CHArt CHArt Computers and the History of Art - 1998 Conference Paper Abstract
The advent of new image distribution technologies, in particular the World Wide Web, has drastically changed the relationship between the art image and such traditional visual arts authorities as art historians, museum curators, gallery owners, art journals, and critics. Just as web news pages have intervened in the established order of journalism and large news organizations, the web has given independent art enthusiasts and individual artists direct access to an international audience without the interference of formal art institutions. New developments on the Web suggest that the increased access to art images and information about art will drastically change the traditionally small and closed world of the visual arts.
This paper will look at a variety of the products of this increasing mode of access to the visual arts, including web based "exhibitions;" virtual galleries and museums; commentary, publications, and art related projects that are now taking place outside the formal institutional structure of the art world. It will analyze the wide variety of activities and viewpoints that have grown up outside the traditional confines of the visual arts establishment and consider the questions it raises for the future of the visual arts. Has the classical idea of the curator as sole caretaker of art works become obsolete? Are the approaches of these independent webmasters changed the relationship between the public and the art world? Are the new technologies breaking down barriers to innovation and radical thought in the visual arts or they simply creating chaos and confusion? What changes will these new technologies bring about in the way visual art is made, distributed, and understood in the world at large?
By comparing the new technologies with changes brought by such past innovations as printing, motion pictures, and television, the paper will conclude with an assessment of the possible paths future technological innovations in visual arts information will take.