Computers and Empowerment: Connecting Cultural Theory and History Making

Suzette Worden

There is immense potential for the use of the computer as a creative tool. For art and design history the computer can be a tool to explore the process of history making. It also provides new ways of making statements.

This paper will discuss the design and implementation of the Virtual Curator software. The educational objectives and the methodological issues arising out of the development of this software leads to an examination of the 'museum' as a metaphor for the organisation of knowledge. Issues such as authorship, the 'canon' and the instability of the virtual world will be considered.