This paper examines the use of an interactive artwork that was designed by members of the research team and exhibited at the Sculpture, Objects and Functional Art (SOFA) Exposition in Chicago, USA. The paper uses audio-visual recordings of interaction with and around the work to consider how people encounter and make sense of an assembly of traditional objects and video technologies. The analysis of action and interaction is used to develop a series of `design sensitivities' to inform the development of technological assemblies to engender informal interaction and sociability in museums and galleries.