The Art of Description: Accessing the Goddess

22 Jul

The day-long workshop at Trinity College Dublin was widely advertised both to academic colleagues and students and to the general public. The attendees were therefore a mixed audience: there were some colleagues and students working in archaeology, heritage and classics, but it was mostly an interested public, including some with specific interests in art, comparative folklore, and modern spiritual traditions.

.Keen to have an interactive session at our workshop, we decided to take advantage of the day to gain some feedback from the audience (KCL ethical clearance MRA-23/24-41987). We introduced the concept of Audio Description (AD), then gave an AD of the Goddess (you can listen to it as ‘Describing the Goddess’). An image of the Goddess (shown above) was left on screen.

After listening to this description, we collected 38 responses. Select responses are give below:

Did the guided looking from this audio description help you engage with this object?
All stated ‘yes’, apart from one ‘partly’ and one who found it overwhelming (and one questioned whether the level of language was appropriate if English was not your first language). Expanding on this, some comments include:

‘It focuses your views on the items being described and makes them more memorable through the description used e.g. the ‘flattened cowbell’ description of the dress.’
It ‘made me focus on each part of the body described that would have otherwise been a general look, running over the features without particularly noting them singularly.’
‘It served to confirm in some cases aspects of my visual understanding of the ‘goddess’ which I was not entirely sure I was correct in. Though you could argue that this inhibits alternative interpretations, I prefer to see it as a co-creation of interpretation.’
‘It drew me in, highlighted elements and aspects I had not observed and more importantly sparked my interest to ask more questions on the purpose of such elements.’

If so, how? Is there anything you feel you wouldn’t have noticed?

‘The rhythms of the shape – combo of curved and straight lines. Evocation of material – cool and smooth. Trying the ‘pose’ – how it feels!’
‘It drew out certain features I hadn’t noticed, such as her especially large ears. It also helped make sense of smaller details. This is particularly the case of the snakes, which appeared to me as a huge tangle visible – when described, I noticed particular parts of bodies, as well as the snake coils moving upwards on the headdress.’
‘Audio description really helped me realise more the embodiment, i.e. the feeling of having the snakes touching your body. And it made me think further how this may relate to empowerment and direct contact with earth and chthonic elements.’
‘I don’t think I would have picked up on its tactile or kinetic qualities.’
BUT: ‘I like to discover these aspects myself and feel a little like I’m cheating when I get all this wonderful info! Maybe I don’t need to see figurine at all!’

Do you feel there is a place in mainstream museums or art appreciation for audio description for all, including sighted people? Or do you feel it should remain specifically for blind and partially sighted people?

‘This is for everyone! We can all be supported then look more carefully – slowly – savouring the image.’
‘I’m a university lecturer, so this makes me think of ‘UDL’ – the way that tools designed for the accessibility of some can enhance the engagement of all. Everyone could benefit from this.’ (UDL = universal design for learning).
‘There is absolutely a place for audio description for all. Given that cognition is founded on multisensory experience – the combination of the tertiary section of the cerebral cortex of sight, sound and motor experience – building an aural component into a display and the communication of that display can only support a richer and more meaningful engagement with and exploration of the display in question.’
‘I think there definitely is a place as it can encourage more ‘thoughtful looking’ – encouraging the user to stop and contemplate the figure for the duration of the audio and to emulate the pose themselves etc. It may help to combat museum fatigue and help the user stop and consider a while the object in front of them.’
‘I do feel that description is not an engaging way to involve the general public. Then, each group of people is different from another, and requires specific adjustments. It is not about blind/sighted groups, it is about children/adults/educated etc.’
BUT: ‘I think it should remain specifically for blind and partially sighted people. Descriptions are always subjective and can interfere with fresh impressions aroused via wording.’

Please add any further comments:

‘Found audio description to be very helpful. Enhanced experience and hopefully improves memory retention.’
‘I believe accessibility in museums and heritage sites is a very important field, that more insitutes should explore. The posing was a good suggestion.’
BUT: ‘Descriptions are always subjective and can interfere with fresh impressions created via wording.’
AND: ‘I prefer storytelling than description as a personal way to engage with objects, but I can see the importance of description for blind people.’
AND: ‘No one should be forced to listen to the audio description. No one should be distracted by it.’

We were delighted with the number of responses, the positive feedback on the exercise, and how deeply people had reflected on the questions. Having considered the challenges to recreating these figurines during the morning part of the workshop, we then asked the audience to imagine how they would have reconstructed the the original object. See below for some results!