Thursday, August 13, 2009

For the Torpedo Factory: The Star Trek Effect

One of the most unusual things that one notices as a gallerist, especially if the gallery is lucky enough to be able to afford a street level storefront and to have a large window or glass front to the street, is what I've previously called "the Star Trek effect."

In Star Trek, humans have developed the force field technology, which in most cases obviates the need for glass or some sort of transparent physical protection in a window or opening. Instead they have transparent force fields that allows the ship to have a window or door to the beauties of space, but without glass or plastic, and instead using an invisible force field to keep the vacuum of space out and Trekkers in. They also use it instead of jail bars, etc.

In the gallery world, sometimes an invisible force field envelops the gallery as well.

For example, in the case of either of my two former galleries, both the one in Georgetown and the one in Bethesda, there was ample viewing space from the outside, as both galleries have a large glass front, in Bethesda's case, wrapped all around the gallery space.

This gives the gallerist inside a perfect view of everything going on outside the gallery. And it gives people outside the gallery a decent view of the art inside the space. Quickly one notices a pattern: people will cup their hands to block out out the sun's glint and then look inside. They do this rather than stepping into the gallery and looking at the work directly. If it was a shoe store, they'd walk in; a gallery is more of a challenge.

Another example: In Bethesda the gallery is in a plaza surrounded by other businesses. Once a month or so, our neighbor, formerly Discovery Channel and now Comcast, would have a fire drill and hundreds of people would be milling around the gallery in the plaza. Dozens and dozens of them would have their hands cupped and peering inside from the outside.

I would then get up and prop open the gallery doors, and an even more curious thing would happen. Someone would stand just at the door, and lean forward into the gallery and look in, without actually stepping in. The Star Trek field is in full effect now.

Realizing that I had forgotten to turn the force field off, I would then walk in and out of the gallery a couple of times. This has the magical effect of turning off the field from the inside, and suddenly dozens of persons, seeing an actual human come in and out of the gallery unharmed, would pour in.

Last weekend I walked around the Torpedo Factory in Old Town Alexandria, brought there to look at the exceptional show at the Target Gallery. While I was there I spoke to various artists about the troubles that are facing the TF these days.

I also walked around the TF itself, trying to see if anything stood out to my eye as one potential and easy improvement.

As soon as I walked outside to look at the beauty of the Potomac River, it jumped out at me.

The beautiful plaza outside the TF and around the river was crawling with people, entertainers, families, tourists, etc. It was packed!

The doors that connect the Torpedo Factory to this plaza were closed. Not locked, but closed and need to be pulled/pushed to be opened in order for people from the outside to step into the Factory. Not only that, but they certainly could use a paint job.

The simplest solution sometimes stares us in the face. You want more people to come inside the TF? Then open the doors to the outside during the milder months! That alone won't solve the problem, but it will help. Trust me!

Try this next weekend and see what wonders it makes in improving the traffic flow to the Factory.

Oh yeah... if you forget to turn the force field off, just send a couple of artists to walk in and out of the Factory every couple of hours or so.

3 comments:

Jesse said...

Yes. Yes. The The Star Trek Effect. Well put. I witnessed it the other day when we installed the glass show. Several couples walked by, took long views through the windows. Stood there about 3 minutes or so with out walking in the unlocked door! After the 1st 2 couples, I invited the next in, gave them invites to the opening, asked which work spoke the loudest to them.

Anonymous said...

i'm a frequent visitor to the TF and Old Town, and i think you're right about the backdoors needing a paint job, but i disagree about propping them open. that may work in a small gallery, but a small gallery is much different from the TF.

-the TF is huge, dark, and industrial; architecturally, a much more intimidating building than most galleries. (that's part of its charm, but if you don't know what's on the inside, or if you don't know that you're allowed to come in, it's pretty off-putting.)
-its windows are above eye-level on both street side and dock side, making it hard to see what's inside.
-on the street side, it's surrounded by offices rather than boutiques, which makes it look like part of the office building line-up. (true, some galleries have this effect too, but they aren't huge former factories.)
-all of its entrances are dark.

so the TF already has more subconscious mental barriers than the average gallery.

propping the doors open works in other galleries because the buildings themselves are less intimidating, visitors can usually see through the windows to find out what interesting things are inside, the entrances open directly into the gallery space, and the galleries are usually brightly lit.

even if the back doors of the TF were propped open, all visitors would find by going through would be a small, ugly hallway leading to a pay phone and restrooms.

this area is dim, small, and has an oppressive atmosphere. there's also no stylistic continuity with the rest of the building. when you come in that way, it really doesn't look like you're in the right place (unless all you're looking for is a bathroom, in which case you're satisfied).

because of this, i don't think propping those back doors open will do the trick. all you'd get would be a killer energy bill (another benefit of having a smaller gallery - power bill's a lot cheaper, even with the doors open).

if you prop open the TF's back doors, I bet that people will just walk in, stand in the air conditioning, use the bathroom, and leave. (a few might trickle in, yes, but i've seen them do that before.) i would also bet my money that the street vendors that crowd the docks would set up by the open doors, to get the benefit of the AC. if they did, that'd create a traffic jam that'd block the doors and defeat the purpose of opening them.

instead of wasting energy on propping the doors open, i think the little back area could benefit from some sprucing up; nicer paint job, brighter lights, signs, etc.

in fact, i'd say all the TF's entranceways could do with that. the building as a whole is very, very dark. obviously it'd be a huge expense to add a lot of lights everywhere, but it would probably be doable to brighten up just the doorways, which would make the building look a lot more inviting. bright overhead lights, maybe some lights embedded in the floor along the walls, would definitely make an improvement.

neon lights and/or neon signs would also probably make a huge difference. there's a reason why staples and best buy and every other major business has a huge, glowing sign, after all.

i think a lot more people would go in if the Tf were well-lit inside and out.

Lenny said...

Only one way to find out! Why not give it a try this weekend?

By the way... walk up and down King Street and note that many of the establishments along the street have their door open! Especially since we're having such a mild summer!

Lenny