Curating Digital Life and Culture: Art and information

The space between digital life and real life continues to fade and nowhere is this more apparent than in arts and cultural contexts. Facilitated by digital capture and curation, social media, the network, Internet, and the web, these forces combine to empower artists to be digital curators of their own work, giving voice and narration to their artistic expression. In the paper entitled Digitalism: the New Realism, the authors focus on how digital tools and technology have changed ways of doing, knowing, and being, while here we look at how today’s digital landscape is changing ways of artistic expression, narration, communication, and human interaction. The growing use of digital tools and technology in the arts and culture is dramatically transforming traditional curatorial practice and by extension archival practice, so that we are moving from a gatekeeping model to an open model steeped in digital relationships across global networks and the Internet. As we immerse ourselves in the digital world, where anyone with a smartphone can be a digital curator and marshal a range of Internet services, such as Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and more specifically for example Behance (for online portfolios), artists are enabled to freely engage and interact with their audience using to their advantage crowdsourcing, “likes”, chat, blogs, games and email. Emerging artists are particularly expert digitally and are able to curate their life and work directly, living naturally between physical and digital states. To demonstrate this, our study presents specific examples of how artists and GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museum) institutions are adapting to new digital ways of curating collections and conveying meaning. Additionally, we show how notions of what constitutes artistic expression are evolving as art traverses digital media boundaries, especially in terms of visual and textual media. Importantly, as life in the 21st century plays out on the digital stage of the Internet, artists and GLAM institutions find themselves more than ever working at the intersection of art and information which is leading to new and innovative ways of curating contemporary art that are expressive of artistic vision and digital aesthetics, while conveying social and political meaning capable of influencing and impacting our lives.

Content

Author and article information

Contributors

Tula Giannini: URI : http://mysite.pratt.edu/giannini/

Jonathan P. Bowen: URI : http://www.jpbowen.com

Conference

Publication date: July 2016

Publication date (Print): July 2016

Pages: 237-244

Affiliations

[0001]Pratt Institute

School of Information

New York, USA

[0002]London South Bank University

Department of Informatics

London, UK

Article

DOI: 10.14236/ewic/EVA2016.46

SO-VID: d1efcaa4-cafc-4f0b-8eeb-da98ebbc2dd0

License:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Conference name: Electronic Visualisation and the Arts

Conference acronym: EVA

Conference number:

Conference location: London, UK

Conference date: 12 - 14 July 2016

Conference sponsor: Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC)

Conference theme: Electronic Visualisation and the Arts

History

Product

1477-9358 BCS Learning & Development

Self URI (article page): https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14236/ewic/EVA2016.46

Self URI (journal page): https://ewic.bcs.org/

REFERENCES

J. P. Bowen 2000 The virtual museum Museum International 52 1 4 7
J. P. BowenJ. BennettJ. Johnson 1998 Virtual visits to virtual museums MW’98: Museums and the Web. ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://www.museumsandtheweb.com/mw98/papers/bowen/bowenpaper.html">http://www.museumsandtheweb.com/mw98/papers/bowen/bowenpaper.html 7 April 2016
J. P. BowenT. Giannini 2014 Digitalism: the new realism? K. NgJ. P. BowenS. McDaid EVA London 2014: Electronic Visualisation and the Arts. British Computer Society, Electronic Workshops in Computing 324 331 ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="DOI:10.14236/ewic/eva2014.38">DOI:10.14236/ewic/eva2014.38
T. GianniniJ. P. Bowen 2016 Curating digital life and culture: Art and information J. P. BowenG. DiproseN. Lambert EVA London 2016: Electronic Visualisation and the Arts. BCS, Electronic Workshops in Computing 237 244
J. P. BowenS. KeeneK. Ng 2013 Electronic Visualisation in Arts and Culture. Springer, Series on Cultural Computing
S. CairnsD. Birchall 2013 Curating the digital world: Past preconceptions, present problems, possible futures MW2013: Museums and the Web 2013, Portland, USA 17-20 April ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://mw2013.museumsandtheweb.com/paper/curating-the-digital-world-past-preconceptions-present-problems-possible-futures/">http://mw2013.museumsandtheweb.com/paper/curating-the-digital-world-past-preconceptions-present-problems-possible-futures/ 7 April 2016
J. Fargo 2016 Laura Poitras: Astro Noise review -Citizenfour director loses the plot The Guardian, 5 February ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/feb/05/laura-poitras-astro-noise-review-whitney-review">http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/feb/05/laura-poitras-astro-noise-review-whitney-review 2 April 2016
S. Filippini-FantoniJ. P. Bowen 2007 Bookmarking in museums: Extending the museum experience beyond the visit? In MW 2007: Museums and the Web 2007, San Francisco, USA 11-14 April ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://www.museumsandtheweb.com/mw2007/papers/filippini-fantoni/filippini-fantoni.html">http://www.museumsandtheweb.com/mw2007/papers/filippini-fantoni/filippini-fantoni.html 7 April 2016
S. Filippini-FantoniJ. P. Bowen 2008 Mobile multimedia: Reflections from ten years of practice L. TallonK. Walker Digital Technologies and the Museum Experience. AltaMira 79 96
T. Giannini 1998a All the knowledge in the world, an exhibition celebrating the new Bibliothèque Nationale de France, from the real to the virtual, comparing CD-ROM, WWW and print representations Proceedings of the 19^thNational Online Meeting. Medford, NJ Information Today, Inc. 153 162
T. Giannini 1998b Information receiving, a primary mode of the information process Proceedings of the 61^st ASIS Annual Meeting Pittsburgh, USA 25-29 October 362 371
T. GianniniJ. P. Bowen 2014 The Brooklyn Visual Heritage website: Brooklyn’s museums and libraries collaborate for Project CHART MW2014: Museums and the Web 2014, Baltimore, USA 2-5 April ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://mw2014.museumsandtheweb.com/paper/the-brooklyn-visual-heritage-website/">http://mw2014.museumsandtheweb.com/paper/the-brooklyn-visual-heritage-website/ 1 January 2016
T. GianniniJ. P. Bowen 2015 A New York Museums and Pratt partnership: Building Web collections and preparing museum professionals for the digital world MW2015: Museums and the Web 2015, Chicago, USA 8-11 April ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://mw2015.museumsandtheweb.com/paper/a-new-york-museums-and-pratt-partnership-building-web-collections-and-preparing-museum-professionals-for-the-digital-world/">http://mw2015.museumsandtheweb.com/paper/a-new-york-museums-and-pratt-partnership-building-web-collections-and-preparing-museum-professionals-for-the-digital-world/ 1 January 2016
J. Grimwade 2010 Visualize this: Is it information or is it art? Society for New Design 2 February ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://www.snd.org/2010/02/visualize-this-is-it-info-or-is-it-art/">http://www.snd.org/2010/02/visualize-this-is-it-info-or-is-it-art/ 4 April 2016
L. Poitras 2016 Astro Noise: A Survival Guide for Living under Total Surveillance Yale University Press
T. Tongco 2015 Meet Audrey Wollen, the feminist art star staging arevolution on Instagram The Huffington Post 12 April ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://www.huffinqtonpost.com/entrv/audrev-wollen-the-feminist-art-star-staging-a-revolution-on-instagram5660dddde4b079b2818e0993">http://www.huffinqtonpost.com/entrv/audrev-wollen-the-feminist-art-star-staging-a-revolution-on-instagram5660dddde4b079b2818e0993 4 April 2016

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] J. P. Bowen 2000 The virtual museum Museum International 52 1 4 7

[2] J. P. BowenJ. BennettJ. Johnson 1998 Virtual visits to virtual museums MW’98: Museums and the Web. ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://www.museumsandtheweb.com/mw98/papers/bowen/bowenpaper.html">http://www.museumsandtheweb.com/mw98/papers/bowen/bowenpaper.html 7 April 2016

[3] J. P. BowenT. Giannini 2014 Digitalism: the new realism? K. NgJ. P. BowenS. McDaid EVA London 2014: Electronic Visualisation and the Arts. British Computer Society, Electronic Workshops in Computing 324 331 ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="DOI:10.14236/ewic/eva2014.38">DOI:10.14236/ewic/eva2014.38

[4] T. GianniniJ. P. Bowen 2016 Curating digital life and culture: Art and information J. P. BowenG. DiproseN. Lambert EVA London 2016: Electronic Visualisation and the Arts. BCS, Electronic Workshops in Computing 237 244

[5] J. P. BowenS. KeeneK. Ng 2013 Electronic Visualisation in Arts and Culture. Springer, Series on Cultural Computing

[6] S. CairnsD. Birchall 2013 Curating the digital world: Past preconceptions, present problems, possible futures MW2013: Museums and the Web 2013, Portland, USA 17-20 April ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://mw2013.museumsandtheweb.com/paper/curating-the-digital-world-past-preconceptions-present-problems-possible-futures/">http://mw2013.museumsandtheweb.com/paper/curating-the-digital-world-past-preconceptions-present-problems-possible-futures/ 7 April 2016

[7] J. Fargo 2016 Laura Poitras: Astro Noise review -Citizenfour director loses the plot The Guardian, 5 February ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/feb/05/laura-poitras-astro-noise-review-whitney-review">http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/feb/05/laura-poitras-astro-noise-review-whitney-review 2 April 2016

[8] S. Filippini-FantoniJ. P. Bowen 2007 Bookmarking in museums: Extending the museum experience beyond the visit? In MW 2007: Museums and the Web 2007, San Francisco, USA 11-14 April ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://www.museumsandtheweb.com/mw2007/papers/filippini-fantoni/filippini-fantoni.html">http://www.museumsandtheweb.com/mw2007/papers/filippini-fantoni/filippini-fantoni.html 7 April 2016

[9] S. Filippini-FantoniJ. P. Bowen 2008 Mobile multimedia: Reflections from ten years of practice L. TallonK. Walker Digital Technologies and the Museum Experience. AltaMira 79 96

[10] T. Giannini 1998a All the knowledge in the world, an exhibition celebrating the new Bibliothèque Nationale de France, from the real to the virtual, comparing CD-ROM, WWW and print representations Proceedings of the 19^thNational Online Meeting. Medford, NJ Information Today, Inc. 153 162

[11] T. Giannini 1998b Information receiving, a primary mode of the information process Proceedings of the 61^st ASIS Annual Meeting Pittsburgh, USA 25-29 October 362 371

[12] T. GianniniJ. P. Bowen 2014 The Brooklyn Visual Heritage website: Brooklyn’s museums and libraries collaborate for Project CHART MW2014: Museums and the Web 2014, Baltimore, USA 2-5 April ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://mw2014.museumsandtheweb.com/paper/the-brooklyn-visual-heritage-website/">http://mw2014.museumsandtheweb.com/paper/the-brooklyn-visual-heritage-website/ 1 January 2016

[13] T. GianniniJ. P. Bowen 2015 A New York Museums and Pratt partnership: Building Web collections and preparing museum professionals for the digital world MW2015: Museums and the Web 2015, Chicago, USA 8-11 April ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://mw2015.museumsandtheweb.com/paper/a-new-york-museums-and-pratt-partnership-building-web-collections-and-preparing-museum-professionals-for-the-digital-world/">http://mw2015.museumsandtheweb.com/paper/a-new-york-museums-and-pratt-partnership-building-web-collections-and-preparing-museum-professionals-for-the-digital-world/ 1 January 2016

[14] J. Grimwade 2010 Visualize this: Is it information or is it art? Society for New Design 2 February ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://www.snd.org/2010/02/visualize-this-is-it-info-or-is-it-art/">http://www.snd.org/2010/02/visualize-this-is-it-info-or-is-it-art/ 4 April 2016

[15] L. Poitras 2016 Astro Noise: A Survival Guide for Living under Total Surveillance Yale University Press

[16] T. Tongco 2015 Meet Audrey Wollen, the feminist art star staging arevolution on Instagram The Huffington Post 12 April ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://www.huffinqtonpost.com/entrv/audrev-wollen-the-feminist-art-star-staging-a-revolution-on-instagram5660dddde4b079b2818e0993">http://www.huffinqtonpost.com/entrv/audrev-wollen-the-feminist-art-star-staging-a-revolution-on-instagram5660dddde4b079b2818e0993 4 April 2016

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