Museum Exhibition: Investigating the Use of Design Elements in Narrative-oriented Exhibitions - a Case Study of the Canadian War Museum's Permanent Exhibition by Napapong Naparat A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Design Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario ©2010, Napapong Naparat Library and Archives Bibliotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de ['edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN:978-0-494-71727-1 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-71727-1 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondares ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. 1*1 Canada INVESTIGATING DESIGN ELEMENTS IN NARRATIVE EXHIBITIONS Abstract This thesis investigates the use of design elements in the Canadian War Museum's permanent exhibition. The goal is to understand how and to what extent design, in the form of new media and technologies, contributes to the communication of the exhibition's messages. A qualitative and interdisciplinary approach is taken using three research methods: (a) interviews of museum professionals; (b) an analysis of the media database; and (c) a descriptive visual analysis of selected media units. The findings suggest that design elements are used to enhance the intended messages in terms of both physical and informational accessibility. These results indicate a direct and influential role design elements play in conveying the messages, as they are the primary channels through which the audiences acquire information. This research provides a better understanding about the elusive properties and values of museum exhibition mechanism. Keywords: museum exhibition, narrative, exhibition design, message communication, new media, technology integration, audience interactivity II INVESTIGATING DESIGN ELEMENTS IN NARRATIVE EXHIBITIONS Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude to a number of people without whom the completion of this thesis would not be possible. I would like to thank my thesis supervisor, Prof. Lois Frankel, for her guidance and support throughout the entire process. I am also indebted to my co-supervisor, Dr. Brian Foss, for taking me under his supervision. The realization of this thesis is also due to several faculty members of Carleton University, including Dr. Gitte Lindgaard, Dr. Stephen Fai, and Dr. Thomas Garvey. Without the time and input from my research participants, I would not have gained insights and directions into my thesis topic. Thus my sincere appreciation goes to Glenn Ogden, Sarah Dobbin, June Creelman, Daniel Boivin, Lorraine Brown, Patricia Grimshaw, and Marc Beck. I would also like to extend my gratitude to my Master of Design colleagues and friends for sharing the first-hand interdisciplinary journey, particularly Marion Lanktree and Catherine Campbell. Lastly, I owe my deepest gratitude to Daniel Ziemianski for his unwavering support, understanding, patience and above all, encouragement over the last two years in undertaking my thesis research. in INVESTIGATING DESIGN ELEMENTS IN NARRATIVE EXHIBITIONS Table of Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgements iii List of Tables vii List of Figures viii List of Appendices ix Introduction 10 Statement of Problem 11 Research Objective 12 Research Questions 12 Research Approach 12 Definitions and Rationales 14 Scope 21 Literature Review 22 The Trend of Technology Integration 22 Museum Exhibitions as Communicative Media 28 Summary 33 Main Argument 34 Sensory Approach 35 Implications of the Use of New Media and Technologies 36 Conclusion 37 The Canadian War Museum 38 IV INVESTIGATING DESIGN ELEMENTS IN NARRATIVE EXHIBITIONS Factual Information 38 Mandate and Objective 40 Narrative Structure 40 Front-end Evaluation 41 The Main Narrative 42 Design Approach 43 Research Methods 46 Semi-structured Interviews 46 Audiovisual/New Media (AV/NM) Database Analysis 47 Descriptive Visual Analysis of Selected AV/NM Units 49 Research Findings 51 Summary of Semi-structured Interviews 51 AV/NM Database Analysis Findings 64 Descriptive Visual Analysis 71 Discussion 99 Semi-structured Interviews 99 AV/NM Database Analysis 102 Descriptive Visual Analysis 103 Synthesis 104 Conclusion 106 Significance 107 Limitations 108 INVESTIGATING DESIGN ELEMENTS IN NARRATIVE EXHIBITIONS Recommendations for Future Research 109 References 110 Appendices 113 VI INVESTIGATING DESIGN ELEMENTS IN NARRATIVE EXHIBITIONS List of Tables Table 1 Allocation of the Canadian War Museum's Exhibition Space 39 Table 2 Participants' Backgrounds 52 Table 3 Detailed Breakdowns of Each Zone's Main and Subsidiary Media Type 66 Table 4 Comparison of Technical-component Range for Each AV/NM Subtype 69 Table 5 Technical and Sensory Purposes of Each Component Type 70 Table 6 Comparison of Technical Components of AV Media 80 Table 7 Comparison of Technical Components of Sound Media 88 Table 8 Comparison of Technical Components of Interactive Media 97 VII INVESTIGATING DESIGN ELEMENTS IN NARRATIVE EXHIBITIONS List of Figures Figure 1 Four phases of the development process of a museum exhibition 18 Figure 2 Media/presentation subtypes in the CWM's permanent exhibition 67 Figure 3 Images of the Baff/e of the Plains of Abraham theatre experience 73 Figure 4 Images of the Baff/e Lines passageway 75 Figure 5 Images of the Canadian Woman Reacts to Shock of War presentation 77 Figure 6 Images of the Trench Experience reconstruction 82 Figure 7 Images of the Human Face of War Personal Stories audio unit 85 Figure 8 Images of the Wesfem Europe Deployment Map interactive hub 90 Figure 9 Information architecture of the Western Europe Deployment Map interactive video 92 Figure 10 Images of the Military Intelligence Quiz interactive game 94 Figure 11 Information architecture of the Military Intelligence Quiz interactive game 95 vm INVESTIGATING DESIGN ELEMENTS IN NARRATIVE EXHIBITIONS List of Appendices Appendix A Interview Questions 113 Appendix B Interview Response Detail Analysis 114 Appendix C List of Selected AV/NM Units for the Descriptive Visual Analysis 121 Appendix D Comparison by Zone of Each AV/NM Units Total Number of Technical Components 122 Appendix E AV/NM Unit Location by Zone with Technical-Component Number Indicator 126 Appendix F Interview Response Brief Summary 131 IX INVESTIGATING DESIGN ELEMENTS IN NARRATIVE EXHIBITIONS Introduction This thesis research examines the permanent exhibition of the Canadian War Museum (CWM) in Ottawa, which opened to the public in May 2005. The exhibition's messages, presented in the form of a narrative, is conveyed through the carefully designed three- dimensional environment; within which a variety of design elements and techniques help communicate the information to the audiences as they experience the space. This research project particularly concerns how, and to what extent, the use of design elements in the form of new media and technologies, influences the ability of the exhibition to communicate the intended messages. This research project stems from recognizing: (a) that museum exhibition techniques used to communicate a narrative depend on multiple sensory modes of communication, especially visual; (b) the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of the exhibition development process; (c) the current trend of new media and technologies in museum exhibitions to promote learning via audience interactivity; and (d) the relatively undefined role of the designer in the development process. Within a larger framework of exploring the system of representation in museums as social/cultural institutions, this study looks at museum exhibitions as products that are a result of cross pollination between museum practice and design. Museums provide the context and. exhibitionary purpose, while design provides the framework and technique for representational materialization and communication. This topic is important at this time