Interpretive materials are used in art museums and galleries as a means to encourage audiences to engage with artworks on another level. They attempt to further a visitors experience by allowing them to respond to the artworks in ways they otherwise wouldn’t. To learn about an artist’s reasoning and creative process, so that they can tap into their own creativity. To consider many different voices- whether they are artists, curators, experts, novices, or children. And to explore an artistic space in a more hands on as well as thoughtful way. Inhabiting the space thus becomes about discovery as well as learning.
What you bring to the museum also matters. Your experiences, opinions, culture etc will all affect your overall experience and understanding. The combination of own experience and information is created through the use of interpretive materials. Different types of interpretive materials address different people depending on their learning preferences as well as capabilities. Materials include both live programs (tours, classes…), and installed programs (labels, audio tours, slide shows, videos, touch screens, kiosks, journals and notebooks to write and draw in and more). A few more specific examples (mentioned in “New Angles On Interpretation”) which were held at the DAM museum include – “create your own art” stalls, question and answer cards about the artists, voting stations, kiosks to videotape yourself, the use of iPods to interact with music while viewing the art, poetry stands, and the opportunity to make your own postcards.
One of the aims of art museums and galleries like the DAM, is to reach out to their adult audience. When people think of interpretive materials in general they would normally associate them with children, or at least a younger audience. However, interpretive materials are striving to reach out to adults so that they too can broaden their experience at an art museum. They too are encouraged to interact with their creative side, and to try out new things so as to engage with the art more. The problem is trying to reach to an adult audience without them feeling uncomfortable with participating in “child like” activities. Museums thus have to be careful in choosing the right activities, and displaying them in the right kind of way so that adults are happy to participate. As discussed in “new angles of interpretation” the materials and the language used can make a big difference. For example, a leather bound book will do more to attract an adult to write their response rather than paper and coloured pens. Creating a space with obviously sized adult tables next to child tables and stools will also help people to recognize that all ages are invited to engage with interpretive materials. The language on the directions also has to be inviting and encouraging so as to make people feel comfortable. The findings of the study carried out by DAM that the words “tell us your story” rather than “tell us what you think about this” will encourage more response is very interesting. Similarly, adults are more likely to add their own response alongside an expert, if the experts tone is light and friendly. To perceive an artist or educator on a similar level to yourself will encourage response.
However, there still does appear to be some kind of hesitation in adults to join in with such activities other than perhaps reading labels and writing a few words in a guest book/journal. As New Angles states…“adult visitors just don’t expect to find activities geared towards them in a museum and aren’t quite sure what to do when they discover them”. I partly believe that adults aren’t really that willing to participate in certain activities simply because they aren’t that interested in doing so. Do they even really have the time to sit down at an interactive screen and pick out things to do, or sit down at a desk and make a postcard as was done at the DAM. Surely when visiting art museum adults simply want to look at the art, read some information, discuss it with their friends, and perhaps write something down in a response book at the most. Don’t some of these interpretive materials go too far in their expectations of what people want? They also seem to underestimate an adult audience’s ability to interact and engage with artworks by themselves. Do they really need all these other materials to really “feel” the emotions that are desired by the museum? If an artwork is going to stir up something inside you, it will by itself.
You could argue however that with those works which don’t immediately grab your attention, or interest you, engaging with it on another level (such as watching a video interview with the artist, or reading other visitors or experts responses), may help you to understand it more. You can at least attempt to acknowledge the artist’s creative process, but you probably won’t relate to it in any personal way.
I can’t help but feel that taken too far, interpretive materials try too hard to evoke a response in people. They could be distracting, and even the reports at the end of the article New angles… suggests that on average, participants who were asked to rate question labels, rated them with a pretty mediocre score. Similarly they had “similar results with iPods, with poetry and with the modern and contemporary labels” and yet they still think it’s worth doing because there is a small audience who really do enjoy using the materials and participating in the activities.
My overall impression of the aims of museum personnel is to turn the art museum into a new kind of environment. This environment is less concerned with the discipline of art history by itself, and more concerned with the culture of today, and their creative experiences and abilities. “to consider the physicality of art, in addition to its more cerebral aspects”. This may be suitable for a modern gallery, but to lose all focus of the actual art is a risk. Signals in the New angles article suggest this, especially when the master teachers Heather Nielsen and Lisa Steffen claim they don’t discount the value of any thoughtful response (in the visitor journals of their exhibitions)even if it has nothing to do with the art.
Because people often don’t notice certain labels, books, and activities designed for their use Museums are thinking up new ways to grab our attention through the use of noticeable signs, prompts, and instructions to direct us. This is where interpretive materials become intrusive and distracting. Shouldn’t we be directing ourselves through the space, and making our own choices? Even DAM admits “we haven’t hit on the right solution yet”.
However, I do believe that there is something valuable in the use of interpretive materials, particularly for younger audiences who learn through exploration. It is important to engage an audience as much as possible, but I do believe that some kind of balance between informative and creative material, and the actual art has to be reached. As interpretive materials become
more technological something in the sophisticated simplicity of the art gallery/museum could be lost. As long as Interpretive Materials are not intrusive, then they are effective.
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