the ISFC39 Proceedings - International Systemic-Functional ...

Papers from the 39th ISFCcontrast, heteroglossic resources help to acknowledge alternative voices, either dialogicallyexpanding or contracting room for negotiation. Dialogically expansive texts use distanceformulations to open up space for alternative positions (Martin & White, 2005, p. 103),whereas dialogically contractive texts use resources which challenge, fend off or restrict thescope of other voices (Martin & White, 2005, p. 102).2.3 SpaceOther considerations in the theorisation of SPATIAL ENGAGEMENT are the concepts Ambientand Hodological spaces. Ambient space is the three-dimensional, ‘measurable space definedby surfaces and objects which we design and build’ (Charitos, 1996, p. 5). In contrast,Hodological 35 perspectives on space privilege the human body and its need for movement asintegral to concepts of space (de Silva, 2007, p. 41). Hodological space is not predetermined;rather, it is articulated extemporaneously as people move through space. However, people donot move in hodological space; they create it by moving. In short, Ambient space is potentialnavigable space, whereas Hodological space is navigated space (Figure 2, above).3 SPATIAL ENGAGEMENTSPATIAL ENGAGEMENT, as developed herein, is concerned with the ways in which theauthorial voice enters an exhibition space and the ways in which visitors negotiate this voice.An authoritative institutional voice can be manifest in various ways: surveillance cameras,security guards, signage inter alia. However, the institution’s voice is also manifest in ‘thedegree of control exerted over the navigation of pathways’ (Ravelli, 2006, p. 132) throughgallery space and of positions at exhibits. Thus, SPATIAL ENGAGEMENT deals with therelationship between Ambient and Hodological spaces at various ranks. As in language, thereare two choices for SPATIAL ENGAGEMENT: [monogloss] and [heterogloss] (Figure 3).Figure 3: System network of exhibition space3.1 Monoglossic exhibition spacesMonoglossic spaces are tightly controlled, realised by the conflation of Ambient andHodological spaces (A/H). At the rank of gallery, the conflation means that there is no choicein direction. Consider the circular exhibition space that wends its way from the top to thebottom of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York in one uninterrupted spiral. Atthe rank of exhibit, monoglossic exhibition space positions visitors to gain only oneperspective on an artefact. In monoglossic exhibition spaces, the curator is ostensiblydeclaring that there is a way to interact with exhibitions.3.2 Heteroglossic exhibition spacesHeteroglossic spaces, in contrast, afford various directions and positions, enabling alternativeperspectives to be entertained. In heteroglossic spaces, Ambient and Hodological spaces aredistinct to varying degrees (A\\H); they can be dialogically expansive (A\.\H) or contractive35 The term hodology derives from the Greek word οδος (odos), meaning a way.179