhibition

Auxiliary exhibits mainly refer to charts, illustrations, photos, models, landscapes, paintings, sculptures and other auxiliary display exhibits other than cultural relics and specimens. The art design of auxiliary exhibits can often play a role in finishing touches, setting off the atmosphere, and deepening the connotation of the main exhibits. For example, the indispensable auxiliary exhibit of any exhibition, the explanatory board, which is directly facing the audience, from which the audience can obtain knowledge information about the exhibits, it is the silent knowledge communicator in the exhibition hall. The creation of the explanatory board contains many details. Such as shape, texture, color, font size, etc., all play a major role in the success of the exhibition. Any negligence will affect the effect. For example, the explanatory plaque used in the exhibition of the new museum of Nantong Museum is stainless steel, and when it is accepted, it is found that due to the reflection of the metal explanatory board, the explanatory text cannot be seen clearly. The designer had to remake it. In addition, for the general audience of the museum, they are not experts in a certain aspect, and the purpose of coming to the museum is more to learn, entertain, and relax. Designers should also pay attention to starting from the perspective of the audience, such as the use of pinyin annotations involving strange words; the interpretation of the vernacular text that is inconvenient for the audience to read. Only in this way can it be convenient for audiences of different cultures, ages and different purposes to visit, and truly achieve "people-oriented".

Third, the details in the installation and layout of the exhibition site are conducive to ensuring the safety of the exhibits and winning the favor of the audience

Safety is the "lifeline" of the museum, and its importance is the so-called "foolproof, foolproof". Therefore, the museum has always paid attention to the prevention of safety accidents. Safety and security facilities are also constantly being upgraded. The consideration of the safety of exhibits in the production of exhibition exhibitions is mainly reflected in the protection of exhibits. Generally speaking, the harm to the exhibits comes from two aspects, one is man-made theft, and the other is natural damage. For human theft, monitoring cameras, infrared sensing and other facilities can generally be installed in the exhibition hall, and wireless alarm systems can be installed in the exhibition kitchen. Designers should consider installing it in a more hidden place without affecting its functioning.

Among the cultural relics, silk, calligraphy and painting are more delicate, and the requirements of these exhibits for light, temperature and humidity are relatively high. At present, the popular practice is to control the light hazard by installing induction lights; placing thermohygrometers, placing dehumidification (humidification) machines, etc. to control the temperature and humidity in the museum display cabinets. Correspondingly, the design and production of the exhibition cabinet. The successful cabinet design is not only a part of the overall exhibition art, but also a protective role for the exhibits. This requires the designer to think fully about the details of the production, otherwise there will be regrets. For example, in the new museum exhibition of Nantong Museum, the form designer designed the glass of the longer passage-type display cabinet into a frontal push-pull type, which was designed for convenient exhibition, but did not expect to produce too many gaps in the glass and the problem of lax sealing. As a direct result, the small environment in the exhibition cabinet cannot be maintained relatively balanced, which affects the safety of the exhibits placed in it. The consideration of the safety of exhibits in a successful exhibition should also be reflected in the use of environmentally friendly materials. Because, if some display cabinets and cabinets made of inferior materials are used, harmful gases such as formaldehyde will be continuously released when used, and these gases have greater damage to the literary items, and will cause immeasurable losses in the long run. At the same time, as the influence of museums "serving society and its development" becomes more and more influential, its edutainment function is also more obvious. In order to make more audiences happy to enter the museum, the details of "humanistic care" in the museum's exhibition design are even more important. For example, the disabled passage set up in the hall to take care of the vulnerable groups, the rest chair to eliminate the fatigue of the visit, etc. Designers should consider the facilities of human culture and the form of exhibition and display, and make these facilities a harmonious part of the exhibition.

The details in the display design are an artistic creation, which is the crystallization of the wisdom of the designers, which adds color to the museum exhibition, which in turn promotes the continuous thinking of the display designers and promotes the continuous improvement of the level of exhibition display. In advocating "people-oriented" and making cultural consumers - the audience satisfied today, the attention to the details of the museum's exhibition makes the museum make the museum make a difference in the novelty, uniqueness and viewability of the exhibition in addition to maintaining its unique scientific, professional, and safety of the exhibits themselves.

exegesis:

Xu Liang, editor-in-chief: Display Design, Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House.