A new space for interaction?

The growing need in the museum sector to attract a wider audience, has led to more attention for the visitor experience. There has been a change in discourse in which the visitor is not perceived as a passive observant, but as a participant who actively assigns meaning. The growth of interactivity at museums could, however, be viewed as entertainment, and rule out the process of signification. In Relational Aesthetics it is assumed that the critical function of exhibitions remained when new technologies in art could be used to stimulate social behavior. In a public sphere where spontaneous sociability has been repressed by mechanization, the exhibition could function as an interstice. This research focused on how the social behavior and experiences of visitors could be affected by the possibilities for interaction at two exhibitions. First, I observed the arrangements of Avant Garde in motion, with art of Alexander Calder, and of In Orbit with the physical accessible installation of Tómas Saraceno. I did covered participatory observations on the social behaviors of visitors of both exhibitions. This was followed by in-depth interviews on the experiences of visitors. At the Calder exhibition, visitors kept a composed attitude while they were standing or walking with a serious expression and in silence or whispering. The little interaction was aimed at direct companions. I related this to the arrangement of the exhibition space, which seemed to direct visitors behaviors in an indirect way; through created platforms and a walkway, preventing visitors from coming to close to the mobiles and sculptures and directing their walking route. From the interviews it became evident that visitors felt limited by the restrictions on the movement of the art and the presence of the attendants. The abstract nature of the art mostly evoked questions and conversations about the design. Some visitors felt that the art needed no explanation or discussion. It was difficult for the visitors to describe their feelings and the physical involvement was of indirect nature. The observations at the Saraceno exhibition showed that visitors talked more, even a bit to unknown visitors, smiled and laughed more and showed a wider range of physical activities. In Orbit was a large, physical accessible installation high up in the museum building. Areas were created through a division of three levels of net structure and the placement of spheres and a pillows. The interviews pressed the physical- and emotional involvement of visitors: the physical adaptation process left little scope for cognitive reflection. Also, a wide range of emotions was experienced and this was the key topic of conversations. Some visitors stated that the installation reminded them of an amusement park, the interactivity was mainly perceived as entertainment. However, I discussed the possible signification of visitors’ physical appropriation of the space; breaking with dominant museum standards as silence and composure, and inhabiting the installation as a ‘lived space’ instead of a conceptual area.