a subject in transition; opportunities and problems
CHArt Seventeenth Annual Conference
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DIGITAL
ART HISTORY a subject in transition; opportunities and problems |
Harald Kraemer, University of Cologne, Germany
Fragments and Figments of Knowledge: the documentation of contemporary art
Modern art is open, transient, interdisciplinary, multimedial, processual, discursive, dependent on concept and context and besides that increasingly aimed at interactivity with the recipient. Because modern art is so diverse it is in need of documentation in a wider sense, in case it should at some point be subjected to scientific questions and authenticity by those who were not present at its conception and presentation.
The main aim of the research project Art history and Museum Informatics: Methodology and Documentation of Contemporary Art at the University of Cologne, which was initiated in 1999 by Hubertus Kohle and Harald Kraemer, is to make a practical contribution for the conception of strategies and structures for a methodology for the science of art and for the documentation and archiving of modern and contemporary art. The aim is to demonstrate by the means of the specific traits of modern art the necessity of new documentation procedures and digital technologies.
Contemporary art requires rethinking and a strategic procedure in its documentation. Documentation is a work of art, is a process, navigation, interpretation and a tool for communication and discussion. The instruments of digital and multimedia technology require specific art efforts. This cannot be carried out by the present database management systems or at best only minimally. With this changed role of documentation, which on the one hand will have consequences for the questions asked by later generations of researchers and on the other hand, due to the increasing presence of digital media appliances in museums, will also change the viewing habits of visitors to the museums as well as researchers, there is an entire set of problems and questions to cope with.
My talk will give an introduction in the problems of the documentation of contemporary art, (e.g. quality of information, research, reality, future of the museum) show the results of the Cologne research project and illustrate possible strategies and perspectives for the future by using digital technologies.
More information about the project on www.uni-koeln.de/inter-fak/fk-427/