Playing games is a fairly universal pastime as a way to learn, enjoy leisure time, engage in social interaction, dabble in challenge and risk, and fulfill a competitive urge or support collaborative tendencies. Wow, what a checklist for a successful interpretive offering.
I have used the term playing games and not gaming as it has a connection to the technological animated video age, which I am not going to address. A recent visit to Palm Springs Art Museum sparked the initiation for this post. I was invited to play BINGO while wandering the gallery and this piqued my interest. Well, actually, I don’t quite remember if I was invited or if I begged to have a card because they were being preferentially targeted at families and not solo adults. I was just indulging my childlike curiosity and enthusiasm for games. I don’t as a habit go to bingo parlours waiting passively for cascading balls to singly emerge, then have the inscribed contents of their numerical surfaces bellowed out to me, so I can stamp a corresponding numbered space on a card.
This bingo card was different and had a visually active component more like the school bus game that is given to students on their way to your site, that combines the classic I Spy game of yore. The use of trigger words in spaces on a card is an attempt to encourage participants to look at their surroundings and record affirmatively whether they have spotted certain objects in their environment. If done well as a collaborative exercise, this could be a collective building of anticipation to visiting any centre. I have often thought this game technique could have many uses and that the choices of what are being asked to look for could be less random and more strategically related to site mission or exhibit outcomes.
Image courtesy Bill Reynolds
How did the Palm Springs Art Museum utilize this classic game? Obviously, they used pictures of artworks on display instead of numbers or words in the card spaces. Minimally, I assumed that the objective was to encourage exploration and expose the visitor to a wide range of objects by having them search for specific items as part of a task completion. I did not ask what the desired visitor outcomes were – I wanted to play the game.
However, I could not help conjuring up some questions related to why they chose, what they chose, for the images on the bingo card;
· Was it to encourage visits to all levels and each gallery space? The images would have had been chosen from all the floors.
· Was it to demonstrate a wide breadth of subject matter? The images would have been chosen to show portraits, sculptures, mixed media, pottery, etc.
· Was it to illustrate different surface textures? The images would have been chosen to represent metal, wooden, glass, ceramic, etc.
· Was it to stimulate interest in certain pieces so the visitor could ask specifically about any item they were very intrigued with and wanted to know its location? The images would have been chosen to represent iconic must see works.
image courtesy Bill Reynolds
· Was it to stimulate close-up investigations of pieces? The images would be showing only small portions and intriguing details of artworks - not complete views.
I experienced all of these when I analyzed the images-see what you think. Go back to the card of images. Endless possibilities depending on visitor outcomes!
Of course, this approach is not limited to art objects -yet again the sky is the limit when it comes to subject matter. I would weigh in that the benefit will come when the outcome is more observationally skill targeted and not just generically “visitors explore the whole site” or “visitors lengthen stay.” Fun and challenge are used not for their sake alone but are simply catalysts not the endgame.
Ah! But what was the actual process they used to play. The objective was to find enough art works to create one of the following: a diagonal, horizontal or vertical line. So, every time you found an item you “x”ed the image on the card. Honour system? They incorporated the use of the back of the card to get you to write down the title and artist beside its corresponding square. If you wanted to, you could return your completed card for a prize and staff would validate the back of the card. The extension to what could be written down beyond title and artist as observational practice opens up many options again -depending on desired visitor outcomes.
Scavenger hunt games have probably come to mind as you read this account and they continue to hold fascination for all ages, especially in groups where there is social interaction involved. The use of these techniques for the young adult crowd as part of an evening visit has potential. They would work in teams to solve something based on deep viewing of different artworks, where discovering onward clues would move them from one piece to the next.
The Lure of Collectibles
In addition, Palm Springs Art Museum had a collectible of sorts, called Artwork of the Month (see image). It was a large bookmark style card with the card front focused on an artist and a photographic image of one piece being displayed, along with, on the cardback, the artist bio and an open area for the visitor to use to connect to the piece on display
Image courtesy Bill Reynolds
In this case, a symbolic drawing was being encouraged to reflect maternal protection and creativity that was the emotional focus the artwork in question was embodying. This “card” was perforated so that the top third could be separated into a business card size, with the artist name and bio being saved. Every month another card would be produced.
Immediately, I was nostalgically brought back in time to late primary age and early elementary age when I looked forward to collecting little cards about flowers, mammals and birds that came in Red Rose tea boxes. Similarly, as I aged I collected sport personality cards and this created a trading frenzy. This card collecting urge has not changed over time -just the subject matter -witness the present Pokemon craze.
So, I thought they may be onto something here. However, it is the colourful image that holds the allure plus a mini- bio so that is what should be on the smaller perforated collectible section. Maybe even a space for a one liner memento of how you felt when first seeing this artwork would have value. Having something only available for a short time -as in a monthly release- opens up return visit promotions for one. I am going to let you take this for an imaginative ride and see how your site (and partners) could cash in on this concept.
All in all, during this December -January holiday season, when game playing gets a sense of rejuvenation, this is a great opportunity to be more cognizant, especially, of recurring styles of games that have endured the test of time and explore how you can adapt their essence play qualities to your heritage appreciation objectives.