Distributed Spatial Practice, As Applied to the Art of the Exhibition
Vince Dziekan
© 2007
Abstract:
This article addresses the association of curatorial process with digital technologies by investigating the relationship between distributable media and exhibition space. By discussing the critical and creative application of curatorial design, this paper directly focuses on the ways in which meaning and experience are created in exhibition space. This practice is informed by digital aesthetics and how the characteristics associated with networked culture might translate in spatial narratives associated with gallery-based exhibition. In order to do so, this text will overview the curatorial project, Remote . Exhibited at Plimsoll Gallery, University of Tasmania , Hobart in June 2006, the exhibition inventory incorporated digital media artworks by an international range of selected artists together in a mixed reality installation.
The PDF (portable document format) publication of this article is designed specifically to extend the discursive aspects of this text. This visualization forms an integral part of the exposition of key themes under discussion. In keeping with the “distributed” nature of the topic, the reader is also encouraged to access a fuller range of supporting visual documentation currently available on the exhibition website: http://www.remoteexhibition.com/ .
Through this short paper and associated digital publication:
- Theoretical perspectives on the digital mediation of social interaction and interpretative experiences in a site-specific exhibition setting will be discussed;
- Spatial considerations applied to the exhibition's themes will be outlined; and
- The translation involved in developing the installation's scenography will be shown to involve both critical and constructive design thinking.
This research is drawn from an overarching project that focuses upon virtuality and the art of exhibition. My larger project entails an interdisciplinary investigation combining practice-based research methodology with reflective and speculative critical theorization.