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Recently, the temporary exhibitions of the National Expo are very attractive, so I took half a day to see the exhibition. Originally I thought that several temporary exhibitions would take a good look, but I didn't expect to see three or four of them, and I was already tired, and the number of steps was only three or four thousand steps. Although the eyes still want to see, the body does not want to move, so it wants to leave quickly. Watching the exhibition is tired, sometimes it is caused by a large number of people, and some exhibitions are like rushing to a big market, people crowding people, making people breathless. Too many people can also bring noise, but also make people upset and tired. But not all the exhibitions are in full swing, and there are also many museums that are still very tired from watching the exhibitions.
National Museum "The Power of Science and Technology" exhibition, a corner of the exhibition hall. (Photo: Yu Guanchen)
Some people may feel that to see the exhibition, you have to walk and stand, so you are very tired. Others say that because of the large cognitive load and the amount of information received, they feel tired. But whether it is "tired" or "tired", can not fully explain the fatigue of watching the exhibition, after all, when I travel, I easily have 20,000 steps a day; when the film festival, even in the cinema to watch three or four movies can also persist, why is the same leisure activity, watching the exhibition is more tired than traveling and watching movies? In fact, as early as a hundred years ago, some people have given a special name to this kind of tiredness caused by watching the exhibition: museum fatigue.
Some argue that museum fatigue is due to a violation of ergonomics. When we do any work, we will have the most comfortable posture, which will allow us to work longer and produce as little fatigue as possible. For example, the optimal table and chair height, the position of the screen, the viewing angle direction and size, the font size and color, the light and temperature, and so on. However, in exhibitions, especially painting exhibitions, for the overall aesthetic effect or the need for the placement of exhibits, not all arrangements are in line with human efficacy. For example, many of the labels of the paintings are pasted on the wall next to the paintings in small letters, and many times they are still under the paintings, and people have to get close together or bend down to see clearly. In the museum, many of the exhibits are placed in display cases, and visitors have to bend down to watch. There are also some who have adopted special ways of setting up exhibitions in order to achieve certain psychological feelings. For example, in the exhibition I watched last year, the most tired was "Dong Liang", which is a memorial exhibition of Mr. Liang Sicheng, probably to let the audience experience the hard work of this master builder whose spine was damaged due to a car accident, the display cabinets are particularly low, and the viewer has to bend over all the time, or not very beautiful, and can not hold a posture for a long time to squat to see the exhibition. Due to the large number of exhibits, people need to often bow their heads and bend over, which is even more accelerated by the arrival of fatigue.
National Museum "two bombs and one star" spirit exhibition, a corner of the exhibition hall. (Image from the Internet)
Aesthetic and cognitive fatigue is also a major cause of museum fatigue. We look at the exhibition and, of course, want to see as much content as possible. Some people have studied that even the most professional exhibition, people stare at a work for only about 20 seconds, not to mention that the general audience's viewing of the work is easier to "walk through and see", "take a picture to appreciate", not many can stop and study carefully. Each work of art has the content that the author wants to express, each exhibit has the sediment and knowledge of human history or science and technology, etc., even if only look at the label, the visitor must constantly obtain new information, a lot of information is still not continuous, or even collide with each other. It's not easy to immerse ourselves in a relatively single situation. Some people say that art is a dialogue between creators and audiences. Then in the rich collection of art museums, it is as if thousands of people who speak different languages and accents are talking to you about all kinds of things and expressing different emotions. If it is a special exhibition or the same style, it may produce aesthetic fatigue because the exhibits look similar, and people are also prone to wandering (and not playing with stubble or entertainment) because of the lack of novel stimuli on cognitive stimuli, and there is no strong motivation and timely feedback.
See more exhibitions, I myself summed up an experience: I must wear comfortable and lightweight shoes, clothes should also be easy to put on and take off, continuously watch the exhibition for 2 hours is a "boundary", you have to find a place to rest. There are also many more general suggestions for museum fatigue. Slow down the viewing speed, let yourself have time to think and breathe. If the place is too big, it is also a good idea to go several times. Many museums have annual passes, focusing on different content each time. Do some homework in advance before watching the exhibition, you can even "assign homework" to yourself, find the content that you are most interested in, and purposefully watch the exhibition with questions and "tasks", which can also increase the interest of watching the exhibition and reduce aesthetic fatigue. If someone takes an exhibition or rents a narrator to "listen to the exhibition", not only can they understand the exhibits more comprehensively and look at the exhibition more intensively, but also avoid the hard work of squeezing in front of the labels. Now some exhibition halls have an induction function for interpretation, as long as they get close, they can start to explain, which is also the performance of the exhibition hall becoming more and more humane.
Although watching the exhibition may bring fatigue, watching the exhibition when tired can indeed make people relax. Winter vacation at the beginning, may wish to see what exhibition you have in the city, dating friends, bringing family, you can also go alone, if you can not be on the spot, now there are many "cloud exhibitions", although less on-site experience and shock, but also can experience the charm of the museum, but also reduce the fatigue brought by the museum, but also a very good leisure choice.
Source: PsyCh Journal