Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Thesis Format

Monograph

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Program

Art and Visual Culture

Supervisor

Hatch, John G.

Abstract

Over the last two decades imagery viewed on the internet has grown immensely. Museums, though slow to embrace it, have begun to upload digital images of their traditional artwork to their websites and onto their social media channels. In large measure, the COVID pandemic accelerated this move to engage audiences they feared would dissipate as museum doors closed. Moving digital images online though means giving over control to the protocol and systems of the internet, to profit-seeking corporations, and the volatility of social media platforms. The museum’s long-established authority over artists, artworks, and exhibitions is usurped by power structures existing in capitalization, digitization, and optimization. A digital image of a traditional artwork moves away from its role as a copy of the original to become a new artefact in novel territory as a separate entity. An artwork on a social media feed is detached from the organizational and curatorial oversight of the museum and its work as a representative of the original work of art. It joins a stream of pictures in the ceaseless social media flow where it loses narrative and context to become instead a form of communication. It is also subject to unknowable algorithms designed by large conglomerates. Museums, with stretched budgets and limited staff, place their digital collections into these frameworks without considering what may be lost in efforts to “digitize”. This research uses theories of digimodernism, hypermodernism, and mediation at the interface between viewer, screen, and original object to take a broad look at what digitizing means for the artwork and the museum. It offers suggestions and discussion on how museums can use their institutional abilities and public trust to be engaged and active in their communities in the age of the internet.

Summary for Lay Audience

Over the last two decades imagery on the internet has grown immensely. Museums, though slow to embrace it, have begun to upload digital images of their traditional artwork to their websites and onto their social media channels. In large measure, the COVID pandemic sped up this move to engage audiences they feared would disappear as museum doors closed. Moving digital images online though means giving over control to the protocol and systems of the internet, to profit-seeking corporations, and the volatility of social media platforms. The museum’s long-established authority over artists, artworks, and exhibitions is usurped by power structures existing in capitalization, digitization, and optimization. A digital image of a traditional artwork no longer simply represents its original artwork but goes out into the world to become a new artefact in new space as a separate entity. An artwork on a social media feed is detached from the organizational and curatorial oversight of the museum and its work as a representative of the original work of art. It joins a stream of pictures in the ceaseless social media flow where it loses narrative and context to become instead a form of communication. It is also subject to hidden algorithms designed by large conglomerates. Museums, with stretched budgets and limited staff, place their digital collections into these spaces without considering what may be lost in efforts to “digitize”. This research uses ideas of incessant change, instability, hyper speed and hyper individuality to assess the effects at the interface between viewer, screen, and original object. It takes a broad look at what digitizing means for the artwork and the museum. It offers suggestions and discussion on how museums can use their institutional abilities and public trust to be engaged and active in their communities in the age of the internet.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

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