Museum of the Moving Image

With its new 67 million dollar makeover and futuristic interiors crafted by Lesser Architects, visitors act awed inside the Museum of the Moving Image. The interactive exhibits of the are a big thrill too, but as the museum’s pamphlets and guides imply, they are merely showcasing the 100,000 square feet worth technology that gives people of films, television, and multimedia that humans have enjoyed for decades. 130,000 artifacts collection keep the visitors busy too. “It’s amazing to see the process my entertainment goes through before I see it on the big screen,” said visitor, Paul O’hara. The museum combines traditional and modern curatorial techniques. Proudly displaying a large collection TV and movie mementos and screenings in the Riklis Theater for those who enjoy reminiscing and cotemporary installations that require more than just the eye for the adventurous. The serious cineastes don’t miss out either. They not only have antique film series to watch, but can also join in on the discussion series featuring actors, directors, and the other contributors fans come to hear.

Despite embellishing the cinematic history of the Kaufman Studios in Astoria, the museum’s lens has a wider angle. Animation technology, Video games, photography, and other visual installations aid the museum’s complexity. Daniel Rozin’s trash-mirror for instance, an installation that reacts uniquely to the viewer’s position in the gallery or the stop motion workstation where visitors make 10-second films with their hands, 2-dimensional materials provided, and any other objects the amateur filmmaker can get his or her hands on. With a limit of a 100 photos the visitors have to improvise and later edit on the given computers finalizing their masterpiece for playback. With an extra 7 dollars it’s easy to print a 40-page flipbook each with photo of the visitors movements.

Apart from the exhibitions within the museum the soil underneath and the surroundings are key to its concept and agenda. Locating itself in Steinway was no mistake. Its erection on 36th Street and 35th avenue is a valuable spot amongst the Kaufman Studios where Paramount Pictures produced its east coast classics in the 1920’s, The Bill Cosby Show Studio was housed, and where Sesame Street continues to film. So many historic studios and on going productions nearby make it easy for the enthusiasts leave the museum with more to see, especially after having viewed some memorandums inside the museum from the productions.

With experiments and gadgets, galore, the Museum of the Moving Image is the ideal place for kids or adults with the same curiosity