ABSTRACT
Is ICT becoming integral to and innate within our notions of the modern museum? Here it is suggested that, first, the museum is an adaptive medium that has throughout its histories responded to change; second, that there is a long history of museums being shaped by information and communication technologies; and, third, that there is presently a complex and reciprocal relationship between digital media and building space. By charting the emergence of digital information communication systems, looking towards some recent high-profile examples within UK national museums, and drawing upon the portfolios of leading design houses, it is argued that digital interactives have, over the last three decades, permeated gallery spaces, and that these technologies are becoming ever more pervasive and embedded within the exhibition environment. Whereas before the application of digital media may have been rationalized by viewing it as ‘merely a tool’ and only ‘a means to an end’, we will contend, instead, that today this technology – where it is appropriate – carries a much more complex set of meanings and significances for the modern museum.
