The contemporary visual art audience : space, time and a sideways glance

Abstract

A modified retail research model has been used to study the behaviour of visual art audiences to better understand the actions of viewers as they encounter the environment where contemporary art is displayed. Behaviours are expressed in a movement, a glance, the positioning of ones body in space, the placement of a belonging. Actions reveal or express an individual's role within the viewing environment. What the audience is unable to express verbally the ethnomuseologist is able to interpret and use as a tool for audience development. The research methodology developed for this study provides the key to expose and analyze viewer's actions and relationships within the space of interaction. The work of Paco Underhill was the impetus for this research as his market research showed shoppers reacted to their retail environment in unpredictable, yet obvious ways that once isolated could be rationalized and the retail environment altered to make their shopping experience a more enjoyable one. It stood to reason that this form of research methodology could achieve similar results when implemented in the art museum environment. The particular characteristic of the modified research model used for this thesis, and what makes its application unique, is its ability to be implemented in any site where art is displayed. To test this theory, the researcher chose disparate locations where contemporary visual art was displayed, and compared and contrasted the results of her observations. Included were the 2006 Biennale of Sydney at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia; the inaugural Singapore Biennale 2006 at various locations in Singapore; and Documenta 12, 2007, within a variety of venues in Kassel, Germany. Behaviours were analysed using theories of social behaviour, aesthetic experience and spatial dynamics, overlaid with museological theory. Results suggest that this ethnomuseological (termed by the author) research model is able to recognize, analyze and present ways of resolving viewing idiosyncrasies that require modification to support and improve the viewing experience. In this way the ethnomuseologist is able to act as audience advocate, without interruption to the viewers experience, whilst gathering pertinent information. The argument for a more user-friendly visual arts environment is championed within contemporary art critical commentary.

Date of Award	2008
Original language	English