Trial and Error

July's Late Night program came and went Friday before last, and I finally had the opportunity to put my theories into action! From 7-9pm, I was set up with a cart on the fourth floor here at the DMA, near the entrance to the American galleries. We had decided to make a test run of four different technology-based activities, each allowing visitors to make their own contributions to the context of works on display. What we learned from the evening is to be applied to the development of more technology based activities for the Pop-up Art Spots.

Below is a description of each activity. Disclaimer: I copied most of this text from the guest blogpost I made for DMA Canvas (the museum's education blog)...

Snapchat
To capitalize on smartphone technologies and trends in social media, we created a Snapchat activity that allows visitors to recontextualize the works on display at their own pace. Visitors were invited to take photos with their smartphones using the app, and then to draw or type atop the images to make it their own. By setting up an account for the museum (add DallasMuseumArt as your friend!), we were able to receive and save visitors’ submissions. 

The evening yielded 28 different photos created by 10 visitors, many of which were entertaining interpretations of the permanent collections.

DoodleBuddy

For those who were uninterested in maintaining a Snapchat account, there was another aoption for editing photos of works on display. The DoodleBuddy app in place on the iPads available for visitors to borrow from the activity cart had similar creative capabilities. Users could snap a picture and then add their own touches to a work.

This activity was the most popular that evening, as some 22 visitors worked individually or in pairs to create and save 14 new images. When finished, masterpieces could be saved to the museum’s iPad (to be later uploaded to Flickr) or emailed to the visitor for their own use.

Map the Collection

The least popular activity for the night was a mapping activity that utilized other capabilities of the DoodleBuddy app on the iPads. Visitors could borrow the iPads with the program, this time drawing and/or typing atop a preloaded map, to chart the works within a particular gallery. Because of its proximity to the cart’s location near the entrance to the American gallery, the trial program utilized the works from a gallery of Colonial Art of the Americas, allowing visitors to find the origins of works from Central and South America. One enthusiastic visitor was able to use the map to teach a friend about her home in Paraguay, and pointed out political and economic tensions that continue to this day.

Spotify

The use of music in the galleries is nothing new, but allowing visitors to create playlists that is accessible both within and outside of the galleries was a novel opportunity for most. Familiarity with the Spotify app was likely a hindrance for many who stopped by the activity cart, but 5 visitors decided to opt for the musical program on their smartphones or the provided iPads. When creating the playlist, users simply included “DMA Late Night” in the title to allow other Spotify members the chance to search, play, or follow playlists created in the museum. Gallery experiences translated through song can be accessed from anywhere, or even played back in the galleries to create a community of listening visitors.

We commandeered a Pop-up Art Spot cart for two hours, and had the four different activities visitors could try (with five iPads available to borrow). Surprisingly, no one walked too far off with the iPads, and the ability for visitors to submit snapchats from anywhere in the museum helped provide more variety.

Difficulties and Successes
Overall, the program felt like a success. About 50 visitors were interested enough to stop by the cart and ask questions, and a few tried multiple activities for up to 20 minutes at a time. I really enjoyed the discussions that came up, and it was great to hear visitors asking the questions about the works that I had intended. Of course, it was also helpful to hear the questions and concerns I had not anticipated, and to build off of the constructive criticism as needed. 

Some of the activities required lengthy explanations, especially if visitors were completely unfamiliar with the apps, so I still need to work on more user-friendly instructions. I'm looking forward to developing these programs further and adapting the content to fit the Pop-up Art Spots already in place. Thanks for reading!