Breanna Vinson; The digital museum; How is such an experience curated?

         Museums are the epicenter of curating artwork of a particularly significant caliber, often displaying the work with the artist’s intended way of viewing in mind; the public is able to access this otherwise private display. Such a significant institutional practice shows great respect and pride for the arts, giving the impression that such work should be for the common people in addition to those of higher social and economic standing. Although this practice in itself is of great significance, the focus of this text falls on efforts to bring this form into a new age, that being the digital format. The text Preserving and Exhibited Media Art: Challenges and Perspectives, particularly Chapter 4, Media Art and the Digital Archive, focuses on these efforts to archive exhibitions in a new way, perhaps creating an even greater level of access to the works displayed and a more definitive archive.[1] 

        The text begins by stating that the nature of exhibition is multifaceted, as an installation can pose a complex construction, possibly including facets such as “media installation with video, multichannel video installation, single-channel video installation, projective video installation, moving image installation, and interactive installation.”[2] This preserves audio and video, an element that cannot be maintained as simply as a static image. From this point, a digital library is introduced as the vessel through which any and all curations must be displayed, if in a digital format.

        In this particular text, the definition of such is “limited to the archiving process and aimed at stressing a methodology that, allowing for the convergence of interdisciplinary skills, is able to reproduce the semantics of a complex application domain such as that of media art.”[3] Exploring other definitions of the terminology does not yield much in terms of a definitive definition, although many hold similar points. The functions are primarily cataloging long-term archiving and access to archived material.[4] This definition includes sources such as Jstor, effectively labeling it a digital library. Although this is noted, it is vital to be aware that such a definition is not set in stone and may see alterations as a proper description is chosen at some point in the future. 

Jstor’s image archive interface

        Continuing from this point, utilizing a digital library poses the question of what is more important: preserving the audio and video in their original form or prioritizing a more up-to-date or polished addition? For this facet, both approaches are taken in a sense. That being, the initial work’s form is safeguarded, but the issue of the data remaining accessible results in changes made with software improvements and maintenance upgrades. Therefore, the initial work is saved as originated. Still, a version of it must see alterations in order to prevent the method of accessibility from becoming wholly obsolete and the work from being inaccessible.[5] For this preservation, the question is posed of how one preserves it at an ethical and cultural level. Essentially, as media artwork is translated into a digital form, a safeguard is present at a moral and cultural level, but also at a financial and legal level, to ensure that it is not only the data of the work that is preserved “but also the cultural contexts in which they emerged and were seen.”[6] Although this process is not entirely neutral, it provides more context for preserving the work.  

        Of course, this preservation’s presentation is not limited only to the more technical factors, as possibly the most crucial element is the presentation's appearance. While not true for all works, exhibitions with these multifaceted constructions are created to serve as an experience for the viewer. An example of a work with many an element at play is Bruce Nauman’s Clown Torture, a work that “consists of two rectangular pedestals, each supporting two pairs of stacked color monitors; two large color-video projections on two facing walls; and sound from all six video displays. The monitors play four narrative sequences in perpetual loops, each chronicling an absurd misadventure of a clown.”[7]

Installation images of Bruce Nauman’s Clown Torture

        As referred to by the text, “Such disciplinary environments find a semantic amalgam, which transforms the installation work into an “event” whose constituent character is the “plural immanence.” [8] Thus, preserving such a display in a digital format becomes a significantly more complex task, as it cannot be experienced in the same manner or include the viewer’s body in a physical space that presents all that makes up the installation. The text opts for documentation of all these elements, explicitly stating that this is the only method in which such a complex installation can exist, as it displays all of its components.  

        As for the process itself, there are inherent complications with the shift in approach. Primarily, there is the possibility that the document itself can see corruption or otherwise be altered beyond initial recognition. This is partly due to the shifting of technologies as they become increasingly more complex. Additionally, as mentioned before, the only option for particular works being mere documentation removes the user experience, prompting the desire for a more fitting methodology for preserving such. Thankfully, some works are “born digital,” meaning they hold a web-based status and can be easily archived. However, it may pose complications as to whether the initial source should remain accessible or if such is restricted to the present archive. 

        Frankly, the nature of the chosen text’s writing causes it to be challenging to follow. That is, reading and adequately understanding the given concepts does not come quickly and must be repeatedly gone over. Despite this, the text aims to discuss what must be done to create a digital archive of a museum and its exhibitions. There is a focus on the work’s elements as data, primarily regarding audio and visual elements. While such aspects are undoubtedly more complex, the lack of discussion regarding purely static visuals is disheartening, as such a facet makes up the majority of installations. With the inclusion of an image relating to Jstor’s image archive, a conversation surrounding how a digital museum should look regarding something similar would have been beneficial. In this sense, there would be more of an idea relating to how the curation will be presented. 

For the difficulty of installations surrounding the idea of an experience, I would propose some features similar to a VR viewing of the related work. While this may be limited to a first-person look on a computer, utilizing a VR headset would allow for an experience closest to a physical presence that current technologies are capable of. Notably, I am left questioning what the idea of a digital museum is meant to entail, as resources such as Jstor already exist. Would it simply be a virtual walk-through of a museum or something else entirely? Regardless, I do not see a digital counterpart replacing the feeling of being in a museum, if not just for the sheer factor of the experience, something that cannot be fully recreated by means outside of one’s physical presence.  

[1] Saba, Cosetta G. CHAPTER 4 Media Art and the Digital Archive. Jstor. 2013. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt6wp6f3.9searchText=&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dhow%2Bdigital%2Bart%2Bis%2Bcurated%26so%3Drel&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&searchKey=&refreqid=fastlydefault%3Ae6da9ba4156f0113d28c8f00efe95730&initiator=recommender&seq=1. Accessed November 18, 2024

[2] Saba, Cosetta G. Pp. 101.

[3] Saba, Cosetta G. Pp. 102.

[4] Seadle, Michael. Greifeneder, Elke. Defining a digital library. June 2007. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235273124_Defining_a_digital_library. Accessed November 19, 2024.

[5] Saba, Cosetta G. Pp. 103.

[6] Saba, Cosetta G. Pp. 104.

[7] Nauman, Bruce. Clown Torture. Art Institute Chicago. 1987. https://www.artic.edu/artworks/146989/clown-torture. Accessed November 18, 2024.

[8] Saba, Cosetta G. Pp. 107.