Pop-up museum encourages conversation

Shoppers can contribute to the collection at a new pop-up museum in Exeter city centre, where the guide is a talking doll.

The Museum of Contemporary Commodities has been set up to prompt conversations about data, place, trade and values in today’s commodity culture, and the impact of this on future generations.

Shoppers can add items they value to an online collection and take a quiz that tells them what kind of shopper they are.

The project has been developed by Dr Ian Cook, Associate Professor of Geography, and artist and PhD student Paula Crutchlow.

The online collection allows consumers to re-value the commodities, answer questions that have been asked about them and add comments. This data is then analysed by the museum’s algorithms to display those that get the most attention, generate the most controversy, and the most positively and negatively valued. This data changes as more commodities are added and more people re-value and discuss them.

So far a rucksack made of Dartmoor pony skin had gained the most attention, a pocket Swiss Army penknife was the most controversial, a bee house was the most positively valued and Facebook Account Data was the most negatively valued.

Paula Crutchlow said: “We're using digital art activities to prompt new kind of thinking about the world around us, especially what we buy and why. The finished result will be a democratically-created exhibition. But we are not just seeking information, we are also giving people the chance to have a conversation.”

The shop-gallery, in Fore Street underneath the Corn Exchange, is open on Wednesdays to Saturdays until 21 May. During this time workshops, drop-in-activities and film screenings will also be run at the shop and at other locations in the city as part of the project.

Artist Louise Ashcroft has been encouraging people to “re-make the internet” using everyday materials and situations. This will be a catalyst for conversations about how we would change digital culture according to what we value and how we want to live. Sessions will be held at St Sidwell’s Centre and the Exeter Phoenix.

Berlin based artist Konstantin Bayer is bringing to Exeter his exhibition that invites visitors to build their own installation from items bought from Amazon.

The project is funded by the Arts Council, the University of Exeter Geography Department and Exeter City Council.