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What I Learned from Beck (the rock star) about Participatory Arts

Museum 2.0

There are many artistic projects that offer a template for participation, whether a printed play, an orchestral score, or a visual artwork that involves an instructional set (from community murals to Sol LeWitt). Beck talks about this in the context of learning to play music as a young artist. That''s expected.

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The Johnny Cash Project: A Participatory Music Video That Sings

Museum 2.0

This question is a byproduct of the reality that most participatory projects have poorly articulated value. When a participatory activity is designed without a goal in mind, you end up with a bunch of undervalued stuff and nowhere to put it. What's the "use" of visitors' comments? That's hardly revolutionary.

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Guest Post by Nina Simon -- Self-Expression is Overrated: Better Constraints Make Better Participatory Experiences

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

When I talk about designing participatory experiences, I often show the above graphic from Forrester Research. Museums see open-ended self-expression as the be-all of participatory experiences. You are handed a pre-mixed color and a brush and a set of instructions. Tags: guest blogging participatory.

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What Happens When a Viral Participatory Project is Too Successful? Diagnosing the Power of the Love Locks

Museum 2.0

And so, one of the most successful, accidental, and fraught participatory projects of the past decade comes to an end. The "love locks" are not a project with an institutional or artistic director. So many participatory projects do the opposite, requiring you to take a dozen tricky steps to no meaningful end.

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Self-Expression is Overrated: Better Constraints Make Better Participatory Experiences

Museum 2.0

When I talk about designing participatory experiences, I often show the above graphic from Forrester Research. Museums see open-ended self-expression as the be-all of participatory experiences. You are handed a pre-mixed color and a brush and a set of instructions. Tags: design participatory museum usercontent.

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Fifteen Random Things I've Learned about Design for Participation This Year

Museum 2.0

We've been offering a host of participatory and interactive experiences at the Museum of Art & History this season. I loved Jasper Visser's list of 30 "do's" for designing participatory projects earlier this month. SETUP Cut your instructions down to as little text as possible. Accolades are more inspiring than instructions.

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Why Are So Many Participatory Experiences Focused on Teens?

Museum 2.0

Over the past year, I've noticed a strange trend in the calls I receive about upcoming participatory museum projects: the majority of them are being planned for teen audiences. Why are teens over-represented in participatory projects? The program operates like a camp that is co-led by the teens involved.

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