Curatorship in the Technological Context

From Action to Operation, from the Curator to the Machine

Abstract

In its most diverse contexts and spheres, the present time is, to a large extent, defined by digital space, with the term “operation” having become central, including in the artistic field. In this latter, new media art has inaugurated problems at the level of the definition of the artistic object and its exhibition, since it escapes categories of aesthetics and proposes unprecedented dynamics of connectivity, demanding new exhibition models. Consequently, the autonomy of curatorship and the curator’s control are challenged.

On the other hand, digital technologies provide new possibilities for the conception of exhibitions, through different operative and automatic systems, such as artificial intelligence. It is then observed that technological processes constitute tools for the autonomization of the curator, of institutional models and powers. This also fosters the emergence of a more plural and active curatorship in various dimensions and spaces, with an increasing number of participants, which brings curatorial practice closer to the logics of contemporary art itself and to the dynamics of the digital. 

Based on this problem, which arises as a paradox, it is proposed to analyze the transformations exerted by the digital in the artistic field, especially in the exhibition field, how they translate into both challenges and solutions, and, finally, what their effects are on the autonomy of curatorship.