This thesis researches how multi-sensory design techniques, such as touchable replicas, scent and soundscapes, influence the perception and reception of art in the museum. To create a more limited...Show moreThis thesis researches how multi-sensory design techniques, such as touchable replicas, scent and soundscapes, influence the perception and reception of art in the museum. To create a more limited scope, the new permanent collection display Dwarsverbanden in the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, is used as a case study. The interest in the use of multiple senses has been a point of discussion over the last decade, or so. However, not many Dutch exhibitions or institutions have been discussed in this field. Furthermore, the focus of these resources is never on the educational and experiential aspects of a museum visit. This thesis is divided into three topics: the material, the invisible and the experience. The material focuses on the perception of the objects themselves and their reproductions, therefore the sense of touch is the centre of discussion. The invisible focuses on the communication of the more abstract senses smelling and hearing. The experience aims to research the influence of multi-sensory design techniques on the educational value and how a visitor's attention is divided in the museum context. This research shows that the multi-sensory design tools used in this exhibition are translations of the two-dimensional artwork, which can be used as an aid. The senses each have a different approach to interpreting the artwork and evoke a different response. The use of a replica can gain a different perspective and open a sensory world, normally not present in the museum. The senses of smell and hearing communicate meaning and emotion and connect the visitor to the artwork. Research on visitor experience shows that multi-sensory design tools create an active student and fight boredom.Show less
Jonathan Edwards’ “Personal Narrative” is a chronological, retrospective account of Edwards’ spiritual life interposed with comments and reflections on his experiences with the Divine. He describes...Show moreJonathan Edwards’ “Personal Narrative” is a chronological, retrospective account of Edwards’ spiritual life interposed with comments and reflections on his experiences with the Divine. He describes multiple powerful, highly emotional encounters as he recounts his religious development from his childhood to the present. It stands as a central text of eighteenth-century spirituality, a touchstone of religious thinking in this period. This thesis argues that concerns with the fallibility of language are central to Jonathan Edwards’ “Personal Narrative” (c.1740), as he struggles adequately to describe spiritual experience in words even as that experience is said to go beyond language, including in its emotional and bodily effects.Show less
Research master thesis | Arts and Culture (research) (MA)
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This research maps the problems experienced by the prelingual Deaf in museums. Most Deaf people face linguistic, educational, and social barriers in museums. Nowadays, more and more museums make an...Show moreThis research maps the problems experienced by the prelingual Deaf in museums. Most Deaf people face linguistic, educational, and social barriers in museums. Nowadays, more and more museums make an effort to create access to their collection of artworks through programmes designed especially for Deaf people, like guided tours in sign language by Deaf museum educators or on tablets. An inclusive museum, however, is not labelling people as ‘Deaf’ or ‘hearing’, but is accessible to everyone without the need to design special programmes for particular groups. This interdisciplinary research combines Museum Studies, philosophy, Disability Studies, and cognitive neurosciences, to raise awareness for the inaccessibility of museums to the prelingual Deaf, and develops a theory of a multisensory presentation of collections of artworks that is accessible and beneficial not only to the Deaf, but also to other visitors. From the viewpoint of the museum visitor as embodied being, this research examines the possibility to make aesthetic judgments based on touch, taste, and smell.Show less
