The GM Collector

The experience of having your own exhibition. Get into the skin of the curator. That’s what the Groninger museum started to sell in addition to bringing art and accommodating cinema, performance-art and folklore music. Since the December the 18th the museum reopened its doors and welcomed art lovers to visit ‘the unknown Russia.’ A travel through oriental paintings dated 1850-1920.

At the entrance, visitors receive a GM collector key ring. Modest and small. The key to your own customized exhibition. Numerous paintings are connected with a detector. If an art work pleases you, you just have to pass it with the GM collector to add the work to your personal log. Afterwards, at home, you can scroll through your own highlights and read background material. Additionally you can add comments, which can be shared with other admirers. All different comments on a painting are collected in a tag cloud, which provides data for analyzing emotions and perceptions.

I would like to call the GM collector a fabulous innovation. It is a typical example of service innovation by providing a brand new experience. At the same time, it makes clever use of known technology in a new (niche) sector. It appears that the technique is known from the flower trade. Furthermore, it adheres to the trend of mass-customization. Exposed to the same, but aggregation of an own unique representation.

If the GM collector could become a standard for all museums, my desire to start my own art gallery becomes more (virtual) reality.