Prototype:

I narrowed down the selection of paintings to only one, which is Vermeer’s View of Delft. Below is the prototype/interview agenda:

• At ITP. In Room 404. 5 sessions. 1 v 1

• Question: Do you listen to music when looking at paintings?

• Show painting on the TV, time for 1 min. Observe.

• Ask them that type/piece of music they are thinking at the moment.

• Show the painting again while playing the piece for 2 mins. Observe.

• Ask them if they felt different about the painting.

• Ask them if they felt/noticed the difference of the time that was given.

Georgia:

• Yes, Georgia listens to music when looking at paintings.

• Soft Jazz.

• "With music, the painting has more atmosphere. The music also makes the painting more vibrant and it adds an additional layer to the paintings. Did not realize the difference/passage of time. Would like to stare at the painting longer, at least when the music is finished."

• | observer notes: Georgia looked at the paining very thoroughly in the first session. During the second session, I saw she was slightly smiling when listened to some beautiful rhythms. |

Henry:

• Yes.

• Movement 6 by Floating Points and Pharaoh Sanders.

• "Music provides more emotional contexts. Without music, the painting only looks like an image alone. Emotion immediacy emerged when the music was played. It's like a movie without context vs. a mundane click to movie. The music makes me feel more sad and sentimental -- it informs/completes the contexts. Willing to spend more time before the painting with the music, because the music makes me waiting for how this piece will develop in the emotional level. It's like I am waiting for something."

• | observer notes: Henry looked at the painting without any special facial expression. When I played the music, his head and fingers were moving gently with the rhythms. |

Steve:

• No.

• Sound, in general. Half industrial, half medieval. Could not think of any specific piece.

• I picked Vivaldi's Four Season No.4 for Steve.

• "The experience would feel better if the music is provided by the curator. It allows more room to let imagination flow. I am willing to spend more time in the piece with the music, but this experience might create a sense of fragmentation from this painting to the next one, if I am in the museum."

• | observer notes: Steve asked me what we were going to do, in the first session, at about 45 seconds. In the second session, the experience lasted 2 mins, he did not ask at all. |

Jess:

• No.

• Classical Piano.

• "The music lets me imagine more -- about what's being real and what's happening in the painting. She started imaging herself being in the city. It does not make her feel less distracted but it provided a different mood. It would be nice if the music is specially for the paining alone."

• | observer notes: Jess was laying comfortably on the couch when looking at the painting without music. When the music was being played, she sat higher and her head leaned more forward, closer to the screen. In the second part of the session 2, at around 75 seconds, she seemed like thinking something, because her focal point went from the screen to somewhere else. |

Keyi:

• No.

• Soft Piano.

• "With music, it's more dynamic. People in the painting become alive. I can imagine their life in the painting. I am more focused because the music makes me imagine and think. I would love to spend more time on this piece with music. The music adds a peaceful layer to the painting. If we change a genre, like hip pop, I would imagine that people in the painting dancing happily. I think different style gives audience different feelings."

• | observer notes: Keyi was eating during both sessions. I observed that she ate slower and more quiet when the music was being played. |