Page 155 - Introduction to Electronic Commerce and Social Commerce

144 • Sport, Media and Society

reconstructions may establish a context which evokes and recreates the ‘actual’
environment of production or use of an object, glass cases render the objects more
distant; they do not merge into their context in the same way as they might if they
were placed in a reconstructed site. (p. 173)

Rose (2007) drew attention to the way images are framed and hung in the art gallery
and museum. If paintings are hung in a single row around the walls of a room, they
invite the spectator to look at each in turn and consider each individually and thought-
fully. Rose observed that this is a twentieth-century practice—in the nineteenth cen-
tury, walls of galleries would be packed with images. The arrangement of exhibits
asks the visitor to look and feel in particular ways; sparse displays produce more
individualised and contemplative subjects. By contrast, multimedia displays create
stimulating intersensory experiences for visitors. Visitors are not only encouraged to
look, but also to listen, to touch and to smell.

Technologies of Layout and Interpretation

In addition to thinking about the overall design of the building, we can consider the

significance of the layout of individual rooms. How do the different elements of the
room relate to each other? According to what system are things arranged together?
Is a consistent narrative achieved, or are there objects that appear to stand out? The
decoration of the room is important: the colours and textures of the floors, walls and

ceilings as well as the type of furniture. Are visitors encouraged to sit and look or
listen?
The labels, captions and other written materials that accompany the exhibits can
be understood as technologies of interpretation, texts which act to tie down the pos-
sible range of meanings of the exhibit to those preferred by the museum. Rose (2007)
suggested that the typical labels accompanying paintings which specify the name
of the artist have the effect of making the author of the work the most important
thing about the art. The way such labels prioritise certain pieces of information work
against her contention that ‘there are many other aspects of an image that are more
important than who made it’ (Rose 2007: 186). It is useful, then, to consider how the
visitor is guided towards interpretation by pamphlets or catalogues that accompany
the exhibition, and whether the guides make clear that they are presenting an inter-
pretation or whether they are making claims to purport the truth.

The Subjectivity of the Museum Visitor

Museums construct subject positions for visitors to step into as they enter the exhibi-
tion. Just as prisoners are disciplined by the all-seeing gaze of the invisible warden,