Interpretation design in virtual museums – Reviving an endangered culture industry through the Taiwanese Lacquerware Virtual Museum Chung-Wen Yang Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of Professional Doctorate in Design Faculty of Design Swinburne University of Technology December 2012 Abstract This study investigates the theory and practice of interpretation design for the virtual museum through a case study based on design of the Taiwanese Lacquerware Virtual Museum. The application of the internet has dramatically changed the model of information dissemination and communication since 1993, as well as transformed business models in the real world. This study takes one of the most influential internet applications – the blog – and makes it the centrepiece of a community-based virtual museum. The blog, as focus of online users’ interaction with each other and with the museum’s materials, becomes the vehicle for interpretation in accordance with the six principles set forth by foundational interpretive theorist Freeman Tilden in his seminal 1957 book Interpreting Our Heritage. The blog further brings the museum into the domain of ‘Web 2.0’ connectedness, with users’ shared communication enabling a dynamic, practical solution for the non-profit organisation constructing a community-based virtual museum. Thanks to the blog, a potential shortcoming of the virtual museum format – lack of, or weakness in, the interpretive function emphasized by Tilden – gives way, instead, to exceptional strength in that very same function. Every visitor can interact with the ‘guide’ – blog author – and with every other visitor. The richness of shared thought and experience finally attained will transcend that achievable in museums confined by walls. Thus, Tilden’s approach finds, not a stumbling block, but a new way forward, in the world of Web 2.0, the new interactive way of using the internet. I Successful implementation of the blog-centered virtual museum design entails use of an appropriate content management system (CMS). The present study employs a free, open-source content management system selected for its flexibility, ease in use, and other criteria recommending it to the project. Online museums, whether websites of traditional, ‘brick-and-mortar’ museums, or standalone virtual museums, have rapidly grown and proliferated. The virtual museum offers the smaller, not-for-profit institution an unprecedented opportunity to build and expand a supportive community. This fits it admirably to present, and preserve, Taiwanese Lacquerware, a craft art as refined and distinctive as Taiwan’s uniquely nuanced history itself. II Acknowledgements Many people have contributed to this research. I wish to express my gratitude to my principal supervisor, Keith Robertson, for his brilliant inspiration, enthusiasm, valuable comments and criticisms. It is wonderful to find a supervisor who encourages interdisciplinary study in the design area. His critical questions and challenges to my assumptions have allowed me to strengthen my arguments. My associate supervisor Margaret Woodward has provided useful insights at crucial stages in the development of the research. My special thanks go to Carolyn Barnes for providing valuable insights and guidance in regard to my research method. I would also like to acknowledge Mr. Timothy C. Gallavan, the professional editor, not only for his superior editing skills, but also for his encouragement. My special thanks are due to professor of professional technique, Huang, Li-shu, for her assistance in collecting the material for the research. I am particularly indebted for her patient assistance through detailed interviews. I am also indebted to many lacquerware craft artists and collectors for sharing their experiences and helpful suggestions. Without them, I would not have had the chance to discover the untold craft history of Taiwanese lacquerware from its very beginning. Most importantly I gratefully acknowledge the support of my wife, parents and two little daughters. Your continuing love and encouragement is what makes life meaningful. III Preface This design research project consists of a written document and a body of design work presented on the internet in the form of the Taiwanese Lacquerware Virtual Museum. The design prototype for the virtual museum explores the issues raised in the text through design practice. Please read the written document first and then view the online Taiwanese Lacquerware Virtual Museum website at the address below: http://www.lacquer.com.tw IV Candidature declaration I certify that this thesis entitled ‘Interpretation design in virtual museums – Reviving an endangered culture industry through the Taiwanese Lacquerware Virtual Museum’ is submitted for the degree of Professional Doctorate in Design and is the result of my own research, except where otherwise acknowledged; and that this thesis in whole or in part has not been submitted for an award, including a higher degree, to any other university or institution. Full Name: Chung-Wen Yang Signed Date 2012.12.3 V Contents Abstract…………………………………………………………………………….I Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………..III Preface…………………………………………………………………………….IV Candidature declaration…………………………………………………………V Contents…………………………………………………………………………..VI List of Figures……………………………………………………………………VIII List of Tables…………………………………………………………………….IX Introduction…………………………………………………………………………1 Background…………………………………………………………5 Chapter 1 Globalisation and cultural identity of Taiwan……………………11 The modern history of Taiwan…………………………………..14 The crisis of national identity of Taiwan……………………….18 The cultural policy of the Taiwanese government……………...20 The development of craft art in Taiwan…………………………21 The community and the culture industry in Taiwan……………22 Chapter 2 Taiwanese lacquerware…………………………………………….25 The history of lacquerware in Taiwan………………………….25 The recent state of Taiwanese lacquerware……….…………..30 Chapter 3 Virtual museum vs. museum………………………………………..34 Definition of ‘museum’……………………………………………..34 Definition of ‘virtual museum’…………………………………….35 From physical to virtual…………………………………………..37 Virtual museums…………………………………………………...43 Blogs and virtual museums………….………………………...49 VI Summary………………………………………………………...58 Chapter 4 Interpretation design in the virtual museum……………………….60 Interpretation………………………………………………………60 More than usability………………………………………….…….66 The application of interpretation design to virtual museums……………………………………….70 The form of virtual museums……………………………………81 Chapter 5 The application of interpretation through the blog………………86 Technical…………………………………………………………..91 Considerations..…………………………………………………..91 Content…………………………………………………………….95 Implementation……………………………………………………98 Content driven…………………………………………………124 Conclusion….……..…………………………………………………………126 Tilden’s principles……………………………………………..127 Bibliography…..……………………..…………………………………………..140 Appendices…..……………………..…………………………………………..165 VII List of figures Figure 1………………………………………………………………………….…4 Figure 2………………………………………………………………………….100 Figure 3………………………………………………………………………….101 Figure 4………………………………………………………………………….102 Figure 5………………………………………………………………………….106 Figure 6………………………………………………………………………….106 Figure 7………………………………………………………………………….109 Figure 8………………………………………………………………………….110 Figure 9………………………………………………………………………….118 VIII List of tables Table 1………………………………………………………………………………3 Table 2……………………………………………………………………………..74 IX Introduction This design research project explores the theory and practice of interpretation design as applied to online exhibitions in a virtual museum. Virtual museums exist not only as extensions of real museums, but are also increasingly developed as separate entities in their own right. As this thesis demonstrates, virtual museums have the potential to play a unique role in diversifying the possibilities of what a museum is and how it functions in the information era. The internet environment has changed considerably during the several years that I have been working on this research project. The change has extended not merely to the sheer volume and richness of information resources online, but, critically, to the way in which they are generated and maintained, which has involved an unprecedented participation in the sharing of input by the online public – the masses of individual ‘netizens’. (O’Reilly & Battelle 2009) The whole phenomenon, loosely termed ‘Web 2.0’, has reached beyond the transformation of web content to the transformation of users’ daily existence. It increasingly determines interactions in their extended social lives: how they make friends and acquaintances, update them, part ways with them; how they reach the many, or the few, with whatever, for the moment, seems significant to them; where they turn instinctively to start a discussion – or a revolution. It includes such new applications as social networking (MySpace, Plurk, Facebook) and video sharing (YouTube), to name but some of many which have dramatically influenced our way of life. For example, self-presentation, for the masses, 1 once essentially connoted the establishment of a ‘face-to-face’ identity to others in one’s physical surroundings. Now, for untold millions, it evokes the creation and continued updating of an online persona on one or more of the popular social networking sites (Mehdizadeh, 2009). The unprecedented sharing of knowledge represented by Wikipedia, the user-edited online encyclopedia, and the mushrooming growth of weblogs, some with mass followings, typify the