Embodied interpretation: Gesture, social interaction, and meaning making in a national art museum

Abstract

This study expands on sociocultural approaches to meaning making in art museums by exploring the physical aspects of interaction with art in traditional gallery spaces, and in the context of technology use. The notion of ‘embodied interpretation’ is introduced to explore the complexity of embodied interaction in interpreting art, and to contribute to existing vocabularies of gesture. The research is informed by sociocultural perspectives on meaning making as well notions of embodied interaction, and asks the following research questions: “What are the relevant bodily and gestural practices that shape socially situated interactions in art galleries?” and “What insights into meaning making in art museums can be gained through an approach of embodied interpretation?” The study incorporates interaction analysis and design-based research methods to investigate three episodes from a national museum in which groups of adolescents interact with three different kinds of objects: a sculpture, a painting, and an interactive tabletop. Analysis reveals that visitors use gesture, as well as bodily positioning and movement in a variety of ways to coordinate social processes, and to mediate thinking and perception in the interpretation of art.