The White Review, Scroll, Skim, Stare
There’s a lot of repetition and patterns in the way people show artwork
on the web. The author believes that websites have the potential of taking
new exciting forms which could reflect in their design the way these people
see art today. For the author, artists have this role of breaking monotony,
not taking the safe path, and shaping the way people see images online today.
There’s something about the author’s argument that I have to disagree on.
I believe that websites that are created to showcase the work of other
people don’t have “the right” to impose a sort of feeling or experience
on the people that see the artwork. That is the role of the artist to which
the artwork corresponds. More than an aesthetic decision, I believe the
reason why most galleries and museums choose to show contemporary art in
such simple, empty spaces is so these spaces won’t interfere and disrupt
the viewer’s experience and divert the original idea or purpose of the
artist.
Nevertheless, if the website is made by the artist and contains its own
work, this artist has the freedom of designing it in a way that will
complement or even elevate it. I realize that it isn’t very often that
I see contemporary artists using web spaces as part of their work. I share
with the author the frustration of how much conformity there is within many
artists, considering all the access that people have today to all sorts of
mediums, information and tools. And even worse, the lack of curiosity to
explore the possibilities of the growing technology world from which no one
can escape.
Qs:
Every day the world becomes more virtual. Do you believe a
big part of the
experience of looking at an artwork is lost when it
is taken from real life
to a screen?
Do you think this theory applies to artists the same way it applies
to designers' websites?