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Ch3_pt5

Page history last edited by Nina Simon 14 years, 4 months ago

Programmatic Socially Networked Experiences

 

    Free2Choose is an example of an exhibition at stage three that could be altered to offer some stage four experiences.  But there are many stage four platforms already in action from which to learn. Let's turn away from exhibits and look at visitor service and educational program models intended to connect strangers to each other via unique user identities.

    The Ontario Science Center employs a novel staffing technique in their Weston Family Innovation Centre, a dynamic space focused on innovation learning and contemporary science issues geared towards teens and young adults. There are many exhibits in the Innovation Centre that feature no instructional text or graphics. This didactic approach is intended to support visitors exploring innovation practices like discovery and collaboration in the space, but understandably, a lot of visitors get confused and have questions about the experience. Staff in the Innovation Centre are called "hosts," and they act more like they are putting on a party than instructing people about science. They are social and highly visible throughout the space. When a visitor approaches a host with a question about how something works or what it's for, the host will often pull in another visitor, saying, "Hey, can you help us out? We have a question." The hosts thus link visitors--often strangers--to each other, and provide a supportive environment for those visitors to play and learn together. Of course, the Innovation Centre hosts randomly select visitors to bring together; they don’t network them based on any underlying strategy beyond gathering visitors who seem friendly and are proximate to each other in real time (again, the Near exhibit isn't quite as abstract as it seemed).There are some visitors for whom this kind of host strategy would be very off-putting, but in the context of the Innovation Centre, it both fits in with the overall vibe of the space and supports the educational goals for the Centre.

        There's a much more intentional platform for interpersonal connection at work in the Living Library program. The Living Library was conceived in Denmark in 2000 as a way to engage youth in dialogue about ending violence by encouraging people to meet their prejudices and fears in a safe, fun, facilitated environment. It's a program that creates opportunities for regular people to have conversations with people who fit certain stereotypes. And it's based on a really clever metaphor. As its organizers put it: "The Living Library works exactly like a normal library – readers come and borrow a 'book' for a limited period of time. After reading it they return the Book to the library and – if they want – they can borrow another Book. There is only one difference: the Books in the Living Library are human beings, and the Books and readers enter into a personal dialogue. The Books in the Living Library are people representing groups frequently confronted with prejudices and stereotypes, and who are often victims of discrimination or social exclusion. The 'reader' of the library can be anybody who is ready to talk with his or her own prejudice and stereotype and wants to spend an hour of time on this experience. In the Living Library, Books cannot only speak, but they are able to reply to the readers' questions, and the Books can even ask questions and learn themselves."

    In other words, visitors sign up with a staff member, look through the catalog, pick the stereotype they are interested in "meeting", and enter into a 45-minute conversation with a real person who embodies that stereotype. A Living Library requires three kinds of people:

    1.    Books, who openly and authentically represent certain stereotyped groups (i.e. Feminists, Disabled People, Muslims, Police, Goths, Gays)

    2.    Readers, who check out the Books for 45-minute to 2-hour discussions

    3.    Librarians, who facilitate the whole process

    Since 2000, Living Libraries have been produced primarily in Europe at festivals and libraries with support from the Council of Europe youth sector. While they started as one-off events, Living Libraries have increasingly included in the regular slate of programming at major libraries and educational facilities. While a four-hour Living Library may only draw a hundred Readers, it engages those hundred people (along with twenty or more Books) in substantive dialogue, and the spectator/lurker effect on those who just browse the catalog or take a quick glance around can affect many more people. The organizers were careful to state that the Living Library is not a publicity stunt for an organization nor an advertisement for the Books involved. Instead, “The Living Library is a tool to foster peaceful cohabitation and bring people closer together in mutual and careful respect for the human dignity of the individual. This is true for the readers, the Books and the organisers alike.”

    The Living Library is an inspirational socially networked program. The librarians are the connectors who make it possible for Books and Readers to come together in authentic conversation. The Living Library doesn’t use docents or actors to represent content. As one librarian commented: "Readers often ask: 'If I choose someone from the catalogue, will you bring an actor or an actress who will play the role of the book?' When I say 'no', ,and as soon as they understand that the Book is authentic with the title, they become very excited. "

    By serving as the connectors instead of delivering content, the Living Library can scale up to as many Books are available and interested. The Librarians can spend their time recruiting new and interesting books rather than learning how to deliver the content (less effectively) themselves. And more Books can reach more Readers. Here's a reflection from a Book who represented his occupation as a Subway Ticket Inspector:

    "The policemen and I were some of the most popular Books, and out on loan almost all the time. So I decided to begin taking my readers to a place not far from the Library where we could have a drink and chat. As it turned out, it was very interesting to meet and learn about how these young people experienced us (ticket inspectors) on duty in the trains.

    Some of the most frequently asked questions were 'Do you have to be a bastard to get a job like yours?', 'Don't you ever feel sorry for those people who somehow find themselves in a situation without a ticket but needing transportation?' or 'Isn't it terribly difficult for you to have to do this to other people?'. In several cases they had questions that related to a specific situation they themselves had been involved in. I heard many of the readers' personal experiences with my colleagues, good and bad. But the advantage of the situation was that I was right there, sitting with them and ready to try to answer their questions. I often had to cut the conversation short when the time ran out.

    I especially remember one situation with a young couple, sworn members of the Punk scene with their colourful hair and black leather outfits; we had a very interesting discussion and some more people joined us and started to ask questions. It ended up being 20 people joining in and listening to me babble about my work as 'the bad guy who writes out the tickets'."

    The Living Library uses the power of networking to support powerful learning experiences for Books, Readers, and onlookers. Unlike other networks we've explored in this chapter, the Living Library does not function on a proximate model. It doesn't give you Books that are most "like you" or related to your lived experience. Instead, it challenges you to connect with something foreign and unfamiliar. The value system that underlies the Living Library network is one focused on confronting long-held beliefs and moving outside your comfort zone. 

    And in this way, the Librarians play a very special role. They are the heart of the system, and they set the values that make the Living Library work. One of the surprising things about the Living Library methodology is how closely it mimics traditional library experiences. The Reader experience is mediated by a gate-keeping Librarian and a catalogue. The Living Library spaces are often decorated to simulate libraries, or increasingly, are staged in real libraries. The design encourages visitors to fill out a library card, browse of the catalogue before selecting of a Book, and spend a significant amount of time with any Book selected. Librarians maintain these conventions, even in a context in which they seem a bit absurd. The creators of the Living Library project recognized an essential civic value of libraries as civil, safe places and capitalized on that value to make a risky proposition to users. By framing the whole experience in the context of a library, which has widely understood implicit rules and expectations, they turned something that could have simply been about provocation and bravado into a true learning opportunity.

    This contextual framing sets the Living Library apart from other dialogue programs intended to connect strangers or to invite visitors to confront foreignness. In 2009, artist Jeremey Deller facilitated a dialogue program called It Is What It Is: Conversations About Iraq, which traveled to several museums in the US. The piece featured two guests, an Iraqi translator and a US Army reservist, who sat on couches in a conversational space, flanked by a powerful artifact--a car that was destroyed in a suicide bomb attack in Baghdad. The goal was to support "messy, open-ended discussion," and the draw was the idea that visitors could go to the museum and talk about Iraq with someone who had actually been there during the war.

    I saw It Is What It Is twice at the Hammer Museum in LA. Both times, the central square it was situated in was well-trafficked with people enjoying the art, hanging out with friends, and working. I never saw anyone engage in dialogue with the program participants. Even with a couple of comfortable couches, a provocative object, and a sign that said, "Talk to X from 3-5," the barriers to participation were high. Why would I want to talk about Iraq? Why would I want to talk about it with a stranger? Why would I want to sit on a couch and engage in a conversation with a stranger?

    It Is What It Is highlights how difficult it is to invite people into dialogue--not just on tough topics like the Iraq War, but any topic. From my perspective, “It Is What It Is” was not designed with sufficient structure to robustly and consistently support dialogue. It doesn't clearly welcome people in or bridge the social barriers that keep us from naturally talking to strangers. It doesn't set expectations for what will happen (which was intentional) and that makes people wary and also less interested, since they can't look forward to a "successful" outcome.

    The Living Library, in contrast, is well-designed to do all of these. The library setting introduces deliberately designed conventions that make it comfortable to get over these questions and talk with strangers about unpleasant topics. The librarian structures facilitation of the experience. And while the discussions may often get messy and open-ended, they don't start that way. They start via a formal structure in which a Book is selected from the catalog and the Book is introduced to the Reader for the lending time. The Living Library has designed their dialogue platform intentionally to help people enter through personal activities of self-identification (Books) and personal choice (Readers). "It Is What It Is" and other unstructured platforms just plunk down the people and hope for dialogue. Occasionally, some really interesting and surprising things may happen. But they are a lot less likely than in designed settings.

 

 

 

 

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Comments (1)

hadrasaurus said

at 8:58 am on Nov 6, 2009

This paragraph is very powerful, worth parsing further, and worth a few more working suggestions.

"From my perspective, “It Is What It Is” was not designed with sufficient structure to robustly and consistently support dialogue. It doesn't clearly welcome people in or bridge the social barriers that keep us from naturally talking to strangers. It doesn't set expectations for what will happen (which was intentional) and that makes people wary and also less interested, since they can't look forward to a "successful" outcome."

I agree with your points. They are key to making these higher stage interactions happen. I think the library setting, conventions, and skill of the facilitators may mask your important points and how to move similar successes into other cultural institution settings. Museums may need some more help on understanding and implementing these important points. Museums are very rarely foster closely facilitated conversations (Living Librarians compared to "canned" guided tours and reception desk encounters, etc) and museums are definitely less traditionally conversational that librarian and reader, or reader to reader in book groups. Living history museums are somewhat better at this than say natural history museums or art museums, though the living history venues mostly try to keep costumed interpreters in character and in-time (this both enhances the experience and frustrates normal conversation).

It would be interesting to hear your suggestions and further examples for bridging these barriers and conventions.

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