Micro-mobilities in curated spaces: agency, autonomy and dwelling in visitor experiences of augmented reality in arts and heritage

Abstract

Mobile technologies are transforming the ways in which we experience arts and heritage sites, and galleries and museums are facing increased pressure to provide stimulating, alternative technology-based solutions for enriching visitor experiences. Focusing on the opportunities afforded by augmented reality (AR), this paper critiques the role this technology plays in providing visitors the opportunity to experience art and exhibitions through a series of dynamic, small-scale micro-mobilities. We propose that AR creates curated spaces of mobility in galleries and museums and in doing so, visitors become empowered through spaces of agency, autonomy and dwelling as they negotiate these spaces and encounter art through technology-mediated forms of wayfinding, interpretation and personal curation. Through negotiated agencies of human and non-human, visitors become emancipated, active agents in a process of co-production. Such positioning is further critiqued as the paper investigates the opportunities afforded by augmented reality to create alternative spaces of connection and interpretation through conceptualisations of dwelling and we suggest technology holds the potential to facilitate an enriched, deeper and more personal connection to that experienced in art gallery and exhibition spaces.