Week17 : Progress
- Hannah Rees
- Oct 19, 2021
- 3 min read
Following a conversation with one of my peers, Jess, it was clear that we are on the same track and a very similar topic which was lovely to talk through and get someone else’s perspective. After mentioning my case studies, Jess suggested I look into a couple of other exhibitions that had a really powerful and emotional impact.
After spending a number of weeks focussing on the design and critical draft aspects of this project, it’s reall nice to go back to case studies and look at the psychological impact these had on the visitors.
Natural History Museum – Earthquakes
By involving an earth quake simulator into this earthquakes and volcanoes exhibiton, vistors are able to be completely immersed in the environment from the Japanese easthquake in a shop which has been designed in the exact same way, It’s a powerful and emotive tool for audiences of all ages. For my exhibition in the Art Gallery, I was considering installing a rainfall area which landed on a small 3D model of the Yorkshire valleys – a real demonstration of how water runs through these valleys and hits York. By utilising this exhibit, visitors can touch the rainfall, they can stop the water and even use blocks to redirect the rainfall away from the city – looking to Skiptons flood exhibit for inspiration, I feel this would be a really powerful tool so visitors can be in charge.
Politicians discussing Climate Change
This incredible street art has a really humorous impact but it definitely makes you stop and consider what you are looking at – by involving the people who see these little people in the water, vistors can interact with and spend time looking at these figurines. I think having a permanent feature like this is a really good way of making the exhibition last longer and has a more resounding impact on the visitor.
For example, if the Sandbox exhibit remains in place for 3 months, people who visit it can see it, touch it and sense it’s fragility. Then when the flooding starts as it does every year, those people who visited this sculpture will track it’s progress during the floods. It could be used to bring visitors back to the area, and to look at how the scuplture has changed because of the weather.
I need to look at discussing the intended audience of this exhibition within my critical report and also need to consider the design aspect of both my app and the AR side. I’ve spent sometime this week researching AR and app design and looking for research journals or books which might help me with some psychological and physical design aspects.
As discussed with John Stack, it’s important not to have a completely negative exhibition which bring the visitor into a spiral of helplessness; instead, focus on how positive aspects of climate change, or our human interaction with climate developments. For example, having green growing walls on the sides of the Minster as an example of positive climate developments, and larger green flood banks along the riverside with trees and water absorbing plants. This would show not only the negative developments of climate change in terms of flooding in York, but also how we predict the City might react to this changing climate.
As discussed in Hanussek’s (2020) journal, maps within the AR app are a vital aspect to museum and exhibition design which must be carefully and clearly considered. This is a vital aspect to the users journey through the exhibition or, in this case, through York. Users will need clear instructions on the use of AR, for some this might be their first foray into the digital AR environment and so must be clear and easy to use.
In terms of AR I also looked at the following for examples of case studies which used incredible AR in new and innovative ways:
Jakob Kudsk created the Serpentine Augmented Architecture exhibits – these AR sites can be used by visitors to listen to and visualise a story being told – the AR and spacial audio is site specific using public artowkr and a digital archive of species. This audio-visual ecological expedition is a perfact example of how AR can be used through certain outdoor areas to really bring home the important information I am trying to get across.
Comments