New media narration
When we think about museums, our first thought is always about a painting hanging on the wall or imposing sculptures in the middle of a room, but is it only that, or have museums started to change their focus and identity?
Having already been at the UFO exhibition in the NXT museum, we can easily distinguish the differences from a "traditional" museum. The use of new media installations like videos, movies, and even video games creates a hypermediated space where the audience becomes a medium himself. The institution has found a new transmedial way to narrate its story.
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UFO exhibition in the NXT museum. Photo by Ioanna Paschali, 2023. |
In recent years more and more institutions have used transmedia storytelling techniques in order to engage more and more people and be more entertaining, one can say a big queue makes a successful museum. However, that does not really mean that succession is only about big queues but also about the message. While new museums have implemented a lot of new media in their exhibitions, lead also lost their orientation. Weibel, in his manifesto, talks about the museums as servants of the art market, arguing that museums are not places for education but are seen as tourist attractions and entertainment spaces because they do what the audience expects without caring for the message.
With the use of new media in the exhibitions, more and more questions come into the force. We know about the preservation and curation of paintings, sculptures, and traditional artworks but how about new media? Preservation and curation of new media artworks require different techniques than traditional artworks. Digital media can be stored and archived digitally in databases or digital repositories. That kind of restoration and preservation requires a new workforce with old techniques, making the work of the institutes even more difficult.
This new narrative consequently poses new questions regarding the aims and aspirations of the museum. Do they want to become a spectacle for the visitor or an experience space where the visitor can contemplate on the presented matter and how they are engaging with this? Like no other force, new media has the capacity for both, it is therefore up to the museums and their various economical interests, political agendas and cultural relevance to make a decision.
Post by Ioanna Paschali
The content is not bad, but you have to be more specific about your sources. Who says what and in which source? I understand you used Weibel and Kidd mainly: give full names, titles of publications and years, at the least. Also, you need to explain what transmedia storytelling and what the transmedia museum ARE. That is unclear now. Finally, the discussion on preservation of media art comes from another text - give the references for this text too.
ReplyDeletePS what about relating these texts to texts you previously read in your master?
ReplyDeleteIf you need an example, have a look at Daan's post of this week. He also ads useful citations, to pinpoint more what this discussion is about.
ReplyDelete