Move
Move is a scenography research project initiated in 2020 (Known at the time as Close distance) around the challenges of circulation and distancing within museum spaces. Through a series of moving devices, the project explored new ways of presenting artworks and organizing visitor flow, treating health-related constraints as an opportunity to rethink the visitor experience. As it developed, the research progressively shifted its focus from the mobility of audiences to that of the artworks themselves. This evolution led to the design of a scenographic device allowing viewers to discover various combinations of objects from a fixed observation point. Inspired by the language of the performing arts, Move transforms the museum presentation into a sequenced experience where works appear, disappear, and recompose themselves according to the movement of the scenography.
A research project conducted by Marie Douel and Mathieu Rivier
Move is a scenography research project initiated in 2020 (Known at the time as Close distance) around the challenges of circulation and distancing within museum spaces. Through a series of moving devices, the project explored new ways of presenting artworks and organizing visitor flow, treating health-related constraints as an opportunity to rethink the visitor experience. As it developed, the research progressively shifted its focus from the mobility of audiences to that of the artworks themselves. This evolution led to the design of a scenographic device allowing viewers to discover various combinations of objects from a fixed observation point. Inspired by the language of the performing arts, Move transforms the museum presentation into a sequenced experience where works appear, disappear, and recompose themselves according to the movement of the scenography.
This principle addresses accessibility challenges first and foremost. By enabling the observation of multiple viewpoints without physical movement, the device offers people with reduced mobility an enriched visiting experience, built on varying perspectives and the gradual discovery of exhibited objects. It also serves as a curatorial tool for renewing the presentation of a permanent collection or temporary exhibition, by multiplying associations and narratives from a single set of works.
Conceived as an autonomous and transportable structure, Move also opens up the possibility of extending the museum experience beyond the walls of the institution. In a second phase, the project envisions bringing collections to audiences who are distant from exhibition spaces: residents of retirement homes, patients in hospitals or rehabilitation centers, incarcerated individuals, or any other community whose mobility is limited. The device thus becomes a travelling mediation tool, capable of bringing artworks and the stories they carry to places typically excluded from cultural circuits.
From managing visitor flow within the museum to the mobility of collections beyond its walls, Move thus reflects a gradual evolution of the research toward a broader reflection on accessibility, inclusion, and new forms of encounter between audiences and artworks.
