Right and Restrictions: New Challenges following Digital Exhibition Formats & Online Platforms

LOOP PROFESSIONAL MEETINGS Title: Right and Restrictions: New Challenges following Digital Exhibition Formats & Online Platforms1 Lead by: Daniela Arriado Co-founder, Artistic Director Video Art Channel Participants: Carlos Cardenas Co-Founder / Co-CEO, Digital Art Device (DAD) Steve Fletcher Director, Carroll / Fletcher Kadri Laas Project Manager, Estonian Contemporary Art Development Center Trent McConaghy Co-Founder, CTO, ascribe Jonathan Monaghan Artist Rachel Rits-Volloch Founder, Momentum Vanina Saracino Curator, IkonoTV 2

Meeting report by Lucila Piffer and Victoria Sacco

TOPICS: Copyright of digital art and its challenges; new software and strategies for the exhibition, distribution and sale of artworks; relationship between artists, galleries and collectors.

1. Copyright: new software for storage, distribution, exhibition and control We are living in the middle of a paradigmatic shift: this concerns the way art is being distributed. There are new business models such as Spotify, video platforms, mobiles, archives related to art collections. Curators, producers and artists have a responsibility: how can they make sure that the artworks are secure and that the authorship is being protected? How can gallerists relate with a work that can be freely copied, and at the same time protect the artists’ ownership?

•

• • •

•

There are different services that make it easy for an artist to copyright its work and to transfer it to the collectors. To use this kind of services, the artist signs up, registers the piece of art, enters the number of editions and stores the file onto the cloud. When a collector signs up and buys it, the artwork is sent to his email. When a copy of the file is being downloaded, there is a key embedded to it so it’s possible to follow the file when it’s being moved and modified. It’s possible to buy right to resell it, to display it, etc.

These services enable artists, galleries and collectors to store big amounts of information.

It’s important to talk not only about ownership but also about uses. For example, through the ownership of a painting, posters can be sold.

It’s possible to give people a high quality experience without great investment and by being true to the artist. The software used by the galleries is in general not really complex.

New platforms are being created to make the work accessible without losing control and without devaluating the work.

1 The meeting was held on Friday 5 June 2015.

2 The present report aims to provide a summary of the discussions that took place during the professional

meeting. It does not aim to be a transcription of the conversations, so we emphasize its summary character.

•

•

New services are being offered for digital art: temporary subscriptions for short term exhibitions, and collection management systems, which offer a private channel.

There is an interest in creating art URLs, which are unique and can be owned.

This aims to make the virtual space as important as a physical space in order to answer to the debate about artists working predominately on the net and the web.

2. Keeping it real: resistance to virtual space Many artists and collectors still distrust new technologies and fear the lack of control they might involve. How does this influence the way property is understood and the way artists show their work?

•

• •

•

This problem belongs to a macro issue: it’s not a tiny market we are talking about, but a market of millions of people. There is a learning curve: every day more people are buying files which are stored on a cloud. Most of them are confused, so it’s important to proceed with caution.

There is a human aspect: people still take comfort in signatures, in paper and objects. It’s vital to try to keep terms of copyright as simple as possible.

Some galleries develop complex art devices but still produce catalogues. It might seem a contradiction, but there is also something physical that can be done, a human element to be attended.

There is still the question: will sharing the work devaluate or increase the value of a work through visibility? There is a need to find a balance between giving access to people and at the same time having a certain control over the art work (where and how it’s seen, etc) and interaction.

3. Galleries: new strategies in digital art exhibition and distribution Which are the new ways of storing, showing and collecting art? How does technology influence the way galleries relate to artists? What challenges do they face?

•

•

•

•

Some galleries / art platforms grow through a personal relationship with artists in exhibition programs, residencies or initiatives. When a donation is made to the art platform collection there is a written and verbal agreement with the artist: each case has its specificities, but it always includes rights to show/exhibit the work or to lend it to exhibitions. Sometimes artists donate multiple editions so the art platform can sell them in the future to support their work.

The work is highly accessible to the public when it is showed online or in public spaces, such as galleries that have screens outdoors. This is one of the reasons why it’s important for many galleries to have a exhibition program on their website, and partnerships with other institutions.

Some galleries / art platforms also keep an archive with all the performances that they commissioned and recorded, to make them available as a collective resource.

There are also many video art works shown in playlists, where the curator chooses the videos and gives them an order.

Each case is particular. The artist can rent or license his work. Formalizing the arrangement with the artist and making specific contracts about how they operate is also fundamental. Some conflicts might appear at this point: •

Property and exclusivity issues are subject to controversy. For example, some artists fear that people might download the videos, although they have watermarks.

•

•

•

In terms of exhibition conditions, sales contracts of art pieces are very specific. What happens when it comes to video art? There is a discussion about the way artworks are being shown: on the one hand, some of artists don’t want their videos to be broadcasted on television because they know they have no control on the screen. There is a way in which the artist conceives his work and it’s important that the experience is true to him. The contracts have clear instructions about deals and gallerists have to make sure that the work is exhibited in its full power. But on the other hand, it’s difficult to imagine that many artists would resign the possibility of being shown because of these problems.

There are different agreements, different artists, and different ways of exhibiting artworks. In general, contracts include precise instructions on the kind of space, screen, level of quality, etc. There are always compromises needed in order to show a work.

There is also a main issue, which has not been, discussed enough: how can gallerists be sure that artists get paid? Are commercial galleries the only ones getting paid? There is still a huge need to attend this topic.

CONCLUSIONS •

•

• •

There are new technologies, which enable artists, galleries and collectors to store big amounts of information. Each museum has its own system, but there could be a global system.

It’s also important for the gallerists to join forces to make the virtual space as important as the physical space, to develop new strategies to monitor the artists payment, and to keep their work protected.

There’s the need to find a balance between giving people access to the artworks and at the same having them under control.

New formats enable galleries and producers to offer a different experience to collectors under the motto own it your own way.