Playing at Scale

Is "Bigger" really "Better"? It could be when you are talking about some types of interactive exhibit experiences and immersive spaces.

Scaling up familiar experiences like tabletop games and toys often provides an interesting design twist and can add new kinds of visitor opportunities -- especially those that foster multi-user engagement.

For example, the photo at the top of this post shows a giant board game about different types of birds featured in ancient Roman mosaics at a historic Basilica in Bulgaria. Not only does scaling up this game create a large attraction, but it also encourages multiple people to participate in playing the game.

Similarly, giant chess sets are often seen at various outdoor venues, including parks and botanical gardens. It's fun to encounter an unexpected change in scale -- and to play a quick match with someone!

Tapping into nostalgia while changing the scale of a classic game or toy can even serve as an attraction at a trade show, as evidenced by the giant "Operation" game shown below.

Keeping things large-scale but changing contexts can also be an interesting design approach.  Subway hopscotch, anyone?

Lastly, maybe the successful Meow Wolf installations around the country could be considered funky, life-sized dollhouses?

If your smaller design ideas fail, maybe it's worth playing at scale!

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Paul Orselli writes the posts on ExhibiTricks. Paul likes to combine interesting people, ideas, and materials to make exhibits (and entire museums!) with his company POW! (Paul Orselli Workshop, Inc.) Let's work on a project together!

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Are (Some) Art Museums Becoming More Playful?

I recently read with great interest some articles excitedly announcing the opening of the "81st Street Studio" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

As the avalanche of press coverage makes clear, the 81st Street Studio is a fun and playful space for children and their adults that deals with many science-focused experiences.  An exhibition space geared towards Play, Fun, and Science in (gasp!) an Art Museum?

For Heidi Holder, chair of education at the Met, much of the business of this prestigious Art Museum is Science, especially in the Research and Conservation departments. Holder wanted the new exhibition space to allow young visitors to do what they normally can’t do in the Met’s existing family programs: drop in unscheduled, and touch what they see.

Of course, all this sounds very much like the sort of thing that both Children's Museums and Science Centers have been doing successfully for many years with much lower budgets and much less breathless press coverage.  (Note to the New York Times -- there are other types of museums in addition to Art Museums!)

One of the articles also mentioned that Cas Holman, an artist well-known for creating playful toys and spaces, will be bringing new play-focused exhibition experiences to the Queens Museum in 2024 (Check out this previous ExhibiTricks post about Holman's work on the "Wobbly World" exhibition at the Liberty Science Center.)

It may be that all this news of "play" and "touching" in Art Museum spaces will have some purists clutching their pearls and decrying the "dumbing down" of the museum-going experience. 

Nevertheless, it seems like Art Museums are catching on to the value of creating some playful, active spaces for children and their adult caregivers (and other young-at-heart visitors!) as an additional way to enjoy the artful content inside -- without preventing curmudgeons their opportunities to gaze pensively at 19th-century oil paintings inside the hushed galleries elsewhere.

Don't miss out on any ExhibiTricks posts! It's easy to get updates via email or your favorite news reader. Just click the "Sign up for Free ExhibiTricks Blog Updates" link on the upper right side of the blog.

Paul Orselli writes the posts on ExhibiTricks. Paul likes to combine interesting people, ideas, and materials to make exhibits (and entire museums!) with his company POW! (Paul Orselli Workshop, Inc.) Let's work on a project together!

If you enjoy the blog, you can help keep it free to read and free from ads by supporting ExhibiTricks through our PayPal "Tip Jar"