The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Fragility (original) (raw)
Related papers
2019
The distinguishing characteristic of digitalism is its focus on human behavior in cultural and social contexts. When we think of the developments of computer science and “information theory” that spawned the digital revolution, the focus generally defaults to digital tools and technology, as opposed to its effects on human life and culture and how advances in computing, digital communications and technology are transforming our ways of doing, seeing, knowing, learning, living and loving, to name a few examples. The impact of digitalism is all encompassing, touching all disciplines and human pursuits. How will museums change and transform themselves to connect in authentic ways with their communities while remaining relevant in a world transformed by digital culture that is moving full speed ahead, advancing in a state of constant change and development? While museums have been cautious and relatively slow to challenge traditional ways, they are surely noticing that we are reaching a...
The proliferation of digital technologies in nearly every aspect of life has been accompanied with narratives of change – both dystopian and utopian – from its early days. And if art is in any way to relate to our lived experience, then it comes at no surprise that artists started to investigate the digital – as a tool and medium, but also as a testing ground for new models of thinking about art in relation to society. As Walter Benjamin infamously demonstrated in his analysis of art in times of technical reproducibility, technological advancements not only affect the way art is produced, but also the politics of its distribution and consumption. If the reproducibility of a photograph has caused the loss of the aura of the unique original – what effects do the ephemerality and malleability of the digital artwork have on previous formulas of producing, viewing and thinking art? Is digital art in its fleeting, participatory nature capable of challenging the the status of the artwork as a commodity, as envisioned by the politically motivated computer art of the 80s and 90s? Or are we today merely dealing with a digitalised version of an established system of contemporary art under the rule of neo-liberal capital?
In this commentary, I explore the ways in which digital technologies provide specific forms for the circulation and return of museum collections. I argue that the affordances of continued translation, metadata, and the digitalanalog interface constitute a particular sense of recursivity that structures community and museum engagements.
Circulating Institutions. Collecting and Preserving Digital Art in the 21st-Century Museum.
The Courtauld Institute of Art, MA Curating the Art Museum , 2019
In a connected age, the digital is becoming an inevitable essential of the museum. Thirty years after the advent of the World Wide Web, the digital medium has undergone technological developments, moving from the digital revolution to the ‘global connectivity’. The “technicisation/digitisation of all domain” is now experienced on a massive scale, framing the contemporary global Zeitgeist. Artists have always been among the first to reflect on the culture and technology of our time, and decades before understanding the impact of the digital revolution, they were experimenting with digital mediums. Digital art might not be different from any other form of art, yet it questions the most fundamental assumptions. By being open-ended and ephemeral, digital artwork survives only as fragments, offering glimpses of a larger networked context that can never be fully grasped. The ephemeral nature of digital art not only generates a series of inquiries on how to display it but firstly poses the question ‘Is digital art worth being collected by museums at all?’. If yes, what approaches should a museum embrace in order to do so?
HANDS-ON! Subverting Museum’s Untouchability though the Digital
2022
Let's Get Digital embraces the timely opportunity to critically reexamine the impacts of digital technology and the barrage of information on our perceptions of reality. Specifically, this panel focuses on digital art, emergent platforms, and forms of creative care and curatorial strategies. In bringing together a panel of artists, scholars, and curators, we hope to collectively reflect on our present post-internet age, to borrow Byung-Chul Han's term, 'the age of like', and what it means to engage with the digital realm, over half-a-century since its inception. Part 1 looks at the transformation or augmentation of analog collections to digital forms of expression, the considerations, challenges and breakthroughs, and how the recent pandemic acted as an impetus. Part 2 examines and draws on examples of the use of digital platforms as a means to share, advocate, connect, and communicate art, ideas, and creative practices.
2016 - Archiving and Questioning Immateriality: Proceedings of the 5th Computer Art Congress
Everardo Reyes, Pierre Châtel, Khaldoun Zreik, frank dufour, Nina van Doren, Pilar Rosado Rodrigo, Maria Giulia Dondero, Eva Figueras Ferrer, k badni, Gabriel Pareyon, Federico A Garrido, Gabriela Aceves Sepúlveda, Alexandre Michaan
Art, Museums and Digital Cultures → Rethinking Change
2021
Barranha, H. and Henriques, J. S. (eds.) (2021). Art, Museums and Digital Cultures – Rethinking Change. Lisbon: IHA/NOVA FCSH and maat. DOI: 10.34619/hwfg-s9yy [EN] Following the International Conference on Art, Museums and Digital Cultures (April 2021), this e-book seeks to extend the discussion on the concept of change that is usually associated with the relationship between culture and technology. Through the contributions of 32 authors from 12 countries, the book not only questions how digital media have inspired new artistic and curatorial practices, but also how, conversely, critical and creative proposals in the fields of art and museums have opened up alternative paths to technological development. Acknowledging the different approaches to the topic, ranging from retrospective readings to the analysis of recent issues and projects, the book is divided into seven sections and a visual essay, highlighting collaborative territories and the crossovers between different areas of scientific knowledge. Available in open access, this publication is the result of a collaborative project promoted by the Institute of Art History of the School of Social Sciences and Humanities, NOVA University of Lisbon and maat – Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology. Partner institution: Instituto Superior Técnico. Sponsor: Millennium bcp Foundation. Media partner: Umbigo magazine. [PT] No seguimento da Conferência Internacional sobre Arte, Museus e Culturas Digitais (Abril 2021), este e-book pretende aprofundar a discussão sobre o conceito de mudança, geralmente associado à relação entre cultura e tecnologia. Através dos contributos de 32 autores, de 12 países, questiona-se não só a forma como o digital tem motivado novas práticas artísticas e curatoriais, mas também o inverso, observando como propostas críticas e criativas no campo da arte e dos museus têm aberto vias alternativas para o desenvolvimento tecnológico. Assumindo a diversidade de perspectivas sobre o tema, de leituras retrospectivas à análise de questões e projectos recentes, o livro estrutura-se em torno de sete capítulos e um ensaio visual, evidenciando os territórios de colaboração e cruzamento entre diferentes áreas de conhecimento científico. Disponível em acesso aberto, esta publicação resulta de um projecto colaborativo promovido pelo Instituto de História da Arte, Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa e pelo maat - Museu de Arte, Arquitectura e Tecnologia. Instituição parceira: Instituto Superior Técnico. Mecenas: Fundação Millennium bcp. Media partner: revista Umbigo.