j e n n i f e r . t r a n t + d a v i d . b e a r m a n
Museums and the Web
and b e y o n d i n t e r f a c e
We're fascinated by the way that information technologies can alter existing relationships, both overtly and subtly. The communication enabled by the web engenders a shift in control, from the messenger, to the creator of the message--when the author is publisher, or the artist is gallery. For the contemporary art curator, whose job is often about selection, arrangement and interpretation, and whose offer of "exposure" was part of what the artist desired, this could be seen as a real challenge. For many artists it is a real opportunity. b e y o n d i n t e r f a c e is designed to highlight the interaction between these players, and to elicit a broader response to the creative work that explores and exploits the net as media.
Museums and the Web is a perfect place for this conversation to take place, because it's part of a larger dialogue about the changing nature of museums. Throughout MW, speakers from around the world are examining the interplay between object and interpretation, between being physically present in front of an object, and contextually oriented in its "cultural information space". As of yet there are no set paradigms--we're learning about the typologies as we master the tools. But groups like the Hypermedia Open Center in Milan [Garzotto, Paolini and Matera] are developing models that enable a critical evaluation of where things are.
The b e y o n d i n t e r f a c e exhibition is one facet of a forum that also includes people like Larry Friedlander--exploring new models for visitor-centered virtual
museums; Slavko Milkic--developing new design paradigms for education;
Norbert Kanter in Germany, Barbara Bridges and Louis Mazza in Minnesota and
Alex Traube in New Mexico changing relations between museums, teachers and students, and Alicia Haber--using the web as a means to develop an
exhibitions place for artists who don't have a "real" national gallery...
b e y o n d i n t e r f a c e is one we could do "online in real time" and it's a great embodiment of the excitement and energy that the web engenders.
j e n n i f e r . t r a n t
b e y o n d i n t e r f a c e : net art and Art on the Net I
b e y o n d i n t e r f a c e : net art and Art on the Net II