Page 19 - The Black Box Book

INTRODUCTION

JANA HORÁKOVÁ
This publication captures and reflects on these encounters.
https://doi.org/10.5817/CZ.MUNI.M280-0225-2022-2 The authors argue that the transition from the physical to the online world
is not merely a translation or simulation of a physical gallery space but
that online curating and creative practice in the digital media environment
represents a distinct, evolving, and media-specific practice that has been
establishing itself as a distinct discipline for many years. In the realm
of digital curation, the authors of this publication have added cases of
the application of artificial intelligence (machine learning) in the processing
“Does it make sense to theorize the present when it seems to be of digitized art collections in the position of curator. In fact, the experi-
changing so fast?” (Manovich, 2001, p. 34) mental use of this new technology in online curatorial practice coincides
with the pandemic and is consequently one of the defining characteristics
This publication represents one of the first attempts to analyze and reflect of this period.
on the extraordinary period of the global Covid-19 pandemic, whose im- As we have observed, no one has yet devoted a monograph to a sys-
pact on the art world can be regarded as a shock that requires reflection tematic description and assessment of the transformation of the art world
as a condition for the conscious integration of this experience along with during the Covid-19 pandemic. During this time, a myriad of texts with
some crisis solutions into the curatorial practice of the post-pandemic era. a journalistic tenor explored topics such as art education online (Hládeková,
In this book, a group of authors maps and critically examines the trans- 2020) or the crisis of art and the status of the artist during the general
formation of exhibition strategies of memory institutions and galleries. mobilization to fight the pandemic (Jakalová, 2020), or the nature of
Thus, it focuses on the period around 2020 and the implementation of the disease or of viruses in art. (Dumitriu, 2020) It is only in recent months
anti-pandemic measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19. During this that scholarly studies devoted to the state of art practice and artists in
period, there was a general shift towards the use of online communication the pandemic era have begun to appear, yet the issue orbiting around
platforms for art presentation, which, in conjunction with the long-term the transformation of curatorial practice has not appeared in the form
process of digitization of art collections and the development of art prac- of an independent monograph. A remarkable reflection on contemporary
tice and culture using digital media, led to the testing of new curatorial Czech art, including the pandemic experience, was made by Václav Magid
approaches, often in a confrontation between the gallery practice of in his contribution to the publication Jinde a Jindy (Elsewhere and at
brick-and-mortar exhibition spaces and the online curatorial projects that Other Time) in which he primarily traced the relations of the artistic field
were in development up to that time. to the phenomenon of the present and the risks associated with an era
During the quarantine, the internet environment was utilized to dominated by a politics of identity. (Magid, 2021)
an unprecedented degree to display not only digital art but also the op- A short note on the massive transformation of curatorial work from
erations of traditional art institutions that were forced to transfer online. traditional art institutions to the web due to global pandemics is offered
The World Wide Web and digital media were thus thrust into the spotlight in The Broken Timeline (Dekker, 2021). It is reflected more narrowly in
overnight, drawing the attention of art world actors, art consumers, and selected chapters of the book Barranha, H. & Henriques, J. S. (eds.)
the general public. As a result, traditional brick-and-mortar galleries and (2021). Among the studies that are to be found on the EBSCO database,
experimental digital art endeavours met in a common virtual space. For the the closest to our point of view is the study (Maciuk, K. & Jakubiak, M.
first time, their curatorial projects were exhibited in a setting that ensured & Sylaiou, S. & Falk, J. H., 2022), in which the authors published data
a level playing field for all participants. This gave a unique chance to examine on the attendance of online activities of surveyed museum institutions
the parallels, contrasts, and complementarities of online curating and and framed the interpretation of these figures with commentary on
offline exhibiting techniques brought online. the tools chosen and the ability of the staff of these institutions to use
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