On-screen, Off-screen: Collecting Video and Digital Art

LOOP PROFESSIONAL MEETINGS Title: On-screen, Offscreen: Collecting Video and Digital Art1 Lead by: Pau Waelder Art critic and curator, researcher Participants: Steve Fletcher Director, Carroll / Fletcher Gallery David Gryn Curator / Founding Director, Artprojx / Daata Editions Irene Kotnik Curator, Video Art Channel Aja Martin Director, Zhulong Gallery Trent McConaghy Co-founder, CTO, ascribe Barbara Polla Director, Analix Forever Gallery Vanina Saracino Curator, IkonoTV 2

Meeting report by Lucila Piffer and Victoria Sacco

TOPICS: Challenges of collecting, storing and owning video and digital art; different ways of presentation and distribution of artworks and possible strategies for collectors and galleries…

1. Galleries and their relationship to digital art How does the proliferation of screens in our everyday life, the storage and distribution of a growing amount of contents on the Internet impact on the consumption of art?

Which are the circumstances to provide a feasible context for the displaying of video works? How to display digital art?

Increasing the cultural value and acceptance of digital art as an art form as rich as painting or sculpture is a long time investment. Some participants stressed that video and digital art should be seen just as another art form.

• Galleries get to play an important role in the understanding and diffusion of new media, and a new relationship with the audience is being built.

• Galleries not only show objects that people can collect, but also work as cultural hubs for the reception and transmission of art, by organizing activities, dinners, workshops, etc.

• Galleries also engage with young collectors and attract new audiences in the city.

• The artistic use of new technology is interesting as a way of expression, but it’s also important to critique its effects and the way it influences our lifestyles.

• Given their social feature, Art fairs are invaluable occasions to talk about new art forms and exhibit digital art. Sharing ideas, listening and discussing is crucial, and it is a very effective way to have all the agents within the art world collaborating. Still, it isn’t only about being in art fairs, but also about having an audience.

• A market place is needed so that artists can get paid. Nowadays philanthropists have a very important role by financing projects, but a self-sustaining plan for artists must be thought and developed. For this reason, there’s the need for a system of galleries, because nowadays there are plenty of galleries that don’t collaborate with each other and work in an isolated way.

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The meeting was held on Friday 5 June 2015

The present report aims to provide a summary of the discussions that took place during the meeting. It does not aim to be a transcription of the conversations, so we emphasize its summary character.

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There is a question in terms of how digital art is displayed: should cables or machines always be hidden? People get the idea that technology must always be out of sight, but many galleries have wired systems that allow them to have flexible exhibitions and to choose whether they want to reveal the display or not.

Usually the videos are mounted in tidy settings, using video projections and flat screens, although sometimes artists ask for a certain “tech aesthetic”, showing cables and machines.

Some galleries also use the facade as a screen.

Some galleries develop the idea of Internet exhibitions. The videos are available for a limited period of time, as in an exhibition in the physical space.

This also allows to show videos that would otherwise be unavailable, since many artists do not want their videos to be permanently available online.

One of the biggest challenges is how to make these virtual exhibition spaces as important as the physical gallery space. Many artists do work on the browser, but they would not put it in the virtual gallery because they have the idea their work is not being recognized there.

There are new ways of distributing video art, such as video playlists inspired by the Spotify platform3.This allows showing art through mass media, and can reach millions of households. Museums are usually “nervous” of digital art because they don’t know how to deal with it.

2. Art and the market • •

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The struggle to introduce video art in the art market and in the art world ecosystem is having only a moderate success.

There is a central discussion that has to do with focusing on serving galleries, museums and artists instead of worrying about the market. It’s a struggle in which everyone has to get together.

Some people think galleries don’t promote moving image, because they see no recoupment in their investment

3. Issues of copyright Difficulties in controlling and avoiding copies of contents, which are increasingly being bought and distributed on Internet. How to collect and share art in an environment of networked digital devices? How can collectors face these new ways of storing and displaying digital art?

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There is a new technology that works through bidirectional links and can make it possible to know where the file is, what was done to it, if it was photoshopped, etc. This can be used on any file, document, image or video, but is focused on digital art and helps controlling and avoiding fraud.4

When it comes to set video playlists and curate virtual or physical exhibitions, galleries also have to deal with permission issues. They might choose to manage them in different ways: •

Many curators and producers won’t ask for permission if the material they want to use is on the Internet. Videos or video extracts available in the net are normally screened.

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For example, Ikono TV

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For example Ascribe: https://www.ascribe.io

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In case of images, many times the permission of the owning institution must be asked, because it is the institution itself retains the rights together with the artist.

When there is no contract in between, artists seem in general to be confident, but fears arise when papers appear. Some gallerists think they might have a role in educating the artist in legal issues, but others believe it depends on the kind of contract: in the case of big broadcasters, contracts may be very long.

That scares many artists who show no worries when it comes to verbal agreements or short written contracts.

Written agreement or not, it’s fundamental to be true to the artist, because there is no possible law to be fixed in matters of art exhibitions.

4. Galleries relating to digital artists How can galleries collaborate with artists to face the challenges of new art forms?

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The collaboration has to do with the relationship and that ought not to be forced.

Some gallerists think it’s important to create alliances with contemporary artists who also engage with the problems of technology in everyday life, by sharing ideas, collaborating and finding ways of interfacing, even if it’s hard. Some others believe the problem is to think that it’s all about competition.

There is the belief that the logic is that galleries don’t tell others about what they’re doing, but it would be important to realize that there is no stealing, but the idea of sharing. Gallerists should be generous, give ideas, or advice other artists.

Many times gallerists over-worry about problems outside of their reach. There is a part of the work which is in their hand, which is related to the interaction with the artist, and then there is another part related to law and contracts, which goes faster and differently than the time galleries and artists get adapted to them.

Everyone has a different logic when it comes to payment and economic agreements: some galleries commission everything and pay every artist who does something for the gallery; others grantee the license for certain periods of time; another group makes associations with artists not to get in matters of ownerships and to sell together.

CONCLUSIONS • • • • •

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Video and digital art should be seen just as another art form.

Art created with digital technologies is becoming more and more important.

Galleries face the challenge of finding new ways not only of selling artworks, but also of reaching out to new audiences for digital art.

Digital files will always be copied and disseminated: that cannot be controlled, but the proof of ownership does.

It’s important to be true to the artists, and to empower their work with the available resources. The relationship between galleries and artists has a very important role in both creative and economic areas.

It’s important to create alliances with contemporary artists who also engage with the problems of technology in the everyday life and face together the challenges of the art market.

Although verbal agreements work in some cases, written contracts are frequent with bigger broadcasters, which look frightening to some artists. There is still a lag between law and art.