Harley Parker

This is the first book about the life and work of Harley Parker (1915-1992), Canadian museum exhibition designer, typographer, and painter. As friend and collaborator of media luminary Marshall McLuhan, Parker's influence extended far beyond the realm of art. In this groundbreaking intellectual biography, Genosko shows that Parker's unique perspective on museums is based on his application of McLuhan's medium theory to exhibition design. His emphasis on the role of the senses anticipated much of contemporary sensory studies, which will bring his work into focus for a new generation of scholars. A highlight of Parker's career as Head of General Display at Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum (1957-1968) was his Hall of Invertebrate Fossils, which opened to considerable acclaim in early 1967. That same year he mounted a multimedia gallery at the Museum of the City of New York. These milestones underscore Parker's profound impact on museum studies and communication theory. Central to this comprehensive study is the rediscovery of Parker's lost manuscript, The Culture Box, which would have confirmed his role as a central figure in the Toronto School of Communication had it not been lost for some fifty years. Scholars in communication, cultural, and museum studies will benefit from this exploration of Parker's thought, as will those interested in sensory studies and the enduring value of McLuhan's ideas. Genosko uncovers the legacy of Harley Parker (1915-1992), Canadian museum exhibition designer, typographer, and painter, and explores his innovative concepts reshaping museums as perceptual laboratories. Genosko uncovers the legacy of Harley Parker (1915-1992), Canadian museum exhibition designer, typographer, and painter, and explores his innovative concepts reshaping museums as perceptual laboratories. 14 B&W photographs, index "Genosko has collected impressive historical evidence that illustrates Harley Parker's foundational contributions to Canadian culture and museum practice as well as Parker's connection with Marshall McLuhan." Jaqueline McLeod Rogers, University of Winnipeg
"Gary Genosko seeks to bring Harley Parker, 'the McLuhan of the museum,' out from the shadows. In particular, Genosko sheds light on the sensory dimensions of museum exhibition design, which was central to Parker's approach to all manner of media." David Howes, author of The Sensory Studies Manifesto








• Acknowledgements


• List of Figures


• Introduction


• 1. Typography and Beyond: Events of Connection Between Parker and McLuhan


• 2. The Making of an Epigrammatic Man


• 3. Uncanny Selves and Family Resemblances


• 4. The Hall of Fossils at the Royal Ontario Museum


• 5. Reordering the Dutch Gallery at the Museum of the History of the City of New York: An Experiment in Museum Communication


• 6. Regaining the Multisensorial Museum in Translation


• Conclusion


• References


• Index