Touching the Magic at California Academy of Sciences

During spring break I visited the California Academy of Sciences, often called the "San Fransisco Science Museum." The visit was a nice opportunity for me to compare the articles "Touch the Magic" and "Teddy Bear Patriarchy," both which treat how nature is represented in museums and other similar facilities. I wanted to compare the articles' accuracies in regards to the museum itself. Although my visit to this particular museum certainly isn't exhaustive in terms of the properties of all natural museums, I did find that many of the aspects Donna Haraway and Susan Davis wrote about in their articles were incorporated and present in the museum, and that certain, subtle details implemented in the museum's design were reflected on the material in the essays.

For example, the first part of the museum we chose to visit, a rain forest simulation, was easily comparable to the rhetorical elements found in "Touch the Magic." Visitors are suggested to (gently) interact with the roaming butterflies, which are both plentiful and easy to spot. Small birds and macaws are physically nearby the trail upwards and can get as close as a few feet to visitors. The roomy and open property of the walk subtly suggests a close connection to the natural elements around you, reinforced by the "get in touch with nature" narratives from the surrounding placards. Yet, as Davis suggests in her essay, a feeling of simulation and "out-of-place" hangs over the attraction. Airlocks are installed to prevent butterflies from escaping, and one is reminded to gently brush off any butterflies before leaving the trail. The macaws are fed by bright, plastic bowls containing fruits, seeds and water rather than being let find their own source of nourishment. The sprinklers spraying simulated rain forest moist are both audible and visible. In short, there are clear "setups" for unnatural human interaction hidden under the simulated peaceful human interaction that the attraction is supposed to infer. Like Davis suggests in her analysis of the "Touch the Magic" commercial, it is unclear whether this "touching" or proximity to nature makes it appear more natural or not.

However, the resemblance between text and reality does not stop here. The subsequent attraction, the "African Hall," demonstrates a story of evolution in the depths of Africa through the means of stuffed animal exhibits. The similarities between the features found in this exhibit and the Akeley African Hall features described by Donna Haraway are significant. She notes in her essay, regarding the Akeley African Hall dioramas, that "a diorama is eminently a story, a part of natural history," which is the basis for the entire exhibit at the museum I visited - to demonstrate the natural evolution through these stuffed animals. Placards, each associated with a particular animal, explains its importance to the natural development of species in Africa. The animals progress chronologically from the entrance to the exit, reinforcing the emotions the exhibit wants to infer. Part of Haraway's analysis became clear in this setting - through the use of stuffed animal dioramas, the museum can interactively and easily portray the story of natural development.

In conclusion, I was happy to find that many of the elements described in each essay were represented in reality as well, confirming, for me, the evidence demonstrated in them.