Into the unknown -
confessions of a convenor

The BIG event this year was very much a case of into the unknown for me. It was my third and most enjoyable BIG event, but it was the first time that I was convening a session!

The session was to come after the great and the good explaining about ECSITE-UK so I was expecting either no audience at all, or maybe worse, an avid and expectant crowd. My plans to drug the tea came to no avail, but thanks to an excel-lent panel the session was a huge success (Nothing got thrown at us and there was standing room only!). The session arose from conversations and e-mail exchanges between those of us described as 'deep thinkers' (Thanks chair!) where the meaning of exhibits and their place in the universe was pondered. The session itself consisted of four short presentations linked via 'from the floor' discussions.

First up was Ian Russell discussing the need for a balance between 'minds-on and hearts-on' in hands-on interactives (see www.interactives.co.uk). The idea that playing and exploring with open questions must not be stifled by 'design lead by committee' and 'defined educational objectives' was met with an excited discussion and reference to too many design rather than con-tent led projects in recent times.

To me, Ian's most telling analogy was that there is rather too much 'house-training the kitten, rather than giving it a ball of wool to play with'.
Josh Phillips, from the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, made a plea to consider hands-on interactives as toys to be played with and explored. As a wonderful physical example of this, he interspersed his presentation with demonstrations of various wave characteristics and topology by playing with a small 'slinky' spring.

After continued and lively debate, Bronac Ferran, from the Arts Council of England discussed the need for the oft times disparate science and arts movements to work together and share their knowledge, a call that was soundly supported from the floor.

Being unable to push anyone else in front of me, it was time for my own humble ramblings on all things interactive. Bernoulli blowers being my favourite 'find anywhere' exhibits, I decided to share my ideas on forming a hands-on hands-on museum of Bernoulli blowers. My thought being that a hands-on exhibit can be considered as both an artefact (tool?) to communicate an underlying principle, but also as an artwork in terms of its design and meaning to the visitor. There are some good on-line collections of blowers of the world, these form a sort of virtual museum, for example have a look at http://www.exploratorium.edu/books/bernoulli/index.html.
Would anyone visit a museum of interactivity? Would it have to be a hands-off hands-on museum? If the exhibit becomes an artwork, can it still be played with? These were the kind of questions I used to develop discussion on thinking outside the exhibit box and to consider its hidden meaning to the visitor and developer.
In these days of design rather than content led exhibition development, it is important not to forget the meaning of what happens in the brushed aluminium box.
In hindsight, convening a session was great fun, with 'moderating' discussion being a most interesting challenge given the shy and quiet nature of BIGGERS.

If you found the session interesting, or just enjoyed this article, perhaps there is room to have a mini-sig for 'deep thinkers'. Feel free to get in touch with me if you think this would be useful. Have a look at www.pinder-research-services.co.uk for a cyber-bernoulli blower and a free download of previous work on the meanings and message of exhibits- feed-back welcome!

Phil Pinder

Newsletter Autumn 2001 Contents

From the Chair
Universeum. Sweden
Explainer report
ECSITE in the UK
Convenor at the BIG Event
An explainers' Big Event