Since the last update, I have visited the Kirkstall Abbey Visitor’s Centre, as well as the Henry Moore Institute and the Leeds City Museum. I have also taken photographs of the Civic and Town Hall, in Leeds.
Kirkstall Abbey was unfortunately closed when I went, but I had more luck in the city. At the time was a shame as I have been before and know they have an educational activity, which allows visitors to try and reconstruct an arch from replica blocks, made from wood (similar concept to our design product). This may be updated with images if I am able to arrange another visit.
Henry Moore / Art Gallery
This gave me an insight into how various sculptures and pieces of art are displayed and their typical surroundings. However, although the visit was an interesting one, the art was either behind glass cases, or accompanied with many ‘do not touch’ signs. The idea behind our product is that it would be effectively an activity, which could be played with and used to create your own structures. It could be suggested that the structure and shapes people would create from these building blocks could be considered as interactive art. Therefore, I believe that the Henry Moore Institute and Art Gallery visit was useful in showing us how conventional art and sculptures are displayed. Due to the nature of the artefacts in the art gallery, I was unable to take ant photos. Also, the vast space some of the sculptures were taking up suggested to me that our product (hypothetically if commissioned and made out of Portland stone) would be most suitable as an activity, or display in the Tout Quarry (vast surroundings); maintaining the concept of keeping it close to its origins.
Leeds City Museum
On the top floor they have a display, which ideally showcases a similar product to the one we are proposing to design. The top floor is dedicated to ancient history, including building structures. Many of Leeds building, which uses Portland Stone, are constructed using Greek / Roman and Egyptian influences, as are many other structures throughout the UK. Included in this section was a scale model of a Roman structure, made out of cork. Next to this was an activity based on building your own temple. The information next to the activity showed a diagram, suggesting that you may reconstruct an ancient building, or make one of your own.
I believe that this is source of research is of great importance, as it shows a similar product, being used in a similar context. Its purpose is to educate, inform, as well as offering a hands on activity. It seems to appeal to a wide demographic, from children to adults. The wall, where this activity is, is covered in information about the local buildings, which continues the learning process and may be something to consider when creating our design product.
In addition to this activity, they also have a similar one about building a Roman Fort. However, the pieces were made out of rubber and there were fewer pieces. Plus there was a blueprint on the activity table, which you had to follow. This is another example of a similar product, and it was also informative, but it didn’t provide the level of freedom we wish to allow when designing our product.
Pictures of the Leeds Museum activity can be found here:
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