The EMP Museum (formerly known as Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame or EMP|SFM) is a museum dedicated to the history and exploration of both popular music and science fiction located in Seattle, Washington. The Frank Gehry-designed museum building is located on the campus of the Seattle Center, adjacent to the Space Needle and the Seattle Center Monorail, which runs through the building.
The EMP Museum was founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, and opened its doors in 2000. EMP struggled financially in its early years; as a result, Allen established the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (SFM), which opened in 2004 in the south wing of the EMP building. When SFM opened, EMP and SFM were treated as separate museums, and visitors had the option of purchasing admission to one museum, or, at a higher cost, a combined admission to both. In 2007, after mounting criticism, EMP|SFM ended the separate admissions policy and began charging a single admission price for entrance to both the EMP and SFM wings.[1] The Science Fiction Museum was closed in March 2011.
EMP has provided funding for radio station KEXP in partnership with the University of Washington.[2] EMP was also the site of the demo and concert program for the first international conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME-01) and the Pop Conference, an annual gathering of academics, critics, musicians and music buffs.
The EMP in collaboration with SIFF operates the Science Fiction Fantasy Short Film Festival (SFFSFF). Sffsff takes place annually every winter in Seattle, Washington at the world renowned Seattle Cinerama Theater. The festival brings together industry professionals in filmmaking and the genres of science fiction and fantasy to encourage and support new, creative additions to science fiction and fantasy cinema arts.
Contents |
The museum contains mostly rock memorabilia and technology-intensive multimedia displays. The EMP Museum showcases rare artifacts from popular music history and allows the visitor to experience music through interactive exhibitions like Sound Lab and On Stage. The Northwest passage was dedicated to the history of Seattle music, including Jimi Hendrix, Heart, and the grunge music genre.
Northwest Passage was formerly part of the permanent collection. It contained exhibits on the history of popular music in the Pacific Northwest. Exhibits include Bing Crosby (Tacoma, Washington), The Kingsmen (Portland, Oregon), Heart (Seattle, Washington), The Presidents of the United States of America (Seattle, Washington), Sir Mix-a-Lot (Seattle, Washington), Nirvana (Aberdeen, Washington, via Seattle), and Pearl Jam (Seattle, Washington) . Also included are some less famous artists including Queensrÿche (Bellevue, Washington) and Culprit, and bands far more obscure, such as The Pudz (Seattle, Washington). Numerous video clips show interviews and performance footage, and extensive commentary and additional recordings are available via iPod audio guides (specially programmed iPods that can be rented, for a fee, from a desk on the second floor). In April, 2011 The Northwest Passage was de-installed to make room for the Nirvana: Taking Punk to the Masses exhibit.
The Guitar Gallery is dedicated to the history of the guitar. The massive sculpture entitled Roots and Branches was conceived by UK exhibit designer Neal Potter and developed by Trimpin and made largely out of musical instruments, especially guitars, which are played by electronically controlled devices. The Sound Lab allows museum-goers to learn the basics of playing various instruments and On Stage features a simulated onstage experience.
EMP introduced a travelling collection exhibit in 2002 entitled Disco: A Decade of Saturday Nights. It remained in Seattle, WA for one year, then in 2003 it moved to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan and in 2004 to the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. It has since been retired.
Exhibit illustrates Hendrix's musical evolution from his early days in Seattle, to his time as a journeyman musician touring the southern "chitlin' circuit" and in New York City, to his explosion on the popular music scene in London and beyond.
A collection of more than fifty costumes worn by the Supremes.
The exhibition includes 48 black-and-white photographs by five photographers. The photos, taken between 1956 and 1965 show early moments from Elvis, Bob Dylan, and The Beatles.
Chronicles the first half of Nirvana’s career from 1987-1990, among the collection was rare 1990 footage of the band in Olympia, Washington, including Dave Grohl's first appearance as their drummer.
Featured a series of interconnected exhibitions celebrating diverse expressions of creativity and the independent spirit of rock 'n' roll. Highlights included the roots of rock, a focus on three key innovators—Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and Janis Joplin.
This exhibit explored the last 25 years of music-related poster art from the Pacific Northwest.
This exhibit featured costumes and clothing from a variety of musicians, superheroes and science-fiction stars. Included were Michael Jackson’s sequined jacket and jeweled glove, Jimi Hendrix’s “psychedelic dandy” outfit, and the Superman costume from the original television series.
The first interpretive museum exhibition to tell the story of the profound influence and impact of Latinos in American popular music. The exhibition was created in partnership with guest curators from the University of Washington.
Jimi Hendrix exhibit focused on the visitor’s experience and the visitor connection with Hendrix.
Features the work of one of the nation's oldest operating printing shops—Nashville, Tennessee's Hatch Show Print—the exhibition highlights the uniquely American posters produced to advertise everything from vaudeville shows, state fairs and stock car races to the Grand Ole Opry, Elvis Presley and Herbie Hancock.
The Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame was one of two public science fiction museums in the world (along with Maison d'Ailleurs, a science fiction museum in Yverdon-les-Bains (Switzerland). The Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame was founded by Paul Allen and Jody Patton and opened to the public on June 18, 2004. Members of the museum's advisory board include Steven Spielberg, Ray Bradbury, James Cameron, and George Lucas. Among its collection of artifacts are Captain Kirk's command chair from Star Trek, the B9 robot from Lost in Space, the Death Star model from Star Wars, the T800 Terminator and the dome from the film Silent Running. The X Prize trophy is currently on display in the museum's lobby.
The museum was divided into several galleries with a common theme such as "Homeworld," "Fantastic Voyages," "Brave New Worlds" and "Them!". Each gallery displays related memorabilia (movie props, first editions, costumes and models) in large display cases, posters, and interactive displays to sketch out the different subjects. "From robots to jet packs to space suits and ray guns, it's all here."[4]
The EMP Museum is currently hosting a special exhibition that opened on October 23, 2010 on Battlestar Galactica, with original props and cast members as guest speakers. On June 4, 2011, the EMP Museum opened Avatar: The Exhibition, housed in the former SFM wing of the building.
Jim Henson (1936-1990)—artist, puppeteer, film director and producer—created elaborate imaginary worlds filled with unique characters, objects, environments and even languages and cultures. His work is enjoyed in dozens of languages in more than 100 countries. Jim Henson's Fantastic World offers a rare peek into the imagination and creative genius of this multitalented innovator and creator of Kermit the Frog, Big Bird and other beloved characters.[5]
The Hall of Fame was founded as the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 1996 by the Kansas City Science Fiction and Fantasy Society (Kansas City, Missouri) and the Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas. The Chairmen were Keith Stokes (1996–2001) and Robin Wayne Bailey (2002–present). Only authors were eligible for recognition and four were inducted annually.
The Hall of Fame stopped inducting fantasy authors in 2004 when it moved to Seattle and became part of the Science Fiction Museum. Having inducted 36 authors in nine years, in 2005 it began to recognize non-literary media and reduced the number of authors from four to two in each annual class. Five people were honored in 2008: Ian Ballantine, Betty Ballantine, and three others.
As of fall 2011, there are 65 members. Nominations and inductions are made in four categories: Film, Literature, Media, and Open.
The structure itself was designed by Frank Gehry, and resembles many of his firm's other works in its sheet-metal construction, such as Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Walt Disney Concert Hall and Gehry Tower. Much of the building material is exposed in the building's interior. The building contains 140,000 square feet (13,000 m2), with a 35,000-square-foot (3,300 m2) footprint. The central "Sky Church" room pays homage to Jimi Hendrix and other rock 'n' roll icons using a 40-foot (12 m) high, 70-foot (21 m) wide video screen and an 18-panel montage of images.[7] The last structural steel beam to be put in place bears the signatures of all construction workers who were on site on the day it was erected. Hoffman Construction Company of Portland, Oregon was the general contractor.
Even before groundbreaking, Seattle Weekly said the design could refer to "the often quoted comparison to a smashed electric guitar." Indeed, Gehry himself had made the comparison, "We started collecting pictures of Stratocasters, bringing in guitar bodies, drawing on those shapes in developing our ideas."[8] The architecture was greeted by Seattle residents with a mixture of acclaim for Gehry and derision for this particular edifice. "Frank Gehry," remarked British-born, Seattle-based writer Jonathan Raban, "has created some wonderful buildings, like the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, but his Seattle effort, the Experience Music Project, is not one of them."[9] New York Times architecture critic Herbert Muschamp described it as "something that crawled out of the sea, rolled over, and died."[10] Forbes magazine called it one of the world's 10 ugliest buildings.[10] Others describe it as a "blob"[11] or call it "The Hemorrhoids".[9]
Despite some critical reviews of the structure, the building has been called “a fitting backdrop for the world's largest collection of Jimi Hendrix memorabilia.”[12] The outside of the building which features a fusion of textures and colors, including gold, silver, deep red, blue and a "shimmering purple haze,"[13] has been declared "an apt representation of the American rock experience."[14]
The museum has had mixed financial success.[15][16] In an effort to make ends meet, the "blue blob" at the south end of the museum—which originally housed the "Artist's Journey" exhibit, a motion platform ride featuring funk music—now houses Avatar: The Exhibition.
In an effort to raise more funds, museum organizers used Allen's extensive art collection to create a 2006 exhibit within the confines of the EMP.[17] The exhibit, which had nothing to do with either music or science fiction, was entitled DoubleTake: From Monet to Lichtenstein. The exhibit included Roy Lichtenstein's The Kiss (1962), Pierre-Auguste Renoir's The Reader (1877), Vincent van Gogh's Orchard with Peach Trees in Blossom (1888), Pablo Picasso's Four Bathers (1921) and several works of art from Claude Monet including one of the Water Lilies paintings (1919) and The Mula Palace (1908).[18] There have also been repeated lay-offs of museum staff in an attempt to cut costs.
A subsequent exhibit — Sound and Vision: Artists Tell Their Stories, which opened February 28, 2007 — had far more connection to the museums' missions. The first exhibit at the complex to bring together both music and science fiction in a single exhibit, Sound and Vision draws on the EMP Museum's collections of oral history recordings.[19]
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||