'VJUL JO SC PH SACHS . m Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/installationofspOOdana Illustration No. 1. The side of the screen here shown has panels of orange with frames of black. The standard at the right lifts out of the base and takes apart in the center. The box comes off. INSTALLATION OF A SPEAKER AND ACCOMPANYING EXHIBITS BY JOHN COTTON DANA No. 3 of the New Museum Series THE ELM TREE PRESS WOODSTOCK, VERMONT 1918 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Placing a Speaker before an Audience The speaker an exhibit Rules for her installation Why the speaker should be clearly seen Remove all disturbing lights Hide all decorative disturbances Put a screen behind the speaker Illuminating the speaker properly The illuminating device Give the speaker a proper desk The reason for effective installation Examples of effective installation II. Installing the Objects a Speaker wishes to Display The display of pictures, textiles and like objects singly The display of small groups of objects Fundamental rules of installation Display objects well or not at all Arranging a group of pictures The imperative demand of good taste The charm of the uncluttered Device for hanging pictures Pictures to be shown must be mounted and matted Showing pictures on racks Screens for picture exhibits The display of other objects Objects should be raised to the level of the eyes The overmuch of home decoration INTRODUCTION The first volume in this series, “The New Museum,'' pub- lished a year ago, told why I dared to write and print a series of small books on the new manner of museum development and management. Briefly, it was because we of the Newark Library had been managing for about eight years what we called a modest museum of modest museum experiments, and had decided that what we were learning and thinking and doing was worth passing on to others for comment and criticism. This first volume told how we studied museum history and museum practice of to-day; how we came to the conclusion that a quite definitely “new" manner of museum management is coming upon the museum world ; and then gave certain very simple suggestions for the establishment and conduct of a museum of the new type. To this was added a list of about fifty museums, each of which had agreed, in response to an inquiry from us, to give such aid as it could to any museums which may ask for advice and suggestions, with notes under each museum's name of some of the lines in which it thought itself fairly well equipped to give aid. And finally we added a list of references to the best books and articles on the elements of museum management. No. 2 of the series, “The Gloom of the Museum," was pub- lished about six months ago. It included a chapter on the manner in which the arts have been made to flourish, but was chiefly devoted to an explanation of the unattractiveness and accompanying inefficiency of museums, with suggestions for making them more attractive and more useful. The last fif- teen pages contained an abstract of 125 of the best books and articles on museum management. In this, the third of the series, I may seem to have departed from the museum field, for I here discuss the question of the proper presentation of a speaker to her audience. But, in fact, I here try to emphasize one of the most important of the functions of the new museum — that of carrying over into every-day life some at least of the things learned in the course of museum practice. A museum should teach, so we contend, and in so doing may well convey to the layman suggestions for the application of museum technique in other than museum fields. Newark, N. J., April 1, 1918. J. C. DANA. THE INSTALLATION OF A SPEAKER AND ACCOMPANYING EXHIBITS I Placing a Speaker Before an Audience THE SPEAKER AN EXHIBIT Let us assume that you are to have in your home a gather- ing of friends, or, in a small hall a meeting of which you have charge, of the members of a society, at which some one is to make a speech, read a paper, sing, or play on some musical instrument. The occasion may be any event which brings a few persons together chiefly to see and listen to some one individual. Straightway that individual becomes an “exhibit,’^ and should be, in the manner of her presentation to her audience, treated as such. Much of the success of the performer will depend upon the skill with which she is “installed.’^ RULES FOR HER INSTALLATION Here are some of the elementary rules to be followed if this installation is to be such as to make the venture a success : Ventilate the room properly. This rule cannot here be car- ried into details, as the size and height of rooms and the num- ber and relations of doors and windows vary greatly and every case demands its own peculiar treatment. But it may as well be said once more, obvious as is the remark, that without an abundance of fresh air of proper temperature, no group of persons can listen to any one for more than a few minutes with more than a very limited return in either pleasure or profit. If ventilation is impossible without dangerous or unpleasant drafts, the room to be used for the gathering should be well 6 INSTALLATION OF A SPEAKER aired and, if possible, well cooled just before the audience gathers. If necessary, this can be done again after half or three-quarters of an hour. No person of discretion will try to hold an audience without a break for more than that length of time, and a company gathered even in the most delightful of homes will always welcome an intermission of a few minutes in a long session. WHY THE SPEAKER SHOULD BE CLEARLY SEEN The exhibit itself, the speaker or singer on such an occasion as we are considering, is always an object of interest to the audience. Even if she is a member of the club to which she is speaking or for whose entertainment she is singing or playing, her associates wish to see her as well as to hear her voice. In the case of a stranger, whether a person of note or not, the desire to see her is still stronger. And always it should be remembered by the hostess or the manager of the affair that one who is going through the task of addressing an audience, — and it is, after all, always a task, no matter how agreeable to the performer, — is entitled to every courtesy that conditions permit. Clearly one of these courtesies lies in such a placing of herself and her audience that she can look into the faces of all the latter, and that the latter can readily, and in com- fort, see both her face and her person. This law of courtesy, indeed, toward one who is asked to address others at a gather- ing of friends, underlies and, in a measure, dictates as essen- tials, all the arrangements hereinafter described as part of a proper ‘'installation'' or the “exhibition" of one who holds the floor for a set performance even of the humblest kind. The exhibit, then, should be so placed that she can be easily and clearly seen. To this end she stands on a low platform, unless the audience number less than fifteen or twenty per- sons, or unless the room in which the audience is gathered ..permits that audience, even if it numbers more than twenty Illustration No. 2. The entire side of the screen here shown is painted a soft gray. The table or desk and the platform are the same color. The speaker is here supposed to be giving a talk on pottery. AND ACCOMPANYPNG EXHIBITS 7 or thirty persons, to sit in not more than three concentric semi-circles. Every club which holds meetings under such conditions as these in private houses or small halls, should have at least one speaker's platform. This may be a very light affair of wood, say eight inches high and two feet six inches square, which can be carried from house to house as needed. Such a platform is shown in the accompanying illus- trations. A piece of carpet is tacked over the top and bottom to prevent its slipping, and to make a cover for it unnecessary. A hole in one side serves as a handle. REMOVE ALL DISTURBING LIGHTS Not only should the speaker be visible from head to foot to all observers, she should also be visible with no strain upon the observers' eyes. This means that several things cus- tomary on occasions of this kind should never be permitted. No uncovered window and no artificial light should be in view behind her or so close at one side of her as to come within the line of vision of any one in the audience. This obvious and axiomatic law of exhibit installation and public speaking arrangements is almost universally violated. Millions of unob- servant persons have gone away from gatherings where this law was broken in the installation of speakers or singers, and have laid at the door of heat, bad air and uninteresting and tedious remarks, the lassitude, headaches and general discon- tent which were, in fact, directly due to eyestrain, consequent on enforced and long-continued gazing toward a window, by day, or a bright artificial light at night. To conform to the law is easy. Before your guests come, place a friend in the position in which you have planned to place your exhibit, — the speaker or the singer, — and if you find that, from any of the seats provided for your audience, a window or a light strikes your eyes as you look toward the s INSTALLATION OF A SPEAKER experimental exhibit, then shade the former and put out the latter, when the speaking begins. HIDE ALL DECORATIVE DISTURBANCES It should be very easy for your audience to concentrate its attention on your exhibit. Indeed, every person in your audience should find it difficult to discover, in her line of vision as she looks toward the speaker, anything tending to draw her eyes or her thoughts from the speaker’s words and move- ments. The words one may utter convey, of course, in the tones of one’s voice, something not found in them when read from a printed page. Thus far it is true that, if one’s voice is heard, that voice alone carries with it much of one’s per- sonality. But beyond and above this sound of the voice lies the indefinable something which is added to the spoken word by the visible presence of the speaker herself. The performer who speaks or sings or plays is entitled, especially in affairs of a quasi-social character, to an opportunity to add all that she can to her spoken word through the fair and undisturbed presentation of her own personality. Now, it is unfortunately true that the homes where such events as we are considering most often take place are over- burdened with things, and the eyes of an audience seated in one of them must see, behind the speaker, wall paper, hangings, pictures, furniture, bric-a-brac, all perhaps excellent in them- selves, but quite disturbing to the eyes and minds which the exhibit is trying to concentrate on herself, her words and her thoughts. Fashions and styles in decorations come and go; but simplicity never arrives. Some day we may hope to acquire so sympathetic a reading of Japanese life and manners that we shall adopt a fair modicum of the Japanese method of interior decoration. When that time comes the next step to be suggested in the proper placing of one’s speaking guest will not need to be taken. That is, the placing of a screen of a AND ACCOMPANYING EXHIBITS 9 proper size and character directly behind the person to be ‘‘exhibited.” This word, exhibit, it is now proper to confess, seems unduly formal when applied to a living human being ; but the implica- tions it carries, added to the implications of its appropriate accompanying word, “install,” are here of great value. PUT A SCREEN BEHIND THE SPEAKER This screen should be so high, almost eight feet, that it will rise well above the speaker’s head, as seen from a low chair near by, even if the speaker is above the normal height and stands on an eight-inch platform. The one shown in the illus- trations has three panels, each two feet six inches wide and seven feet six inches high. It is painted all over on one side a soft, warm gray. The other side has panels of a rich yellow with black frames. These colors were chosen after several trials by day and by artificial light, and proved to harmonize well with, or to iumish an agreeable contrast to, gowns of varied materials and colors. Such a screen, like the little plat- form, should belong to every club, and be transported from house to house as needed. Lights which may directly afflict the eyes of the audience should be suppressed, as already suggested, and this rule applies to brilliant points, as in a central electrolier directly above the audience, as well as lights in line with the exhibit. ILLUMINATE THE SPEAKER PROPERLY Next, the light which the audience needs should be sup- plied. This needed light is that which properly illuminates the exhibit. It should not be overhead, where it tends to extin- guish the speaker’s face, to deprive it of its proper character. It should not be in front and below, after the manner of stage footlights, for then it tends to remove all character whatever, and calls for the reinforcement of the features by the make-up of the actress. It should be, to do the speaker the maximum JO INSTALLATIpN OF A SPEAKER of justice, first, a quiet, diffused light, illuminating slightly all the features, and then a light at one side strong enough to cast soft shadows over the face and bring out all its modeling. Thus illuminated, a speaker is seen as she really is; all the character her face in repose possesses is clearly seen, and none of the play of expression is lost. A room moderately illuminated by concealed lights, in the manner now very common, will give the best available diffused lighting of the speaker’s face. If such illumination is not available, then the inevitable central electrolier, always too much in evidence when in use, should be turned low or shaded. This not only relieves the speaker’s eyes and gives her face the moderate lighting it requires ; it also takes from many of the audience the burdensome task of shielding their eyes from an overhead glare as they look toward the speaker. To this general lighting should be added the rather strong side light already spoken of. Experiments show that in a moderately illuminated room an electric lamp, say a 60-watt Tungsten, with no strong reflector, placed about nine feet on the right of a person as seen by the audience, about three feet toward the front and a little above the level of her head, brings out very clearly all the characteristic points in the face, touches it with soft shadows, and makes clear its swiftly- changing expressions. This light should, of course, be screened from the audience. THE ILLUMINATING DEVICE The device shown in illustration No. 1, here placed much too near the speaker to bring it into this picture, should be a part of the property of every organization holding meetings at which speakers or singers or players frequently appear; espe- cially if the meetings are held in small lecture rooms or in private houses. The whole can easily be carried from house to house as needed ; for the upright can be taken apart at the AND ACCOMPANYING EXBIBITS ii joint and removed from the base. The lamp box is hung on a movable peg. The box, which acts at once as screen and reflector, can be moved up or down, as the peg on which it hangs may be placed in holes bored for the purpose at any desired height. The light may be reduced by changing the lamp, or by covering the open side of the box with a sheet of paper or a piece of thin cloth. By the use of tissue paper or of cloth the light may not only be softened but also colored, if the effect of any other than a soft white light is needed. Pegs at the upper corners of the open side serve to hold cloth or paper in place. Rubber but- tons on the corners of the bottom of the box prevent its injur- ing the surface of a table if it is taken from its post, as it well can be, and set elsewhere. The whole arrangement is simple and easily moved and stored ; and at the same time is of such proportions and of such a color, a soft gray, as to be not obtrusive or inharmonious even in the most carefully appointed home. GIVE THE SPEAKER A PROPER DESK For those speakers who wish to read from manuscript or book, a reading desk and lamp should be provided. The desk should be 42 inches high, with a flat top two feet six inches square. These demands are met in the desk shown in Illustra- tions Nos. 2, 3 and 4. It can be folded up to occupy a space of 30" X 42" X 3". It is light and easily carried. Every club should have something of the kind for use at all its meetings. Many speakers, especially beginners in the art of addressing an audience, find that the presence before them of a table or reading stand gives them just that sense of support and of separation from their audience which the embarrassment of their situation demands. If a desk, like that shown, stands before them, they have something on which they can lay book, manuscript or hands, and behind which they can retreat. 12 INSTALLATION OF A SPEAKER Although one who reads or speaks from behind a desk or table is at a distinct disadvantage, so far as the carrying over of her message to the audience is concerned, a desk should be pro- vided for the courteous and proper installation of the persistent reader and the timid beginner. The desk described is painted the same soft gray as are the platform, rack and lighting standard. The reading lamp which may be used to illuminate the reader’s manuscript should be of the simplest kind, electric if possible, and can stand on the desk. THE REASON FOR EFFECTIVE INSTALLATION With the arrangements thus far described and illustrated a person who is to appear before an audience can be so prepared that she will give to that audience, in her words, her facial expression and her dress the very best impression of which she is capable. No speaker can, with full consideration for her social rights, be granted less than this of adjustment of the room to the audience and of equipment for herself, and it would be difficult to find a speaker, whether friend, club mem- ber, outside guest or professional, who would ask for more. The development of study and debating clubs among both men and women of the country has been very rapid in recent years. As their number and the number of their meetings has grown, it has seemed sufficient to most to follow the old cus- toms in “parlor” gatherings. More thought has naturally been given to the exercises themselves, to speeches, songs and papers, than to the manner of presenting the personalities, the bodily enswathements and the textile accompaniments, of the thinking minds that for longer or shorter periods hold the attention of the audience. But it surely will now prove easy to persuade those who take the lead in preparing for the many semi-social, semi-intellectual gatherings to which reference has been made, that the comfort and pleasure, and so the mental AND ACCOMPANYING EXHIBITS 13 receptivity, of the audience should always be carefully con- sidered and then assured by a few reasonable precautions. EXAMPLES OF EFFECTIVE INSTALLATION Here are a few examples of skilful installation that testify to the wisdom of the suggestions already made: The most universally admired piece of sculpture in the world is probably the Venus of Milo. As it comes into view, at the end of that long vista in the Louvre, it gives to the vast majority of all who are privileged to visit the Louvre before they outgrow their enthusiasms, a decided thrill of delight. It is gracious and satisfying in every way. The cynic and the analytic-minded may say that the delight in the vision is chiefly born of recognition and of a complacent satisfaction in the fact that one is at last there ! The enthusiast of “originals,” and “genuines,” and “real antiques,” in his esthetic frenzy may declare that the sheer beauty of the original marble at once discloses itself to, and arouses esthetic emotion in, every observer. The simple fact is that here is an “exhibit,” the figure of a noble, stately woman, which is properly installed. She stands upon a simple pedestal; her background is chosen to contrast perfectly with the exquisite tints of her body and her dress, and, she is lighted from one side only, though with so generous a supply of light and from so large a window that the whole room is moderately illuminated ; and this light, from her right, brings out, through the delicate and tender shadows which it casts, the exquisite modelling of body, head and drapery. Pass now from this marvellous example of the proper set- ting of a masterpiece to one of the commonest sights for all city dwellers, — the illuminated shop window. It is usually overlighted, to be sure, window dressers being generally com- pelled to dwell more on complete illumination of objects than on giving them, by a heavier light on one side than on the INSTALLATION OF A SPEAKER 14 other, the shadows which would so greatly add to their charm. But note that the best of them are given harmonious or con- trasting backgrounds; that nothing is in them that tends to distract attention from the objects displayed; and that sim- plicity and directness are the rules which are evidently funda- mental in all their arrangement. Museums of art and science were long sadly unobservant and indifferent to this fine craft of installation ; but to-day, in the best of them, objects so placed, on pedestals or in cases, that they meet the eye readily, are not closely set ; they stand out from a fitting background, and are lighted to bring out their characteristic markings and not merely to make them visible. All of which goes to show that the audience which wishes to gain the maximum of profit and pleasure from one who is to address them should insist that she be installed as graciously and fittingly, no matter how humble the apparatus employed to that end, as is the bit of porcelain in the museum, as are the fabrics, furniture and other objects of the storekeeper, or as is the stately queen among sculptures in her salon in the Louvre. Illustration No. 3. The screen again has its gray side turned to the audience. On the screen are thumb-tacked three engravings. The speaker is supposed to be giving a talk on laces. The background on which the lace is shown is a sheet of dull black cardboard, upheld by the rack or easel shown more fully in No. 4. The table or desk stands on the platform, thus making the height of the table from the floor 50 inches. . - V THE INSTALLATION OF A SPEAKER AND ACCOMPANYING EXHIBITS II Installing the Objects a Speaker Wishes to Display A speaker quite often wishes to illustrate or explain her talk with the aid of a few objects; or wishes first to have certain objects seen, and next to explain them by her talk. Here are suggestions for the proper placing of such objects: THE DISPLAY OF PICTURES, TEXTILES AND LIKE OBJECTS, SINGLY If she wishes to show pictures, whether photographs, engravings or mechanical reproductions, she can display them well, one at a time, on her reading desk ; and for this purpose it may stand beside or before her platform, even if she does not use it for manuscript or book. On the desk she should have a frame for holding the pictures upright. This should raise them, as they are placed on it one after another, at least four feet from the floor, and should be so constructed as to keep them nearly vertical. The one seen in Illustration No. 4 will hold pictures, without frames, not larger than 30 inches wide and 22 inches high, and will keep them in position even if they are tilted slightly forward. Thus placed, they can be seen more clearly by the audience than if they lean backwards. On the pictures thus placed she turns the light of the reading lamp, which may be adjusted to this purpose. The light thus comes from one side and illuminates the picture in the best manner. The rack will be 42 inches from the floor if placed on the desk already described, and can be raised eight inches more if the platform is placed under the table as in illustration No. 3. The platform is constructed with this use in view. If several pictures are to be shown at once, and not more at a time than six large ones or twelve small ones, they can be i6 INSTALLATION Of A SPEAKER tacked on the screen. The panels of the screen are of compo- board and will take thumb-tacks or fine brads without injury. For this use the screen should be moved forward as close to the audience as possible. It should be lighted by placing the standard, with its lamp in the box, at a proper height and dis- tance, and at one side. Pictures thus displayed can be quite well seen by all per- sons of normal eyesight in an audience of fifty, on condition, of course, that the audience be seated closely and near the speaker’s desk or screen. Lace, embroidery and almost any textile would be shown in the same manner as pictures, the lace being laid upon a card- board of dull black or on a board over which has been smoothly drawn a piece of black velvet. THE DISPLAY OF SMALL GROUPS OF OBJECTS It often happens that a small organization, such as that to which Part I of this book is specifically addressed, meeting usually in the homes of the members or in small public halls, wishes to exhibit, for a day or an afternoon or an evening, a certain small group of objects, not singly, as in most of the cases already alluded to. The objects may be, to give a few examples, the work of a keramic society or of a photographic club, or old lace, or hand-wrought jewelry, or a collection of prints. The problem of the proper presentation of the things thus to be shown is rarely frankly faced, as a problem, and still more rarely is it solved to the satisfaction of those who come to admire or study the objects. It is impossible to give precise and detailed rules for the proper installation of exhibits of every conceivable kind. Experience has shown, however, that the suggestions which follow, all based on the few rules already given, with the care- ful instructions for certain specific things that accompany them, furnish such a general guide to temporary installation Illustration No. 4. The speaker is supposed to be giving a talk on Japanese prints. The folding rack or easel stands on the folding table. AND ACCOMPANYING EXHIBITS 17 as will enable those who study them with care, and then use a fair modicum of good sense and native ingenuity in their application, to make attractive, striking and instructive almost any group of objects, no matter how adverse the conditions which the room used for their display may present. FUNDAMENTAL RULES OF INSTALLATION Here are a few general rules which should always be kept in mind. It does not lessen their importance that they in some degree repeat those already given in regard to smaller groups : 1. Let light fall on the objects from one side, if possible; if that is not possible, let it come from above; that is, from above the object, not from above the head of the observer. Never let the light come from in front of observers or from directly behind them. This means that the objects should not be placed before a window so that observers face the window as they look; and that the objects should not be against the walls in an ordinary, centrally-illuminated room, unless the central source of illumination is high and the light well diffused; and not tjien if the objects reflect the light into the observer's eyes, as would glazed pictures, for example. 2. Isolate the objects. That is, keep them well separated from things with which they have no relation and from one another. The average mind is easily confused and is not easily led to concentration. It likes one thing at a time. A shop win- dow full of shoes of all kinds is a burden to most; while a shop window containing one shoe only, and that accompanied by a brief note, in large type, telling what it is and why it is shown, will hold the attention. 3. Make the objects prominent and fit for undisturbed exam- ination, not only by isolating them, but also by giving them a background which is either contrasting or harmonious. 4. Give to the objects clear and simple labels in large type. These are most important, even if the exhibit is to last only a few hours. i8 INSTALLATION OF A SPEAKER DISPLAY OBJECTS WELL OR NOT AT ALL It will be said at once that to enforce these rules in showing more than a very small group of objects in the ordinary home is quite impossible. To this one may reply that, to show things otherwise than with taste and skill is a waste of time and energy. If shown at all, let them be seen for what they are, that they may convey their message. But it is the purpose of this paper to tell how one may con- form to these essential rules, at least in some fair degree, even in the most restricted and seemingly impossible of places. When it is realized that nearly all privately arranged and temporary exhibits of the kind we have in mind are so installed, or so entirely not installed, as to make them tire- some, uninteresting, ill-mannered and inartistic, it is at once obvious that no effort to make them what they should be can by any possibility be wasted, and may be productive of results that are good beyond all expectations. ARRANGING A GROUP OF PICTURES Pictures are used more often than any other objects as the accompaniment of a talk to a small group of persons. For the present we assume that these pictures are appropriately mounted, somewhat after the manner to be described later. We assume also that they are to be so placed that they can be studied both before and after the talk has been given or the paper read. To show them properly, assuming that they number as many as twenty-five and that the cards on which they are mounted are not less than 12 x 17 inches, they must be attached flat to the walls, these latter having been first cleared; the room should contain very little furniture and all lights save that high in the center of the room should be suppressed. THE IMPERATIVE DEMAND OF GOOD TASTE It will be said at once that no hostess will permit her house AND ACCOMPANYING EXHIBITS 19 to be upset simply to show for an hour or two a few unimpor- tant pictures. Upon this several comments wait to be made: 1. If the pictures are good, if they serve their purpose well, it is better to suppress them than not to show them properly. 2. If they are make-believes and add little or nothing to the value of the day's program, they should not be shown at all. 3. If the speaker much needs them, in her own opinion, and if they are good, then the common law of courtesy demands that they be shown and shown well. If this is not possible in the house selected for the occasion, the meeting can well be held at another place where it is possible. 4. In many of our more ample homes there are rooms in which the removal of all objects from the walls is a much simpler matter than is generally supposed. THE CHARM OF THE UNCLUTTERED 5. Few modern American home-keepers ever know how charming in proportions, how restful in their untroubled and well-tinted walls, and how thoroughly artistic in their arrange- ment of doors, windows and blank spaces are many of their rooms, strictly as such. If they will, now and again, persuade themselves to permit one or two of their rooms to be cleared of nearly all furniture, and of wall and shelf and mantel dec- orations as well, and to put flat against the wall a few properly mounted and skillfully spaced pictures, no matter how simple or inexpensive these may be, they will get a new and delightful conception of the charm of simplicity in decoration, a concep- tion which will easily mount into conviction and be worth all their trouble. ' Mounts of almost any kind can be affixed to the ordinary papered wall, and without injury to it, by using slender, sharp steel tacks with glass heads. These can be obtained at any stationer's. Sharp brads are quite as efficient 20 INSTALLATION OF A SPEAKER as the glass-head thumb-tacks, and leave marks that are scarcely visible to the naked eye. DEVICE FOR HANGING MOUNTED PICTURES If it is impossible to attach pictures to the walls as sug- gested, they can sometimes be well shown thus: Secure strips of light, soft wood, x 2", and as long as the spaces between doors and windows in which pictures are to be hung. If the spaces are more than, say, 12 feet in length, use two strips. In one edge of each strip and a foot from its ends insert two small screw-hooks. For each strip get two ordinary picture-mould hooks. Attach to each a stout cord, so long that when the hook is placed on the picture mould the cord will reach well below the point where the pictures you wish to show are to be hung. Attach the strip of wood to these cords by the screw-hooks so that it hangs level, and at the height at which you wish the tops of the pictures to be placed. To this strip thus hung fasten the pictures to be shown, by brads or thumb-tacks. PICTURES TO BE SHOWN MUST BE MOUNTED AND MATTED Pictures, especially photographs and prints of all kinds, should be mounted and matted before being shown. Any pic- ture framer can mount and mat them at small cost. The mat should be hinged at its top to the mount by a strip of muslin, the two being of the same size. The picture should be hinged with a bit of paper at its top to the mount at the proper posi- tion to be seen through the hole or frame cut in the mat. In most cases a narrow margin of the paper outside of the pic- ture's printed surface should be permitted to show between the picture and the edge of the hole in the mat. SHOWING PICTURES ON RACKS If cleared walls are impossible, three methods remain: to use tables; to bring in screens on which the pictures shall be Illustration No. 5. Three boxes are arranged as described in the text to make a high central shelf and lower ones on each side, only one of tl\e latter is here shown. A light cloth of soft blue-gray is thrown over the three boxes, which stand on the folding base, which in turn rests on the folding table. Even in this reproduction of a small photograph the manner in which proper position, background and lighting bring out all the better qualities of an “installed” object is well disclosed. AND ACCOMPANYING EXHIBITS 21 fastened ; or to have the pictures shown, one by one, on a frame near a carefully-adjusted light, as described in Part I. If the meeting is in daylight hours, long tables or groups of two or more short ones set end to end should be placed with their ends against windows. On the tables, and running lengthwise of them, set simple racks. Lay the pictures against these racks, on both sides, and they will be seen with the light coming from one side, as they should be. If it is an evening meeting, the tables can be placed in the centers of two or more rooms, and the pictures set on the racks will be fairly well lighted by the central electrolier. SCREENS FOR PICTURE EXHIBITS If screens must be used, they should be of the general style shown in the illustrations, but wider. A three-fold screen, seven feet high, its panels made of compo-board which holds thumb-tacks and brads, each four feet wide without its frame, in the general style of that shown in the illustrations/ will hold forty-eight prints or photographs on its two sides, if the mounts are not larger than 11 x 14 inches. This size and its double, 14 x 22, and its quadruple, 22 x 28, are standard sizes among collectors and dealers. Both sides of such a screen should be well lighted. A central electrolier will serve for one side, and the movable box-light, already described, for the other. Many of the subjects under discussion in study clubs, debat- ing societies and civic organizations are capable of being made much more interesting by the use of a collection of pictures. The growth of interest in prints of all kinds is just now very rapid in this country, and study clubs are rapidly becoming awake to this fact. It will soon be quite generally realized that one or more screens, of the type described, should be part of the equipment of every organization that is trying to make 22 INSTALLATION OF A SPEAKER the most of its meetings and wishes to keep abreast of the times. THE DISPLAY OF OTHER OBJECTS Almost all of the many kinds of objects that are displayed at sucn gatherings as we have under consideration can be shown on long tables which are so placed as to have the light from windows fall lengthwise along them, the observers stand- ing on each side. They will be seen to much better advantage if they are elevated from 10 to 20 inches above the top of a table of ordinary height, 32 inches; and they can easily be thus elevated by a very simple device, consisting of three boxes, each about 52 inches long, with an independent base of the same length. The base is laid on any ordinary table 52 inches long or over; the boxes are set on this base as indi- cated, and, a loose covering of cloth of color or texture, suited to the object to be shown being laid over them, the objects are set on the two steps, as shown in illustration No. 5. Two of the boxes are contained in the third one, in an arrange- ment devised by the author, and the base, when folded, is twice as wide as the containing box. OBJECTS SHOULD BE RAISED TO THE LEVEL OF THE EYES Almost all objects of small size are to be looked at from the sides and not from above. Many a keramic society has lost much of the value of all its exhibits because most of the objects shown in them were designed to be looked at, not from above, as when they rest, as they usually do when exhibited, on a table of ordinary height, but from one side and at the level of one’s eyes. The overpowering desire we all feel to pick up the small object we are observing in museum or private house, or in a store with an eye to purchase, is not by any means entirely due to a meddling propensity. It is chiefly due to the fact that we wish to see, and to see clearly and to some purpose, to get at with our own eyes the line, form and color AND ACCOMPANYING EXHIBITS 23 of a thing which, lying on a table before us, quite imperfectly discloses itself. The device for raising objects nearly to the eye level by table ‘‘steps” or boxes is very helpful, largely on account of this imperative demand that we see them closely and usually from one side. THE OVER-MUCH HOME DECORATION To carry further this discussion of the installation of a speaker and of the objects displayed to illustrate or explain her remarks would be to enter the field of house planning and house decoration. On this, perhaps, too much has been said already. But it is proper to note that this book is itself a protest against the almost universal practice of overdisplay in the decoration of rooms. We all admire our own possessions, and we like to show them to our friends, — and so, we set them about our rooms or hang them on our walls. The result is that we forget them, — and add more! And at last our homes are not haunts of ancient peace, but excerpts from department stores. Note: Measured drawings of the platform, table, screen, easel, lighting standard and pyramid boxes shown in the illus- trations can be obtained of the publishers at moderate cost. All these objects have been made as light as the purposes they are to serve permit. The screen, when folded, is seven feet six inches long, two feet six inches wide and three inches thick. The platform is two feet six inches, by two feet six inches, by eight inches. The table when folded i^ three feet six inches long, two feet six inches wide and five inches thick. The easel when folded is two feet eight inches long, by two feet wide, by two inches thick. The base of the lighting standard is two feet long by two feet wide and two inches thick. The standard itself is in two parts, each four feet six inches long and two and a half inches square at base. The box, which contains two other boxes, all three making the pyramid, is one foot six inches long, one foot wide and nine inches thick. All these objects can be packed in a space seven feet long by two feet six inches wide and fourteen inches high, and can therefore be easily stored in any home and easily transported from house to house. The Elm Tree Press. 25