- May 14th, 2009
- Filed under New Media
Based on the title of this post, expect a lot of different things from me today. Yesterday, in the midst of figuring out a post topic, I turned to Facebook & Twitter for topic suggestions. Some people responded with some thoughtful concepts, so I want to address those in some ways. “Woody Woodpecker” isn’t just being used as a clever title to get you to read my entry. Keep reading, its relevant. And I wanted to start with a quick shout out to On the Cusp, who just launched a new design for their site. I like it and I think you will too. Check out the new look and learn what’s going on in the local Indianapolis arts scene.
The NEW On the Cusp
Back at the IMA, there’s lots going on, including an experiment with a motion activated bird cam in 100 Acres, our Art and Nature park. We’ve been working with our Grounds and Horticulture staff for the past couple of months, trying to capture some of the wildlife on our campus. In the upcoming year, we will see the construction of a visitor center and countless installations of site specific art. We’ll be documenting all of this, as well as much of the natural environment. Hopefully wildlife interacting with art. In the meantime, enjoy the video below, which includes several shots, of – you guessed it, woodpeckers.
The Facebook/Twitter call to arms went surprisingly well and I got some ridiculous, funny, relevant and interesting suggestions. Here are a few, including…
- how about a commentary about Kanye West and his supposed status as an artist…
- how about “what is an online exhibition” we don’t talk about it but we should because physical ones are not always possible
- post ideas: what consistently surprises you at IMA / what’s your long-term plan / How have visitors responded / best project
So here are some of my responses.
how about a commentary about Kanye West and his supposed status as an artist…?
I’m not messing with Kanye.
how about “what is an online exhibition” we don’t talk about it but we should because physical ones are not always possible?
Online exhibitions are projects that make sense but aren’t often implemented. The superb Vogel 50/50 program is an incredible concept and this site will become a great example of an online exhibition (it’s still under development by the National Gallery of Art) – but will beautifully pull together much of the 2,500 works of art from 50 States. Tradtionally, the IMA focuses on physical installations of exhibitions. New Media’s role in this is to provide interpretation online – working closely with curatorial, marketing, education and more. Our focus is always on the story telling. The curator is primarily focused on the actual installation. But, there is room for more collaboration and new types of exhibitions to emerge, especially on the web. Brooklyn Museum’s Click! should be a sign of things to come across the art museum field. The possibilites at the IMA are endless, ranging from a traditional online exhibition of art not available in galleries, art too fragile too install, and other factors. I’m most excited about the possibility of one day developing from scratch an online exhibition in complete collaboration with curator and artist. We’ll see …but surely, the future of the online visitor/museum experience online will include more web-focused exhibition. Right?
Vogel 50/50 site
what consistently surprises you at IMA / what’s your long-term plan / How have visitors responded / best project?
I most surprised that we keep coming up with ideas and that we have the freedom to implement them.
The long-term plan is to be brilliant at developing digital projects and content. It’s hard to have a long-term plan in this field though, things change quickly and it’s a big mistake to assume that our visitors will buy into our plan. Agility is essential.
The visitors that interact with us online have been overwhelmingly positive. We want to interact more and hear from everyone – even if it’s not positive.
My top (3), favorite projects I’ve been lucky enought to work on at the IMA have to be – Roman Art from the Louvre Webisodes, Nature Holds My Camera: The Video Art of Sam Easterson, and ArtBabble. Having said that, I could also easily create a Top-100 list.
Speaking of ArtBabble, check out the new section called Goodies, and have a little fun.
I’m signing off, but I would love to hear your input on anything in this post – online exhibitions, IMA projects, woodpeckers, ArtBabble Goodies, even Kanye.
May 14th, 2009 at 10:10 am
Thanks for the shout out.
I have been keeping my eye on a large Pileated Woodpecker and some , what I think are a few Downey Woodpeckers, that are hanging out in my backyard. Just thought I would add that I like the new ArtBabble logo you have here, so I am going to replace the one on OnTheCusp with this one. I’ll have to check out the Goodies section later tonight. Keep up the great work.
May 14th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
Wow! There was a pileated woodpecker! Very cool idea to have motion activated cameras. Can’t wait to more of nature interacting with the art.
Really loved that glimpse of the piliated wookpecker!