FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Jim]

Hi everyone,

I'm lucky to be part of the MAD group, which displays in Denver and Tucson every year. Having participated in many displays and put together a good number of exhibits myself, I'm curious about what you all feel are the elements of the most effective minerals displays and exhibits. In fact, I plan on writing an article about this very topic.

I've long noticed that that great specimens or collections don't always equal great displays. Matters of lighting, liners, risers, balance, size and number of specimens shown and labeling together create the "experience" of an exhibit. There's clearly an art and science to effective displays and exhibits. When I do my own exhibits I rely much on the principles of environmental psychology (it's comes naturally, as I'm a psychologist).

Please share your thoughts (and any photos of mineral displays) about what makes displays especially effective. It's an aspect of the hobby that I feel is not discussed far enough!

Thanks,

[Gail]

Hi Jim,
Good to see you on here.
I found that, after watching and asking people what makes them like a display, aka field research, it was a variation of size, colour and variety. Plain and simple.
Most browsers don't pay much attention to lighting unless they try to photograph the cabinets. Then I heard many complain at the "yellow" lighting of many of the cabinets in Tucson.
Some told me that they like to read labels with large print so they don't have to fight their way up to the front to read tiny print that loses their interest quickly.
Fun things, like the quartz fish with the fishing rod and diamond studded eyeball was a great hit...the parents dragged children over to see it. By the way, that fish was sold while it was in Tucson.
The Alien fluorite with the neat lighting was a big hit, people like to interact.

My personal opinion is that varying heights of shelving helps "highlight" certain pieces thus drawing attention. Things like small minature size specimens will get overlooked if not heightened to draw attention. ( I am talking general public here...not wisened mineral collectors who tend to look at everything. )
I actually thought the HAMS case in Tucson was well done, they had a variety of risers made and painted with a fiber added to give it some texture. The minerals were colourful and the lighting was better than most.
The labels were well done and the back ground with the supplement cover and back page, plus the names of all that submitted pieces was great. Then again, to be fair..MAD does much of the same thing albeit used the risers offered by the TGMS.
We had lucite risers that were more stair step to show off some thumbnail sized minerals and got a lot of kudos on using them, and I have a list of people who want more info on the supplier.
I saw one display in Tucson that had red velvet for the background, I struggled to look at the minerals at first as it was yelling RED at me...but I managed to overcome and see that there was, indeed, some fine displays there.
I loved the Young's background colour of grey with a touch of pink in it...that was a great backdrop for their mostly white and black entries.
I know the judges told us, last year, that they are actually influenced by the colour of the fabrics that people use to compete with their displays.
Not sure if that was an "official" offering or just a personal note.

So, bigger font labels, better lighting, toned down and neutral colours for backdrops, different riser heights, colour of minerals and different sizes were some of the advice I had heard from the masses.
Hope this helps.

[MaryFender]

Hi Jim: I have enjoyed your Arkansas diamond exhibit. I think exhibits should convey some information rather than just pretty minerals. It should detail a mining area's history, a mineralogical principle (like the Young's pseudomorph exhibit) or perhaps methods of field collecting. I also enjoy displays of complete suites of minerals from a district or a display of the varieties of a single mineral. I personally tire of looking at mixed "beauties" with no apparent theme, they just look like displays of ownership and convey no meaning to the audience. The display should consider the audience and engage their intellect. I look forward to your article.

Maryanne

[Gail]

I, on the other hand, never tire of looking at mixed beauties!

[Pete Modreski]

There are so many different "good qualities" that an exhibit can have that I doubt that anyone will ever come to a single consensus of what they are. So much is "in the eye of the beholder"--everyone has a different set of criteria that make an exhibit most interesting and enjoyable and exciting to them. I suppose that this is why too, in the field of art, there is room for appreciation of Rembrandt, vs. Jackson Pollock, vs. Andy Warhol... and so on. If the specimen(s) are remarkable enough, the lighting, labelling, and display arrangement will become secondary. Not saying that all the expected things that are being mentioned--color, size, beauty, perfection, rarity, tasteful and attractive display techniques--won't always play a role too.

I could offer the comment that some criteria that would almost always apply to make a mineral display "first rate" would be that it exhibits material that is spectacular, unusual, unique, and new and seldom or never seen on display before. You can't beat those qualities!

P.S., just a little (or, more than a little?) "off topic" for this, allow me to post two images from a display I had set up at a gem and mineral show just held in Golden, CO, this past weekend--put on by one of the local clubs, the Denver Gem and Mineral Guild. My display followed up a bit of the Tucson "oddities" them; the club's show theme was "Rocks ROCK", and my display was on "What is a Rock?", highlighting some unusual kinds of rocks. Here are my two pictures--no spectacular mineral specimens here but, as with Tucson, a little touch of humor is always nice too.

Cheers, Pete

[Les Presmyk]

Striving for a beautiful and memorable display is the goal of those who display at shows and ultimatley even how we view our minerals at home. We already are seeing differing opinions of what makes for an eye-catching display. My comments will deal with non-competitive displays because competitive exhibits do have some additional restrictions. My philosophy has always been that the minerals or mining artifacts or whatever, remain the focal point of any exhibit. Everything is there to compliment, not compete with, the specimens that are being displayed.

Lighting is important but there is only so much that can be done in a lot of the cases, especially those supplied by the host club. I am pleased with the advances in halogen and LED lighting and we are already seeing a lot of these innovations show up in cases at the Tucson Show.

Background materials include risers, bases and background material (color and texture). Years ago I saw a case of pyrites that were displayed on a wine-red cloth and I thought it was a stunning. I tried it once myself and the criticism started with Paula, my wife, and ended about three months after the show. An exhibitor can use various types of colored backgrounds but need to make sure they are not overpowering the minerals.

Same caution with risers and bases. Risers that look good in a large all glass case that is 1 meter high will probably not work in a smaller case with just a glass front. Also, the exhibitor needs to be judicious in the use of the bases. They can begin to overpower the minerals as well. I have seen exhibits that have been made significantly better by using a few mining artificats, stock certificates or photographs. You do not want people walking away thinking first about the bases and the minerals become secondary.

As a specialty collector myself, I am always drawn to exhibits that carry a theme. I do enjoy a case of fine minerals as well.

[Jim]

Thanks, everyone, for your initial comments. And Peter, your pics were much appreciated!

While I agree that subjectivity comes into play wherever aesthetics are concerned, I think there are a set of core principles that make some "environments" more appealing and engaging than others.

I plan on conducting a survey of different people's reactions to different types of displays. I hope I can count on everyone on Jordi's site to participate!

Cheers!

[Gail]

Pete, I like the diversity of the font used in your photos. That also added to the "look" of the display. Nicely done.

[Joan Kureczka]

All good comments here. Mine are restricted primarily to public displays:

1) Too many displays are too crowded. Please strive for balance rather than trying to put your whole collecton in. Your specimens will be easier to see and appreciate that way.

2) Please at least minimally label what specimens you have in the case. The unitiated public is looking at these cases too, and wants to know what they are looking at. And as I'm a specialist, if I'm looking at stuff outside my own area of expertise, I appreciate labeling as well.

3) Frankly I prefer at least a minimal theme to a case, rather than an assemblage of pretty rocks. There are lots of ways to go, even if you aren't scientific. If you have text to help advance the theme, keep it in lay language and enough to explain or elaborate -- but don't write a text book.

The best of the AMT cases were exemplary.

[keldjarn]

Interesting thread.
I have only once publicly displayed some of my minerals (a Panasqueira mine display at the University museum here) and then I could not influence very much how the display was made. But I have been enjoying mineral displays for half a century and have a general idea of certain features that have captured my interest and admiration:
1. Quality of the mineral specimens is a basis for judging any display
2. A dark (black) background with lightsources directed at highlighting the specimens with the correct type of light to present (but not enhance) the colour of the minerals works best for me. This is specialy effectful if the room is dimly lit (but not dark).
3. A really eye-catching specimen in the center of the display that makes you stop and drool...(Ideally the other specimens should be presented so that your eyes quite automatically "make a tour" of the rest of the display case.
4. Not too many minerals should be present and specimens should be organized by size, colour and form in a way that they actually "call attention to each other". This is in my view the REAL art of making a display.
5. Just like Les ,being a systematic collector I am very fond of displays that also want to convey a message or tell a story ( i.e. about a mineral or a locality). A few mining artifacts, maps etc. can be present, but too many of these can sometimes reduce the specimens to "ore samples".
A sincere thanks to all of you who transport your specimens and make all the wonderful displays I admire every year in Munich, Tucson and at many other shows and museums I visit around the world. Keep up the good work !
Knut

[Jim]

Thanks for the continued comments. I'm surprised that more mineral curators have not jumped in! I'm sure they have valuable insights to share.

Cheers!

[Peter Megaw]

One of the things I am proud to be able to say every year is that the hard-working folks who do the case linings for the TGMS are highly succesful in having their contributions go largely unnoticed. Unfortunately, the Fire Marshall restricts the total wattage we can use in our cases (60 watt bulbs max) which is why some look yellower than desired. This is exacerbated by certain liner color choices (especially the perenially popular "neutral or beige" color and curiously the dark choices as well. (White sounds nice, but provides lousy contrast for many specimen colors and gets dirty quickly...and then there is "white" and "white"). The new cases we bought this year have fixtures into which we put Chromalux Lumichrome neodymium doped bulbs (both incandescent and halogen) that have superb temperature spectrum and Color Rendering Index. Ron Pellar among others can fill you in on the details of lighting...a science as well as an art. (We learned this 10 years ago...some may remember the "mercury vapor" lights that made everything look blue and washed out...specifications looked good on paper though)

Case theme and acrylic base issues aside (subjects on which I am known to have strong feelings) the most fundamental point is that you highlight the minerals, not the exhibit materials. Les referred to non-competitive exhibits for examples, but I would point out that he (and his predecessors) has put together an excellent..and VERY detailed guide for TGMS Competitive Exhibitors that speaks to many aspects of specimen layout, riser design, liner materials (color, texture etc.). I suspect he has it electronically and can share it with interested folks on some kind of "credit given to TGMS" basis. I believe this volume includes some incredibly detailed exhibit arcana cooked up by Jim Blees that covers such things as how to raise the back of your bottom liner slightly...fooling the eye and eliminating the "downhill" effect caused by a flat bottom...or the "ditch effect" caused by having specimens displayed below the level of the frame on the case front. Some of this stuff is subtle, but really makes a difference. He also covers issues of labels ranging from fonts and borders to using materials that don't curl.

I'll let Les chime in on this...

[Gail]

Peter said:
One of the things I am proud to be able to say every year is that the hard-working folks who do the case linings for the TGMS are highly succesful in having their contributions go largely unnoticed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That's why I showed those fellows breaking down the cases and showed my appreciation for their hard work in my Tucson show report. I took great photos of the gentlemen tearing down the case in quick fashion. I also thanked the guys who whipped up the tables and fencing around exhibits...one man told me I was the first person he had ever heard thank him. Havining volunteered many times it has made me aware of the work that gets done that no one pays much attention to.
Like being waitstaff and always noticing the tips left....

[TheBrickPrinter]

That is exactly the kind of thing I like to see in a case or if not in the case on some kind of directory on the outside. I want to know what it is and why the collector chose to put it in the case.

I am a big fan of art museums and the way I like to go through them is to simply walk through one time and read nothing other than the artist's title of the work so as not to taint my impressions with the curator's views. And then go back through and read and study the pieces through the eyes of the label's authors.

I wish mineral cases could achieve that kind of experience with a bit of in depth explanation of what it is, why it is there, how it was created, where it was from, and what makes it worthy of display. I can of course (and probably will) disagreee with some of it, but a case display is the product of some sort of process. I want to be privy to that process. I want to be educated and not just titillated.

Perhaps in the future with either bluetooth technology or something like an Amazon Kindle, one could "walk through a case" and extract more info on those things one wants to. With the Kindle it would be indeed possible to do in depth explanations about each and every thing in the case and not burden the viewer with thumbing through a printed book--which is usually prohibitively expensive anyway. Even an Apple phone application could easily be written. Or somthing like an iPod nano that would talk. Although I am not a big fan of head phones and listening to explanations of what I am seeing. Or just an external viewer that would rotate through the case with printed explanations. This was pie in the sky stuff a few years ago, but very achievable now at probably a quite reasonable cost.

And labels that do not have the chemical formula on them really bug me. I want to know at least what they are made of. But most people probably do not care--so the above scenario would work great for me.

Just treat a case of minerals like a mineral museum exhibiton or art museum exhibition in and of itself.

Just a few thoughts.

I

[rocknut]

I want to buy a new mineral cabinet and I also want to retrofit an older cabinet that currently has halogen MR11s in it. What do most of you use? I've heard fiber optics, full spectrum MR 16 halogen and LEDs mentioned.
I appreciate any advice you can give me.

Thanks,

Jeff

[katherine.Dunnell]

lighting. lighting, lighting... did i mention lighting?

Coming from a museum realm, the other things i notice right off are font sizes, and legibility. There are public standards for font size when it is black type on white background and a whole other size required for white on black (as it is harder for the eye to read).
How far is one away from the information? IS there TOO much information and how is it presented, graphically? or text based?

The best thing to do is to go to the cases you like and start breaking down why you like it. Does the backdrop engage you? Is the density to high and your eye doesnt know what to look at first, and therefore you move on ?

On average, mineral collectors/presenters tend to have a high density of specimen in their cases, to the point of overload. My personal opinion is that vendor cases influence how we present minerals. Vendors put out a lot of specimens because they want to sell, and i think we get use to seeing that density. From a museum POV, we scale back that density because the average person gets fatigued at densities that are too high.

When a specimen is really really special give it some breathing room, as that creates importance.

If people are interested, there are some great books on museum display practice. The Manual of Museum Exhibitions, Altamira Press, Copyright 2002 is a bible.

Best
Katherine Dunnell
Royal Ontario Museum

[Les Presmyk]

I think there are two things that drive the number of specimens most collectors try and exhibit, and neither one of them is how dealers display minerals. First, most collectors do not have the luxury of unlimited space and as a result, always have more specimens than space. This is certainly something dealers are confronted with at a show. Since most people do not want to stop and go through flats, the more specimens out on display the better chance of selling something.

The second is just the visual impact of all of the color from a distance in a case where there is little or no space between specimens. Virtually every miner's collection I have ever seen has specimens virtually stacked on top of one another. From a distance this makes for an attractive display of color. However, if a person is trying to segregate specimens upon closer examination, that is where the overload begins.

I agree that an attractive display with separated specimens is the better way to go. I have a good friend who is able to put as many specimens into a case as anyone I have ever seen. From 5 to 10 feet away, the cases are an explosion of color. As you get closer it becomes difficult to really concentrate on individual specimens and the greater the possibility that notable specimens will be ovelooked.

Of course, he could take out half of the pieces and the collection would still be top-notch but then we would have to look at half of the collection in boxes or drawers. Now you come to my collection, with limited display space and 90% of the specimens in drawers and flats. I need a room with about 30 feet of cases in order to display my collection properly. I am not even trying to talk my wife, Paula, into letting me do another addition to our home to accomplish that.

[jimB]

A sure way to ruin a display is to end up with an empty looking case. Rememeber, a case is very rarely filled with minerals. That same case is mostly filled with air, or empty space if u will. If a case looks empty there is no display technique existing that will correct this. Imagine a 4 foot case with liners but no risers. Even if you have 4 inch specimens on the floor 2 inches apart the case will look completly empty and the best specimens will look lost. To have a satisfactory display get the air out. I usually try to raise the bottom of a case 2 to four inchs depending on which case I am in. 2 inches is enough for a 4 foot case and 4 inches works well in a 6 foot glass display case. Add to that 3 risers again between 2 and 4 inches depending on the size of the case. This little effort will reap a large reward in a pleasant appearing display. A sign stateing the theme of the case in back center while only two dimension gives the illusion of "filling "the case.

Another effect I try very hard to eliminate is the ditch effect. That is with no bottom riser (only a thin base liner) the display look like it is sitting in a ditch. Fill that space and this annoyance is eliminated.

Personally I do not like seeing the "drop away Illusion". This illusion causes the back of a display to appear to drop away from the level line. In some cases it makes the back of a display appear 1 or 2 inches lower than the front of the case even though the case bottoom is level with the floor. To cure this raise the back edge of the bottom riser an inch (more or less) so now the bottom is not level but appears level. Some cases have this malady some do not. Different colors and fabrics must contribute to this.

After this set up your display to eliminte shadows where possible. For sure do not have shadows resulting from poor riser arrangment. In a Tucson case you have only two light bulbs in a four foot case. Frankly the lights in the center glass cases are a disaster but I do not see any correction to this any time soon.

Clean and neat carrys a lot of weight, stained or spotted risers are plain terrible. Labels are important to a display. All lables the same size and shape would be nice but it isn't possible. For sure a variety of lables is an eyesore. Lables should blend well. License plates are uneeded and detract from a clean appearing case.
I hope this helps.