Last weekend, I explored museums and great artworks in the Google Art Project. Google Art Project is an online platform through which the public can access high-resolution images of artworks housed in the initiative’s partner museums. The platform enables users to virtually tour partner museums’ galleries, explore physical and contextual information about artworks, and compile their own virtual collection (Wikipedia).
Through this play, I could experience the borderless play in spaces between virtual and reality. I could virtually ‘walk through’ the galleries of each partner museum such as MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) in New York, using the same controls as Google Street View or by clicking on the gallery’s floorplan. Even though I played in virtual spaces, I could see ‘actual’ artworks as much as genuine artworks in there. From the Gallery View, I could zoom in on a particular artwork to view the picture in greater detail. Microscope view provided users a dynamic image of an artwork, and scholarly and contextual information to enhance their understanding of the work. When examining an artwork, users may also access information detailing the physical characteristics of the image (e.g. size, material(s), and artist). Thus, I could play in virtual spaces with actual artworks.
Moreover, I had role as an observer and a participant in this play. For example, I could log in with their Google Account to create my own collection. Users can compile any number of images from any of the partner museums and save specific views of artworks to create a personalized virtual exhibition. In other words, I was an observer to watch artworks which was created by artists, but also an owner to create my collection gallery. Thus, I had opportunities to experience borderless play about play spaces and play roles.
This is so interesting, Hyojin. At first, I was thinking about how passive this was and whether that could really be 'play' and then I remembered in Sutton-Smith the passive observers of sporting events and how they are considered players. Of course a virtual visit to a museum and engaging with art can be play!
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