Thursday saw the New Art Exchange
host ‘Curating the Dots’ a talk centred on ‘augmented reality’ and ‘digital
curation’ by Open Curate It’s Boo Chaple, famous new media artist Jeremy Bailey
and Apposing’s Louis Aims.
This energetic presentation left me thinking about the effect the digital world
can have when engaged with the real world.
I’m sure that certain theorists
such as Walter Benjamin would have been horrified by such developments but in
contemporary society most people have at least dabbled in the delights of
social media. Nonetheless, for some people (myself included!) the vast realms
of computer generation are tricky to understand. If I look back upon various
pages of notes from academic lectures, curation has been defined as ‘to act as a keeper of objects by
organising and overseeing’. Understood this way it is perfectly feasible to
understand how bringing together hyperlinks and online content can be
understood as within the boundaries of curatorial practice.
These social platforms reflect a
major social shift that allows for alternative audiences and communities to
engage. Therefore, augmented reality offers an interesting approach to
accessible meaning making and active engagement strategies within the arts and
culture sector. The
dynamics of sites like opencurateit.org allow for a more collaborative and
‘open’ approach to curation than perhaps traditionally understood. Of
course as Boo highlighted, ‘openness is a slippery beast’ and one which she
continues to struggle to define.
Regardless of the inherent ‘teething troubles’, innovative new
approaches are exactly what are needed to ensure the arts and culture sector
continues to captivate audiences and flourish in the current economic
situation. After listening to the thoughts of Boo and Louis and being immersed
into the enthralling and earnest world of the ‘famous’ new media artist Jeremy
Bailey I can see just how effective the digital world can be when engaging the
real world . The performative nature of the evening definitely had the audience
amused and enthused.
More information can be found at the following links::
by Kate Martin
