Looking beyond museum artworks : exploring paintings through games and the digital reconstruction of canvas and pigment making techniques as an educational experience

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship within a local context between games, children and museum paintings through traditional art making methods. The children will explore certain procedures behind ready-made art objects. An in-depth research related to gameplay, the perception of colour, museums and the effects of technology together with the deconstruction of games has been conducted. Moreover, through the digital deconstruction of a museum painting together with the support of a game application, children would be able to express their creativity and learn particular colour theories simultaneously. The project was designed to aid, entertain and educate children between nine to eleven years of age, about canvas and pigment preparation methods applied in paintings which were still used up till a few hundred years ago, through the creation of a game application which could be used within a museum environment. For this reason the research then focalized on the interrelation of digital entertainment applications, haptic technology and also implicit knowledge through detailed analysis and testing procedures. The results thus show an interest in the creation of fresh game applications which could instigate curiosity in small children while concurrently acquiring knowledge. Furthermore, it can be concluded that museum spaces can provide an excellent playground for inspiration, participation and recreation in which even adults can also be engaged.