Behavioral Mapping
Time was running short and I needed to choose a direction quickly. After sitting down with my thoughts for a while, I realized that the choreography around artwork was the topic that fascinated me the most.
There is a seemingly established museum script and codes of conduct for museum-going behavior. People move quietly from room to room and gaze solemnly at the masterpieces on the wall. At the same time, people move left and right, forward and back to see the painting from different viewpoints. How could I intervene in this script and add an element of playfulness to the museum experience?
I came across a lecture by Diane Shooman called "Art and the Perceptive Body." She writes of the importance of physical movement to our experience of the visual arts: "A work speaks to you personally: you stop in your tracks. You move before or around it, shifting your perspective, deepening your engagement. You may in fact be moving in response to it. You step back to take it in as a whole; it pulls you in and opens itself to you. You may feel seen, understood" (Shooman, p. 2).
She also references our reading The Eyes of the Skin by Juhani Pallasmaa: "As Pallasmaa implies with the title The Eyes of the Skin, “seeing” is not a function of central vision alone; our bodies are involved in the act of and reaction to visual perception (Shooman, p. 6).
Physical Computing: Proximity Sensors
I started looking at proximity sensors and thought of making a wearable armband. As people moved closer to one another, it would trigger some sort of output. I thought of perhaps a heating device to feel the warmth of the person next to you, or something involving wind to indicate the presence of the person next to you.
Input: proximity/distance between two people
Output: sound? wind? warmth? I need to justify why I want to use certain elements
I had the input down, but I still needed to figure out which output would best convey the concept of my design.
I also wanted to look at the rhythm and pacing of visitor movements. Perhaps I could create a musical structure out of these rhythms, such as the duration in which museum visitors stand next to one another.
Eye-Tracking
I also briefly considered an eye-tracking device, where the input would be two people's eyes landing on the same spot of the painting. This was inspired after a visit to the Wellcome Collection's In Plain Sight exhibition where I came across the work of Alfred Yarbis.
If I had started earlier with this idea, I would have explored it further, but I needed to quickly start making my design as there were only a couple weeks left.
from the Wellcome Collection's In Plain Sight exhibit
Storyboard
I made a storyboard of the proximity sensor idea to hopefully generate more ideas about the output and to see whether this would be a feasible design.
Physical Computing
I went to to the Creative Technology Lab to start working on my proximity sensor idea. After learning about the different possible outputs: light, sound, vibrations, the one that seemed most relevant to my idea was vibrations. However, these vibrations were so minute (only like a phone vibration). I wanted two people to walk toward the same spot and for there to be a vibration in the ground.
Still, the question remained: so what? They feel a vibration, and then what? I was not satisfied with this design idea and went back to the drawing board.
playing around with motion sensors in the Creative Technology Lab
Fluxus
I went back to one of my favorite art movements, Fluxus, and decided to make a book of instructions. Although I did not want to direct people outright, I thought a series of prompts might spur the type of choreography and engagement with one another that I could not quite achieve with the proximity sensors. Perhaps I could combine the two, but that can be a future iteration of this project.
First Iteration of Choreography Booklet:
I brought my booklet to the National Gallery and approached strangers. I had a sample size of 6 participants. I asked them to choose a few of the event scores to do, and then I interviewed them after about their experience. A common theme was that they appreciated how it made them engage with the art more. They also noted that the prompts helped them notice things in paintings that they would not have seen before. They also liked that it showed them how to look at paintings, rather than just what the facts say on the plaque.
I asked them if they would change or add anything, but none of them had any suggestions. I concluded that I would need a bigger sample size.
Lovely Participants of First Booklet Prototype
I decided to add a section at the end for future participants to add their own event scores to make the booklet more interactive.
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