Curating Online Collections: Towards an Authentically Digital, Online Mediation Protocol for Art Digitizations (final pre-formatted copy) (original) (raw)

Contemporary art institutions' reluctance to produce virtual exhibitions has been linked to a prevailing skeuomorphic paradigm in the online display of art digitizations. Yet, what has been largely overlooked in museum computing scholarship is the fact that online collection interfaces and in-gallery group shows similarly condition artistic reception owing to a shared database logic, which has resulted in a mediation paradox in contemporary culture. This article examines the effects of this logic on public engagement, and recent digital curatorial strategies that have emerged in response based on notions of the digital aura and networked co-curation. The article concludes by establishing three conditions for an alternative curatorial process capable of adequately mediating art digitizations online without sacrificing aesthetic experience to the limited affordances of screen-based ICTs.