Art and emotion: redefining museum experience
Alexey Munipov for HO! Conference
Emotional intelligence, exhibition design, inclusion, emotional diaries
Emotional intelligence, exhibition design, inclusion, emotional diaries
«Art and emotion» talk was the part of Hands up! conference, Europe's only children-dedicated museum conference. Ho! explores the latest developments in the field of children's education in museums, children's museums and science centers.
A recent study carried out by the British Art Fund found that 63% of adults in the UK used a visit to a museum or gallery to de-stress [1]. Furthermore, those under 30 are twice as likely to visit monthly to unwind. In the words of the Art Fund's Director Stephen Deuchar, the survey indicates that "visiting more frequently can have a positive effect on our overall sense of fulfillment and wellbeing". Clearly, an increasing number of visitors use museums and galleries as a tool in finding inner balance, not as a textbook of the history of art.
Traditionally, however, museums pay little attention to the audiences' emotional responses. This approach does not account for the role of emotional
intelligence in perception: the immediate emotional reaction to art defines our long-term impressions. As Kandinsky pointed out, every element of art is, at first, a matter of feeling [2].
Could we use emotions as a tool to redefine museum experience? That was the main topic of our discussion at the World Cafe Day. We shared our expertise based on the making of Playing With Masterpieces, a children's contemporary art exhibition which showed over 30 works by renowned artists including Picasso, Matisse, Kiefer, Bacon, Cattelan, Lichtenstein, Malevich, Kandinsky, Klein, Riley, Giacometti etc. You could try and explain art using theories, artists' biographies, historical and cultural context but you could also ask viewers to focus on their own emotions rather than facts and somebody else's thoughts. This simple idea proved to be liberating: not everyone is an expert in the history of art but everyone knows how they feel. To find your own connection with art you just need to ask - what do I feel right now and why? This approach places adults and children within the same perceptual framework, on equal grounds. It also allows greater inclusion for visitors with learning disabilities. The exhibition becomes an inclusive platform to explore and discuss emotions and therefore has a deeper emotional resonance for the participant, and with luck a greater purpose in their own lives.
Traditionally, however, museums pay little attention to the audiences' emotional responses. This approach does not account for the role of emotional
intelligence in perception: the immediate emotional reaction to art defines our long-term impressions. As Kandinsky pointed out, every element of art is, at first, a matter of feeling [2].
Could we use emotions as a tool to redefine museum experience? That was the main topic of our discussion at the World Cafe Day. We shared our expertise based on the making of Playing With Masterpieces, a children's contemporary art exhibition which showed over 30 works by renowned artists including Picasso, Matisse, Kiefer, Bacon, Cattelan, Lichtenstein, Malevich, Kandinsky, Klein, Riley, Giacometti etc. You could try and explain art using theories, artists' biographies, historical and cultural context but you could also ask viewers to focus on their own emotions rather than facts and somebody else's thoughts. This simple idea proved to be liberating: not everyone is an expert in the history of art but everyone knows how they feel. To find your own connection with art you just need to ask - what do I feel right now and why? This approach places adults and children within the same perceptual framework, on equal grounds. It also allows greater inclusion for visitors with learning disabilities. The exhibition becomes an inclusive platform to explore and discuss emotions and therefore has a deeper emotional resonance for the participant, and with luck a greater purpose in their own lives.
To find your own connection with art you just need to ask: what do I feel right now and why?
To see the artworks, you have to climb a ladder, bend down or look into a closet.
Photo: Andrew Bizon for Fermatalab
Photo: Andrew Bizon for Fermatalab
Our discussion on the day took various directions. Are modern museums ready for these types of exhibition? Could we use unusual layouts hanging the paintings lower so that children and wheelchair users could have the artworks at comfortable eye-level? Or even hide the artworks in cupboards, attics, custom-made boxes, behind secret doors? Could we group artworks so that they form emotional fields prompting visitors for contrasting emotions? Is it ok for children to move, dance, talk and express their emotions at the museum? As colleagues pointed out, it seems the American museums are moving in that direction faster than their European counterparts. The idea of redesigning their permanent exhibitions or finding new unorthodox ways to connect visitors with art questions the concept that high art is untouchable and seems to be way too radical for some museum directors.
Making our exhibition we were equally influenced by the early Yoko Ono's installations with ladders and instructions, and the inspiring Art As Therapy book by the British philosopher Alain de Botton who proposes, among other things, the complete redesign of the Tate Modern with the new Gallery of Love, Gallery of Compassion and Gallery of Fear [4]. We are not likely to see the changes of that scale in the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, one could imagine some experiments of this nature on a smaller scale: applying emotional tools, embodiment and psychotherapy practices that would give each visitor a chance to explore and discuss their emotional responses. Temporary design interventions and wearable aids, such as emotional diaries with stickers, could soon find their place in the museums' everyday life.
Making our exhibition we were equally influenced by the early Yoko Ono's installations with ladders and instructions, and the inspiring Art As Therapy book by the British philosopher Alain de Botton who proposes, among other things, the complete redesign of the Tate Modern with the new Gallery of Love, Gallery of Compassion and Gallery of Fear [4]. We are not likely to see the changes of that scale in the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, one could imagine some experiments of this nature on a smaller scale: applying emotional tools, embodiment and psychotherapy practices that would give each visitor a chance to explore and discuss their emotional responses. Temporary design interventions and wearable aids, such as emotional diaries with stickers, could soon find their place in the museums' everyday life.
A. de Botton, J. Armstrong: Art as Therapy, Phaidon, 2013
Riding down the slide to shouting Marina Abramovic and gloomy Anselm Kiefer masterpiece administers the sharp shock of surprise, amusement or anxiety.
Photo: Andrew Bizon for Fermatalab
Photo: Andrew Bizon for Fermatalab
Another point raised at the discussion was how to present difficult questions and uneasy topics at exhibitions aimed at children. Several case studies were mentioned including Freedom (National Gallery of Denmark, 2014), an exhibition for children based on the ideas of Søren Kierkegaard. The show asked children and adults alike to discuss the concept of freedom and what freedom meant to them. Again, the focus on visitor's thoughts and emotions (Why am I here? How does it relate to me?) instead of the history of ideas and artworks proved to be successful.
It is worth mentioning the positive public response to the new emotional approach with the visitor at the heart of the exhibition. Playing With Masterpieces saw a lot of returning visitors including teenagers — often the toughest age group to work with. We were also encouraged to see families with children on the autistic spectrum who found the approach highly effective. Emotional diaries were popular amongst all ages but most noticeably among children aged 6-12 and young people. Using the diaries roughly doubled the duration of each visit. This may be explained by the increased attention millennials devote to their emotions. Or, as Alain de Botton put it, the art itself works as a therapeutic medium that can guide, exhort and console its viewers. As our engaging discussion showed, the attempt to evoke senses and to appeal to emotional intelligence may be effective and could also have a long-lasting impact in different corners of the modern museum world.
1. Art Fund. Calm and collected. Museums and galleries: the UK's untapped wellbeing resource?, artfund.org, 2018
2. W. Kandinsky: On the Spiritual in Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, 1910
3. A. de Botton, J. Armstrong: Art as Therapy, Phaidon, 2013
It is worth mentioning the positive public response to the new emotional approach with the visitor at the heart of the exhibition. Playing With Masterpieces saw a lot of returning visitors including teenagers — often the toughest age group to work with. We were also encouraged to see families with children on the autistic spectrum who found the approach highly effective. Emotional diaries were popular amongst all ages but most noticeably among children aged 6-12 and young people. Using the diaries roughly doubled the duration of each visit. This may be explained by the increased attention millennials devote to their emotions. Or, as Alain de Botton put it, the art itself works as a therapeutic medium that can guide, exhort and console its viewers. As our engaging discussion showed, the attempt to evoke senses and to appeal to emotional intelligence may be effective and could also have a long-lasting impact in different corners of the modern museum world.
1. Art Fund. Calm and collected. Museums and galleries: the UK's untapped wellbeing resource?, artfund.org, 2018
2. W. Kandinsky: On the Spiritual in Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, 1910
3. A. de Botton, J. Armstrong: Art as Therapy, Phaidon, 2013