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Hi all, Alejandro kindly asked me to note down some initial responses before I spend the weekend egg rolling so here goes - *What are the essential qualities an Internet platform needs to successfully display a multi-sited artistic practice*? I personally dont think an online platform such as this is attainable, as artists & curators will always be experimenting and pushing how mediums reflect 'un-sitely work' but Futherfield is a good example ;-) often, however, artists/users upload a lot documentation to platforms that host their content which are always fragile within platform capitalism. just yesterday I was receiving emails from tumblr about ongoing dormant accounts that I no longer use, but also dont want to delete. They come with the pushy email subject 'Account notice: Your username needs attention' and I have to click a button as a sign of activity that I still exist and my domain space is still required (for the time being). Of course there are no shortages of examples of online platforms distributing digital art works , Sedition comes to mind and I am sure there are many others. More lately there have been a handful of attempts to encourage artists to use blockchain to authenticate their digital files and loan , share and sell editions of their work via Distributed Ledgers like blockchain (see Ascribe, Monegraph). Using market scarcity to create digital editions and using blockchain to enforce property law seems like a good way to sell digital or multi-sited artistic practices but it doesnt appeal to my personal practice. My work is often a combination of performance / installation and a website , when I tried to test one of these platforms I uploaded the code of one of my works, it didnt accept it and only accepted digital art in the form of jpegs or pngs ;-( So code is normally saved via git or github, digital images on website and physical objects in the studio. not that we should follow the steps of musicians, but I think of adapting the record label approach could be more useful in thinking about how artists work can be represented / hosted and distributed. listing artists/ artworks in a formatted way so that not their profile metadata and content could be accessed via an Application programming interface would be an interesting experiment. Could a structured data format like JSON be used to archive works digitally/online that could be pulled/parsed and perhaps a contract (if necessary) could be included in that data structure too? In the hybrid publishing field there is a lot of experimenting with design workflows that turn a lot of collaborative editable documents into published formats such as wiki sites or epub / markdown html. My final remark is on artists as platform builders rather than content creators. It seems young artists are increasingly aware and interested in the free user private platform model. This is not just becoming subjects of exploration but also that power relation is also becoming a transferred as a model of production. I don't know if this is is historically the case but it feels more and more individual practitioners become their own institutions or studios or run their own schools and reflect platforms in their hybrid/expanded practices. This integration of web platform ecology into personal practices perhaps presents some challenges for curators and for artists. In a sparsely funded sector artists seem to be imitating platform economics in the hope of eventually flipping their followers into financial capital. Just as a platform such as Google will provide services for free because the value created by amassing users to train algorithms is far greater than the net costs of providing the service for free, in what way are artists imitating the same economic models? For the past few years I have been performing using a particular image recognition company and during that process my works have contributed to the development and improvement of their service. By using their API they have become partners of the work and benefit from the data that I not only generate through my performance works but also train. It is from this position I see as problematic with my own role as a creative with technological applications and wondering how not only does my work contribute to their advancement (often critical artworks are seen as bugs that can be fixed in the next verison) but weather the data generated and stored has more value to the platform then to the audience or the artwork. Speak soon Mx On 10 April 2017 at 23:32, Alejandro Ball (PG Research) < [log in to unmask]> wrote: > Dear List, > > > > So, to kick things off on this discussion – I wanted to post a few of my > own thoughts on the topic… > > > > Thinking back to my last experience with curating online projects, an > exhibition with the web platform PIL Project - entitled “2.0: Russia. Be > Blinded by an Inner Light”, I found that the greatest difficulty in the run > up to the realisation of that project was how to connect all the fragmented > pieces of the project into a cohesive whole for an audience. > > > > To describe the scene in a bit more depth, this second project with the > platform and artists began with the idea of engaging with Russian artists > and creating a project that investigated memetic culture after the news > hype of Putin and the Russian government’s Internet content laws. As part > of the exhibition program it was devised to stage some type of social media > performance, which was to be a re-interpretation of the artist Rostan > Tavasiev’s “it’s complicated…” project. > > > > As part of this component, Rostan would have a facebook profile, which > would act as the artwork’s personal profile, making the artwork an active > character that audiences could communicate with. For the physical side of > this piece inside the exhibition space, there was a sculptural > representation of this character artwork with a computer nearby what would > display the active Facebook profile. As well we set up a keyboard and mouse > so people could scroll through the profile, and even post on the wall of > this profile if they’d liked. Finally, I programmed a short Apple-script on > the computer that would refresh this Facebook page ever couple of mins, so > people could potentially see in the physical space the online > participation. While on the online segment Rostan was actively commenting > on the physical exhibition and the locality of Dundee (where the physical > exhibition took place). > > > > You can find a link to our webrecorder.io documentation of the online > segment here: > > https://webrecorder.io/PIL-Project/rostan-tavasiev-its- > complicated-hidden-hikkimori-2016 > > > > > > While on paper, and even in setup, everything seemed to instigate this > fluid transition between the two platforms (the physical exhibition space & > Facebook), myself and the artists behind PIL Project still experienced a > great degree of difficulty in communicating to viewers and audiences this > ecology we’d created for the artwork. This, in the aftermath of things, has > led my reflection on curating this type of distributed content (or Unsitely > content) to think more prominently on the online platform as potentially a > unit, or interface, which could somehow capture all of these interactions > from the various sites of the artwork. If you could imagine maybe like a > centralised hub that could distribute audiences outward to the various > exhibition components. > > > > Predominantly I have been looking into API usage, and even creating one’s > own API for this type of platform (or even an artwork for that matter) > which might help facilitate this connection… > > > > Well it’s a bit late and haven’t eaten yet so I’ll leave it at that for now > > > > Best regards, > > Alejandro > > > ________________________________ > From: Alejandro Ball (PG Research) > Sent: 05 April 2017 16:23 > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: CRUMB discussion – April - on Internet art and platform building > > > Dear List, > > > This month’s CRUMB discussion will explore the topic of ‘curating as > platform building’ for the display of Internet art, reminiscent of how > curator Steve Dietz has always described himself as a ‘serial platform > builder’. > > > > In the past, both gallery exhibitions, such as Electronic Superhighway > (Whitechapel 2016), and distributed or non-localised online projects, such > as Tate’s net art commissions, have exhibited the friction that exists > between the spatial dimensions of online and offline presence. Writers such > as Geert Lovink and Jonathan Crary point to how this friction is also felt > in the consumption of social media. > > > > Through my work with PIL Project<http://pilproject.net/> platform and > other online curatorial projects, I am now actively engaging with the > creation of a new web platform for the display of Internet art, and > co-curating exhibitions to gather data on how to exhibit artists whose > practice encompasses an “unsitely aesthetic”, termed by Maria Miranda: > > > > "Instead of focusing on remix as the key to network culture […] I have > suggested another aesthetics, unsitely, which though by no means a dominant > aesthetics, is nonetheless fostered by the conditions of network culture. > […] one of the conditions that [Kazya] Varnelis describes as significant > for network culture is the lack of a dominant physical site, that is, the > lack of a fixed desktop computer with its graphical user interface > (monitor) – and its specific and fixed relation between screen and user – > to the currently popular wireless smart devices. It is this lack of a > single, fixed physical site that contrasts the two distinct eras for > artists – digital and networked – and that highlights the idea of > unsitely."(Miranda, 2013: 60) > > > > I am also researching current spatial perceptions in exhibition making > through the engagement of a multi-sited exhibition, or a distributive > exhibition model (Cook, 2008; Ghidini, 2015). > > > > Through this discussion, we hope to explore the changing nature of both > the exhibition and spatial perception more generally under the theory of > the ‘semantic web’ (Berners-Lee, Hendler, Lassila, 2001; Berners-Lee, > 2009). How can curators engage in the production of new web-platforms for > the exhibition of Internet art that are more versatile to artists working > with an “unsitely aesthetic”? > > > > Other key questions this discussion aims to address > > > > What are the essential qualities an Internet platform needs to > successfully display a multi-sited artistic practice? > > > > When engaging with social media platforms, or any other platforms (both on > and off line), how do we maximise these components integration into the > wider exhibition project? > > > > How can we make a non-localised event ‘feel’ more intimate for audiences, > as if it were ‘In Real Life’ (IRL)? > > > > How can online/internet-based projects contribute to the change in spatial > perception? > > > > Following the format of other successful discussions on CRUMB we hope to > collaboratively explore these questions and invite you to join us in this > discussion by posting your thoughts, personal experiences or references. > Your participation is greatly appreciated. > > > > > > > > invited respondents: > > I am proud to introduce you to our invited respondents and I would like to > thank them, as they already help to ensure that this discussion represents > a rich range of voices from the field. > > > Inês Costa is the Exhibitions Assistant at the Whitechapel Gallery, and an > independent curator and photographer. Recent projects include PROTECHT > (2015) and IT IS PROBABLY BETTER TO START FROM ZERO (2016). She is > currently collaborating with Alejandro Ball as part of the agorama.org.uk< > https://agorama.org.uk/> project. > > > > Diogo Cruz is an artist based in Munich and Lisbon. His work materializes > analogies that interrelate disciplines, with a quite rigorous and > elaborated process, creating symmetric and ironic objects. > > diogocruz.net<http://www.diogocruz.net/> > > > > Joseph Delappe is the Professor of Games and Tactical Media at Abertay > University in Dundee, Scotland. A native San Franciscan, he has been > working with electronic and new media since 1983, his work in online gaming > performance, sculpture and electromechanical installation have been shown > throughout the United States and abroad. > > delappe.net<http://www.delappe.net/> > > > > Steve Dietz is a serial platform creator. He is the Founder and Artistic > Director of Northern Lights.mn, and the former Curator of New Media at the > Walker Art Center in Minneapolis (Minnesota). > > northern.lights.mn<http://northern.lights.mn/> > > > > Max Dovey, Live artist working in technology, politics and governance. > Writer & researcher at Institute of Network Cultures. > > maxdovey.com<http://www.maxdovey.com/> > > > > Rebecca Edwards is Curator of arebyte Gallery (London) and arebyteLASER > (London), a project space located in arebyte's studio complex in > Clerkenwell. She is currently running the Hotel Generation programme at > arebyteLASER, a series of fast-paced exhibitions by young artists from > different cities. > > arebyte.com<http://www.arebyte.com/home/4578362226> > > > > Steve Fletcher is the director and co-founder of Carroll/Fletcher Gallery > (London), his work includes Carroll/Fletcher’s online platform Onscreen, > which focuses on an online cinema showing a dynamic curated programme of > artists’ and experimental film. > > carrollfletcheronscreen.com<http://carrollfletcheronscreen.com/> > > > > Marc Garrett is Co-Founder & Co-Director of Furtherfield. As well he is an > artist, curator, writer, activist, educator and musician. Marc is currently > studying his PhD at Birkbeck University on the theme of Art, Technology and > Social Change. > > Furtherfield.org<http://furtherfield.org/> > > > > Marialaura Ghidini is a contemporary art curator and researcher. She was > founder director of the web-based curatorial platform or-bits.com< > http://or-bits.com/> (2009-2015). Currently she is faculty and course > leader for the Bachelor in Creative Arts in Experimental Media Arts at the > Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology in Bangalore (India). > > exstrange.com<http://exstrange.com/> > > > > Georgia Spickett-Jones is a London-based interdisciplinary artist and > researcher with a preference for politics and Poland. A current > collaborator of Alejandro Ball’s project agorama.org.uk<http://agorama. > org.uk/>. > > georgiaspickettjones.eu<http://georgiaspickettjones.eu/> > > > > Nimrod Vardi is Director and Curator of arebyte Gallery (London), a New > Media and Performance Art space in Hackney Wick. He has been working > locally and internationally on a range of projects and events. He is a > Sundance New Frontier Alumni and a BecomeBecome Fellow. > > arebyte.com<http://www.arebyte.com/home/4578362226> > > > > Stanza is an artist whose mediums include netart, paintings, videos, > installations, software systems and public artworks. Stanza’s has an > expansive body of work that includes the platform soundtoys.net<http:// > soundtoys.net/> and the Net Art Museum. > > stanza.co.uk<http://www.stanza.co.uk/index.php> > > > > > > References: > > Berners-Lee, T., Hendler, J., and Lassila, O. (2001) “The Semantic Web.” > Inria.fr [Online] available from: https://www-sop.inria.fr/ > acacia/cours/essi2006/Scientific%20American_%20Feature%20Article_%20The% > 20Semantic%20Web_%20May%202001.pdf [last accessed: 05/10/16]. > > > > Berners-Lee, T. (2009) Tim Berners-Lee: The next web. [Online video]. > February 2009. Available from: https://www.ted.com/talks/tim_ > berners_lee_on_the_next_web?language=en#t-960021 [last accessed: > 05/10/16]. > > > > Cook, S. and Graham, B. (2010) Rethinking Curating: Art after New Media. > London: MIT Press. > > > > Ghidini, M. (2015) Curating Web-based Art Exhibitions: Mapping Their > Migration and Integration with Offline Formats of Production. PhD. > University of Sunderland. > > > > Miranda, M. (2013) Unsitely Aesthetics. Berlin: Errant Bodies Press. > > > > Best regards, > > Alejandro D. Ball > > > DJCAD PhD Student > > Visual Research Centre (VRC) > > Dundee Contemporary Arts, > > 152 Nethergate, > > Dundee DD1 4DY > > Tel: 07522849666 > > Email: [log in to unmask] > > > http://www.amacollective.org > > http://curatingthecontemporary.org > > > The University of Dundee is a registered Scottish Charity, No: SC015096 > -- *Studio address *Delftsestraat 33 <https://osm.org/go/0EtZ6Yd0t?layers=N&m=> 3013 AE Rotterdam <https://osm.org/go/0EtZ6Yd0t?layers=N&m=> Forget Network - a monthly radio show on Itunes <https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/forgetnetwork/id1111827614?mt=2> and Soundcloud <https://soundcloud.com/max-dovey> <https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/goog_1545882673> www.maxdovey.com