VISITOR-WRITTEN LABELS IN U.S. ART MUSEUMS
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Authors
Nashashihi, Saiwa Mikdadi
Issue Date
2002
Type
Capstone
Language
en
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
What are the strategies used in the interpretive label that motivate and challenge visitors to draw upon their own personal repertoire and engage in an aesthetic encounter with the art displayed? One of the objectives of this project is to review the literature on the evolution of the interpretive label and the modalities used in their design. If the interpretive label has been shown to enhance the visitors' museum experience, its importance in the visitor-written labels exhibitions can't be overlooked. How are interpretive labels or texts used in visitor-written labels exhibitions? The Findings section of this project outlines examples of practices used in visitor-written labels exhibitions. Museums are social institutions. Studies have shown that three-quarters of visitors come in groups; they attend exhibitions not only to socialize but also to share experiences of learning and discovery. Engaging in meaning making with other visitors or group members, either verbally or through the label is an important part of the museum experience. In their proposed Interactive Experience Model, John Falk and Lynn D. Dierking, leading museum researchers and evaluators, analyze the museum experience within the constructivist paradigm, describing the social context as the visitors' interaction with other visitors who bring their own personal context to the contact. They assert that museums are unique environments for collaborative learning among social groups who use each other as platforms for interpretation and for reinforcing shared values. Falk further asserts that this dialog among visitors facilitates learning and his findings in museum learning are supported by theories in social psychology that demonstrate the value of interaction in enhancing learning.