Exhibition as interface

Hannah Cosgrove

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#User | #Interaction | #Cognitive_experience | #Accessibility | #Digital_curation

Johanna Drucker (2014) claims that we need a theory of the ways interfaces announce themselves to the subjects engaging with them. Brenda Laurel defined interface as a 'surface where the necessary contact between interactors and tasks allowed functions to be performed'. I think the idea of a surface is what begins to give this symbolic space a material aspect and it is important to realise that this idea of the surface being ‘symbolic’ demonstrates that there isn’t that much in interfaces that are tangible.

She states that interface is what we read and how we read combined through engagement. I think this is an important issue to raise as the engagement with the interface is as important as the interface itself and whether it is effective.

Because we are so used to seeing interfaces we don't see them as models rather we see them as cues for actions.

She examines the benefits of a humanistic design, which is subject-oriented rather than user-centered. It is argued that this approach would not just include accommodation to preference, habits of the subjects' thought, taste, and differences of reading. She looks at how we are adaptive to our environments and that the icon model is a way to organize our behaviors rather than representing the world. I think that this creates more than a surface between the interface and the subject, it moves past being symbolic and begins to become something with more depth. It is highlighted that because we are so used to seeing them we don't see them as models rather we see them as cues for actions. I think that this is similar to photographs in that we only see what is in the image, not the photograph itself.

This is engaging the idea is of it being human-centred and not just impersonal and generic.

The display is only there and we can only absorb it, there is not much challenging or interaction going on, user experience being reductively mechanistic. In the image below it begins to play with the idea of an interactive interface being used for curation.

Fig 1

Pijarski, K. (2018) examines that there was extreme but short lived intervention of critical postmodernism, also known as "pervert" modernism due to the presence of the photographic image. This defined art in terms of photography instead of photography in terms of art. This allowed for photography to have a claim for itself which the art world was not used to. Which I do not believe to be true as it still has political appeal today. Jorge Ribalta states that 'photography's triumph as art means its complete defeat as a document'. This relates to photography if it got completely immersed into the art world there would be a rise of an anti-realist discourse about photography, which destroys 'the political potential to link art to transformative radical politics.

In my opinion as well as photography becoming more and more established within art, other uses of photography are happening parallel to this. There are good examples of how online can work as an exhibition space but also as a place to view work whenever you feel like it (fig 2). Ribalta examines the developments within the photography world that have led to the rediscovery of zines and photo books. He states that they promised quick production, instant circulation and to be more accessible which provides a solution to the exclusivity of the gallery community.

Fig 2

But he highlights that the gallery spaces and their ability to absorb images together is still important and the exchange of ideas but they remain exclusive towards the wider public. Marcus Schaden, described by Aperture as a photobook evangelist, has been unenthusiastic about young photographers who he has claimed focus only on style not content. He also argued that "We need to go beyond that." I think there are definitely elements of truth to these statements but young photographers should not be automatically grouped. There are a number of young photographers creating books with very engaging content as well as older photographers. He claims that digital publishing presented a path forward for the publisher because of accessibility at a minimal cost and they allowed further contextual material. In my opinion they do not engage with the viewer the same way exhibitions or photobooks do as it is much harder to create an experience through a screen.

Fig 3

Finally, it could be argued that this type of exhibition would work best online but then it would lose what is really engaging about it. What is effective about it is taking it out of context (an online environment) and putting it somewhere different creating a new reality.

Citation

Cosgrove, H. (2020) 'Exhibition as interface' in Curating Photography: Poolside. TU Dublin: BA Photography [Online]. Available at www.curating.photography/post/hannah-cosgrove

References

Drucker, J. (2014). ‘Interface and interpretation’ in Graphesis: visual forms of knowledge production. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Pijarski, K. (2018). ‘How to deal with liquidity’ in Rastenberger, A.K. and Sikking, I. (eds.) Why Exhibit? Positions on exhibiting photographies. Amsterdam: Fw Books.

Images

Fig 1. Homepage (2020) Cluster ducks. Available at https://anti-materia.org/circumventing-the-white-cube

Fig 2. Zuntz, R. (2013). Saving face installation.

Fig 3. Atkins, E. (2019) VVORK, 2006–2012. Screenshot of 3D index page.

The small print

Sarah McKernan

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#Feminism | #Digital_curation | #Self_portrayal | #Original | #Non_creative_photography

Anna-Kaisa Rastenberger (2018) explores how the various forms and methods of exhibiting photography today effects our understanding of the photographic image and how it operates when exhibited; particularly when displayed online amongst the plethora of online images and the effect that the image has on its audience within the context of the digital exhibition of photographic images, when interacted with in this context.

Rastenberger believes in the importance of the awareness of the interaction between ‘'local and global' (2018, p.109) when working with and in understanding photographic images, referring to the alliance between selfie culture and feminism as an example of such an interaction. According to our author, despite the original sense of freedom provided by the Internet with regards to idealism and identity work, we are still trapped by the restrictions of corporeal representation.

Fig. 1: Two Statues of Gugulethu Seven Memorial in Gugulethu, Cape Town.

Rastenberger believes that photographically representing the self is ‘’no trivial category of image-making’’ (2018), as it ties representation to human beings, for example selfie cultures relationship to feminism. Based on the selfie’s election of the attractive white woman as the representative of the ideal version of all women in white consumer culture, Rastenberger believes that perhaps the selfie creates a set of ideals that restricts those who do not fit into this category from expressing themselves at all, doing quite the opposite of what was initially expected.

Rastenbergers conclusion that the control that the artist who is exhibiting their work has over the context of the work on displayed and in turn how their audience perceives the work as a result of the various elements involved is similar to Boris Groys' suggestion that the audiences gaze is determined by how the work is presented and the context of the work more than the work itself, in his discussion of the technology of presenting in his text Curating in the Post-Internet Age (2018). To display such images leads to questions of the purpose of the image, who or what is it representing, what it means within the context that is displayed. According to Rastenberg each of these questions are key in the tracking of the context of images when displayed online and the social role of these images.

Fig. 2: A reduxed version of the Two Statues of Gugulethu Seven Memorial in Gugulethu, Cape Town. Done to illustrate the importance of Freedom of Panorama in South Africa.

In his text our author provides us with guide to copyright, specifically in relation to photography. Our author opens with a quote from Alphonse de Lamartine who believed that creativity was not required in the practise of photography. This idea according to Schrijver is outdated. He believes that creativity is expected from both the photographer and their subject, and as a result of this, the creator of the work has ownership over the final product, making it original. This ownership is recognised as copyright that serves to protect the artist from others who may wish to copy their original idea as their own.

The use of copyrighted material within a photographic image must be obviously secondary to the intended subject - Schrijver, 2018.

Our author articulates that almost all photographs are eligible for protection under copyright law. However, as becomes apparent in copyright law, there are exceptions. Schrijver uses hypothetical examples to provide us with a clear breakdown of the layers of copyright law and its exceptions, which become significantly more complicated as our author proceeds into cases involving creative input from more than one artist which opens up a web of fine print and restrictions that make it considerably difficult to take photographs without infringing copyright law. In order to avoid such dilemmas, it must be established whether or not the use of copyright is incidental or deliberate; ‘’ ’the use of copyrighted material within a photographic image must be obviously secondary to the intended subject’’ (2018), and must be perceived as an accessory to the main subject.

Fig. 3: Screen grab of fashion shoot from Vogua Italia.

Schrijver concludes his text with the example of a similar scenario that could cause likewise problems, such as photography in public spaces, where the inclusion of buildings that are copyrighted to architects is potentially problematic. A solution to such situations was designed, and is known as ‘’freedom of panorama’’ (Schrijver, 2018) which specifically allows for the inclusion of buildings and permanent fixtures in photographs without violating or infringing on copyright law.

Citation

McKernan, S. (2020) 'Being human-centred' in Curating Photography: Poolside. TU Dublin: BA Photography [Online]. Available at www.curating.photography/post/sarah-mckernan

References

Rastenberger, A-K. (2018). ‘Why exhibit? Affective spectatorship and the gaze from somewhere’, in Rastenberger, A.K. and Sikking, I. (eds.) Why Exhibit? Positions on exhibiting photographies. Amsterdam: Fw Books.

Schrijver, E. (2019). ‘A copy of reality: photographs’ in in Copy this book: an artist's guide to copyright. Eindhoven: Onomatopee. Schrijver, E. (2019). ‘A copy of reality: photographs’ in in Copy this book: an artist's guide to copyright. Eindhoven: Onomatopee.

Images

Fig. 1: Two Statues of Gugulethu Seven Memorial in Gugulethu, Cape Town.

Fig. 2: A reduxed version of the Two Statues of Gugulethu Seven Memorial in Gugulethu, Cape Town.

Fig. 3: Screen grab of fashion shoot from Vogua Italia.