The rhizomatic visiting experience
A case study of the virtual Palace Museum (Beijing) on WeChat
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33621/jdsr.v8i164734Keywords:
virtual museum, rhizome, visiting experience, Palace Museum on WeChatAbstract
The integration of digital technologies into museums has redefined public engagement, offering innovative virtual experiences that transcend physical access. Informed by Deleuze and Guattari’s rhizome theory, this paper positions virtual museum visiting as recontextualized experience and examines the phenomenon through a case study of the Palace Museum on WeChat. Drawing on collaborative autoethnography with walkthrough elements, we found that these visits construct a new knowledge system that invites self-referential, spontaneous and heterogeneous connections. We therefore argue that the visiting experience drives the virtual museum rhizormorphous thanks to its performance of unpredicted and heterogeneous mapping. By addressing the various mediators involved in virtual museum visiting, this paper calls for a reconceptualization of (dis)connections in the audience’s engagement with virtual museums. It offers a novel framework for understanding virtual museum visiting as a lived experience.
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