|
VIRTUAL GALLERY
| Download this text (english)
|Download this text (español)
|
When I thought about a gallery, the first thing
I imagined was a physical place with walls where things are hung, and
in the center, a desk with a secretary.
Then, we asked ourselves ?what is a gallery?? and ?what is virtuality??.
From these both notions, when associated, emerge a new concept, and a
challenge arouse : to create a pertinent exhibition space for a new language,
with a different ethic, more democratic, and to look for a communicating
representation for this evolution about the paradigm.
At this stage, this will of change triggered some difficulties : the referents
of the reality were no longer so appropriate because the definition of
this new gallery and their objectives were not the same ones. Especially
because of the nature of the digital means and the conditions imposed
by the Network. Simply, there was no possible relationship with a common
gallery.
Then we went beyond the temptation of the mimesis (1st model) and we switched
to the metaphoric representation (3rd model)...
However, there was also an intermediate model, that I called "Real
Invented" (2nd model).
The metaphoric mode arouse when we reached the reflection that the existing
objects, for example a xerography, when digitalized, tend to disappear.
They only fill in the space as a memory and what remains on the screen
is the “ghosts” of the achieved works and the works in progress
could appear randomly anywhere, images have been dis-located.
After this observation, we decided to stop trying to get "the effect
of... ", getting too much closer to elements and aspects of the real
world, for some coherence matter. Even so, we carried out a representation
of the dis-localization idea, trying to say that the real works in digital
spaces are only a projection of the same ones.
 |
 |
| 1st Imitative Model. |
3rd Metaphoric Model: projection
|
Rejecting the idea of digitalizing works and facing up directly to consider
the digital as a tool, mean and diffusion, the issue took another angle.
We considered different ideas : some were very amusing , others were pathetic
and the last ones were more conceptual .
A new way(interventions):
We thought that perhaps it would be interesting to create another type
of virtual space, based on a more ambiguous architecture, so that the
artists could take this space as a reference when they create a work inside
the eGalab laboratory, and this way, to produce pieces to be incorporated
in the proposed landscape.
We called this landscape model 4th and made some proposals :
 |
 |
 |
| Model 4th: Invented spaces. |
When we got to this solution we wanted to get even more freedom and flexibility.
That is the reason why, we submitted the idea of a “meta-space”
that looked like a screenshot in all its dark depth. The arriving achieved
works in this space are constructing and structuring the gallery constantly
and in real time. It looked like this :
 |
| Model 5th: Achieved works create a space
and form a gallery in progress |
After forging this last idea we thought that it will be a better concept
to exhibit works. The works that the other artists were placing in the
gallery would go changing the environment of our showed work. Our work
inside the gallery would constantly be changing its meaning and, in that
way, a collective speech would take place. The gallery would always be
in progress.
Also the idea of having a "connected" collective space with
the Laboratory seemed interesting, because this metal-space will be a
place of coherent exhibition in parallel to the world of creation. Despite
this coherence, the gallery would become a small cosmos with floating
works.
Different opinions on this topic triggered some debates and one of our
colleague and friend, during Marseilles workshop, claimed this model was
a ?thematic park?.
However we found some points similar and that we all agreed on, that you
can now see in todays version of the SCGallery.
Conclusion and insistence:
All the works are gathered and stored in the same space, they are suspended
there.
Another attractive point to this idea was the space preservation and conservation,
independent from our Cortona Software supplier.
This idea has been increased and an architecture of structured storage
got implemented (model 6th).
 |
| Model 6th |
Small computer screens that support works of all type, pieces in flash,
gif, image. We looked for realism inside this new reality, that is, to
assume the interface of the screen and to support the concept of the assembly
of works. But this was only another allegorical way.
Our first idea had been to respect the margins of each artist's presentation.
But we remained unsatisfied.
At the end of the day, this representation was more than a thematic park,
this model ended up to be a “cemetery” of art works.
Use of the net:
The idea to create small computers and to visualize the works inside was
discarded because each person that is in front of a computer already considers
the screen and its dimensions. For this reason we tried to change our
vision and we to give to each work its real context. That is why we implemented
virtual landscapes of information with links.
We ended up considering the gallery like an interface, the works can be
seen on their respective websites, and we thus started to really consider
the spectators position and the best way to draw his attention ( model
7th).
Our gallery is now a matter of seduction.
Each artist will have a space to seduce us, with sounds, animations, only
audiovisual references of his work - but not the full completed work.
It is a 3D interface, where one can access the completed works through
links to the artists websites.
Regarding the works in progress from the collaborative space, the gallery
offers you the possibility to get connected to these spaces, and even
to interfere in the process of creation.
The gallery is built with codes, sounds and data.
You visualize the exhibition through cameras, that are placed in front
of each panel of information.
A list with all the artists names is available and allow us to decide,
amid our interest, where the starting point of the visit of the exhibition
is.
The visitor is able to move and look around inside the exhibition space
and can also interact by selecting art works that seduced him (with sound
effects,etc) and get all the information on the chosen art piece.
 |
| Model 7th: passages of information. |
This is a screenshot describing the artist's data and URL, this panel
produces a sound when approaching it. You can also see an animation or
a picture that will reflect the content and nature of the work.
 |
| A fragment of the corridors.. |
 |
| Visualization
of a general plan of the gallery. |
The new Gallery is a place where the interests of artists, spectators
and creators are considered.
The survival of this idea depends on the capacity of this device for auto-generation.
Perhaps the difficulty lies in the implementation of the artistic works
to be added added to the gallery from its workshops. This means entering
the codes that the creator supply with his instructions.
In this context, the debate is on the capacity of the artists and internet
users to cope with technical difficulties.
The same question is raised within the collaborative space. What will
we create with these new implemented tools that give us some kind of power
because of the possibility to intervene and interfere on other artists
art pieces ?
Sara Malinarich
SOME INTERMEDIATE STEPS AND WHAT WAS NOT SEEN
Approaches:
 |
| Model 2th (Shockwave
8.5) |
   |
| Model 4th (variations)
Proposal of spaces to intervene in. |
| The metaphor used for the navigation
space comprehension has been the idea of standing in front of the
main door of a cinema hall. When a person decide to go for fun (to
visit our collection), he gets a leisure guide (connect to our web
site), same for cinema, theater, circus, etc. (selecting a group of
net.art, video, or interactive pieces). |
  |
| Model 6th: Video
(& time-based-art): video3D |
Screens for the visualization of
the multimedia works and videos.
This is another solution for the presentation of CD-ROMS, when clicking
on one of them you can visit the work in the net, the interactivities
should be transformed into shockwave. However it would be even better
to get the original file, downloaded in 'zip' compression format,
so that the user can end up seeing the work without the internet
navigator. |
 |
| Model 7th :
bar codes, the codes are in a vertical way and each bar is a link. |
|
