While artists may be spending much of this pandemic in their studios working to produce new works, many of us are left without such established art practices to help us make sense of (or escape) our current radical reality. At the same time, COVID-19 has pushed art institutions and organizations to get creative about the ways in which they operate. Many have created resources for the general public, so that we can create, view or in some other way take part in the excitement and depth of art — from wherever we may be. At a time when uncertainties, fear and illness plague our society, art remains a resource and practice which, in its essence, cannot be stamped out. And if we’re going to be quarantined, we might as well use our time at home to engage with that art: to pause, reflect, create and, ironically, participate. While galleries and artists scramble to keep their audiences … [Read more...] about COPING WITH COVID-19: INSIGHTS AND INNOVATION FROM THE ART WORLD
media
Northwestern University in Qatar’s Media Majlis
Media Majlis, the first media museum in the Arab world, is named after the traditional majlis, the Arab gathering place where information was shared and spread. Located in Doha’s Education City, the museum, part of Northwestern University in Qatar, is one of the world’s most technologically advanced schools of media. The building designed by the renowned architect Antoine Predock highlights digital technology with state-of-the-art media. Its exterior features two curvilinear spaces. The large screen permanently affixed to the wall is in the form of a saif tic, the shape of a curved sword particular to the Arab world that is used in wayfinding. The museum, dedicated to media, journalism and communication, seeks to provide multiple views on given subjects, allowing the public to find their own ways of exploring the topics and providing a pulpit for polyphonic discussion in our … [Read more...] about Northwestern University in Qatar’s Media Majlis
WELCOME: FROM BRIAN GOSLOW
“Art may yet save the world.” Thus writes Nancy Nesvet in her wrap-up of this year’s Art Basel international art fair in Basel, Switzerland, in this issue. She’s addressing what she sees as a need for the world’s citizens — and especially its artists — to “band together to work to solve environmental and political problems if we are to survive as a people.” Much of the artwork she reports on takes on these concerns as does some of the exhibitions covered in this issue of Artscope. How those messages will be conveyed remains to be seen. We work hard in giving a voice to artists, addressing their societal concerns through their artwork and share them to create public participation. That also means constantly opening the ways we get those messages out to you. The loss of traditional media publications and journalism outlets available for artists and art organizations and … [Read more...] about WELCOME: FROM BRIAN GOSLOW
SOCIAL MEDIA TIPS: FRAONE’S DOS AND DON’TS
BUSINESS Almost 18 years ago, fresh out of a five-year career as a technology business journalist and working my first art gallery job, there was a lot of conversation in my new profession on how the Internet was changing how collectors purchased art. Some wondered if the experience of visiting our brick-and-mortar art galleries would be replaced by e-commerce web sites. This isn’t quite how things turned out. Brick and mortar galleries and the Internet have formed a symbiotic relationship. With gallery rents rising and “art fair fatigue” having long since set in among both gallerists and collectors, more and more art dealers are turning to Internet offerings as the most cost-effective way to share available inventory to as many collectors around the world as possible. Art commerce web-based businesses such as Artnet, Artsy, Paddle8 and 1stdibs have not replaced art … [Read more...] about SOCIAL MEDIA TIPS: FRAONE’S DOS AND DON’TS
ART IN THE AGE OF THE INTERNET: THE MALEVOLENT AND THE SUBLIME
REVIEW ART IN THE AGE OF THE INTERNET, 1989 TO TODAY ICA, BOSTON 25 HARBOR SHORE DRIVE BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS THROUGH MAY 20 by Suzanne Volmer It was surprising when the ICA, Boston opened its Diller Scofidio + Renfro-designed Seaport location in 2006 to see the architectural feature of a media lab centrally located inside. As a foretelling note, it spoke not only of the ICA’s institutional intention to position itself as an important archive of performance art, but the dizzying configuration reflected in vertigo-like terms the idea that digitization has and would continue to alter human experience. “Art in the Age of the Internet, 1989 to Today” addresses that trajectory and is a fascinatingly diverse exhibition. Curated by Eva Respini, the ICA’s Barbara Lee Chief Curator, this show explores quirks amid the vastness of virtual space and the A.I. frontier. Organized … [Read more...] about ART IN THE AGE OF THE INTERNET: THE MALEVOLENT AND THE SUBLIME