Play and manifestations of playfulness in interactive and immersive museum spaces

ABSTRACT

The paper critically examines connections of play in interactive and immersive spaces that comment on climate and environmental crisis. The analysis of a playful museum space with a focus on the responses of the audience members emphasises how this type of environment brings play and playfulness to the foreground while engaging with a topic that can be abstract, perplexing and formidable to comprehend and digest in its magnitude. The conception of play and manifestations of playfulness are analysed through the qualitative data from an on-site audience research conducted at the High Arctic installation at the National Maritime Museum, London. Interactive and immersive practices shift our attention to play with the somatic sense (Paterson, M. 2007. The senses of touch. Oxford & New York: Berg), movements and sensations. The multi-sensory and spatial elements blur the boundaries and challenge the perception of play and playfulness for adult audiences. How can these mediated spaces expand or reinforce our understanding of play? Play is a rich metaphor that uncovers a network of relationships that is often overlooked. The paper discusses how these spatial, embodied practices and modes of engagement extend and provoke our conceptions of play when considering the immediate, yet distant threat of climate change.

KEYWORDS:

• Interactivity
• immersion
• museum space
• play
• playfulness

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 United Visual Artists (UVA) is a London-based art practice that combines a wide range of disciplines to create emotionally engaging work: uva.co.uk/.

2 Judith Hornman and Rosie Mitchell, United Visual Artists, interview by author, digital recording, 18 November 2011, London.

3 High Arctic installation visitor, interview by author, digital recording, 14 November 2011, National Maritime Museum London.

4 High Arctic installation visitor, interview by author, digital recording, 14 November 2011, National Maritime Museum London.

5 The BBC TV series Frozen Planet was mentioned several times as a reason why the audience had visited the exhibition, indicating the tendency of an audience to create intertextual associations through familiarity and allusions.

6 High Arctic installation visitor, interview by author, digital recording, 15 November 2011, National Maritime Museum London.

7 High Arctic installation visitor, interview by author, digital recording, 16 November 2011, National Maritime Museum London.

8 High Arctic installation visitor, interview by author, digital recording, 15 November 2011, National Maritime Museum London.

9 High Arctic installation visitor, interview by author, digital recording, 16 November 2011, National Maritime Museum London.

10 High Arctic installation visitor, interview by author, digital recording, 16 November 2011, National Maritime Museum London.

11 High Arctic installation visitor, interview by author, digital recording, 16 November 2011, National Maritime Museum London.

12 High Arctic installation visitor, interview by author, digital recording, 14 November 2011, National Maritime Museum London.

13 High Arctic installation visitor, interview by author, digital recording, 14 November 2011, National Maritime Museum London.

14 High Arctic installation visitor, interview by author, digital recording, 15 November 2011, National Maritime Museum London.

15 High Arctic installation visitor, interview by author, digital recording, 15 November 2011, National Maritime Museum London.

16 High Arctic installation visitor, interview by author, digital recording, 14 November 2011, National Maritime Museum London.

17 High Arctic installation visitor, interview by author, digital recording, 15 November 2011, National Maritime Museum London.

18 High Arctic installation visitor, interview by author, digital recording, 15 November 2011, National Maritime Museum London.