Aug 26, 2026 · 24 min · 11 segments
Charles Philipp believes museums can be small, surprising, and everywhere. As the founder of MICRO (www.micro.ooo), he creates immersive, research-driven exhibitions that fit into everyday settings…
Charles PhilippGuest
Abigail HonorHostBrenda CowanHost
Um, you know, we would go to museums all the time and, and they are, to me, a place of often beauty and learning and curiosity.
So I think especially now when the issues that we're facing as a culture are so big and we really need to figure out ways to broaden the tent, uh, and include as many people as possible, I think that democratization of museums is, should be every museum's-
When you're designing one of your, um, mini museums at Micro, how are you deciding exactly what to show, even in the smallest score? Choose any, any which one of them and describe to us 'cause there must be so much sifting into what's the essence of the story or the content we want to tell.
So I had to come from outside of the museum industry in order to sort of use some of the approaches that I've brought to this, um, because if I had, you know, studied and, you know, like being enmeshed in the institution, uh, I would've been institutionalized.
And if you're starting from a brick-and-mortar institution that's expensive to get to, uh, that is this large marbled hall, um, you know, that is, you know, requires you getting on a, a, a train, walking, you know, and then getting in there and checking your coat, um, paying often quite a bit of money, and then, you know, walking through hall upon hall.
And, you know, there is a, a psychological phenomenon called museum fatigue-
... uh, which is that- Particular type of exhaustion that you get inside of museums.
If you're starting from trying to incrementally improve upon that system, your ability to achieve the impact that you want to achieve, uh, is already so substantially limited.
Um, you know, we would go to museums all the time and, and they are, to me, a place of often beauty and learning and curiosity.
So I think especially now when the issues that we're facing as a culture are so big and we really need to figure out ways to broaden the tent, uh, and include as many people as possible, I think that democratization of museums is, should be every museum's-
When you're designing one of your, um, mini museums at Micro, how are you deciding exactly what to show, even in the smallest score? Choose any, any which one of them and describe to us 'cause there must be so much sifting into what's the essence of the story or the content we want to tell.
So I had to come from outside of the museum industry in order to sort of use some of the approaches that I've brought to this, um, because if I had, you know, studied and, you know, like being enmeshed in the institution, uh, I would've been institutionalized.
And if you're starting from a brick-and-mortar institution that's expensive to get to, uh, that is this large marbled hall, um, you know, that is, you know, requires you getting on a, a, a train, walking, you know, and then getting in there and checking your coat, um, paying often quite a bit of money, and then, you know, walking through hall upon hall.
And, you know, there is a, a psychological phenomenon called museum fatigue-
... uh, which is that- Particular type of exhaustion that you get inside of museums.
If you're starting from trying to incrementally improve upon that system, your ability to achieve the impact that you want to achieve, uh, is already so substantially limited.
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