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Art and the web don't have to be strange bedfellows. A content strategist and curator discuss what artists have to gain from embracing the web and learning the basics of usable web design.
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The real & the virtualElizabeth McGuane & Jonathan Carroll
Grappling with the virtualElizabeth McGuane
Why should you put your work on the web?
The web = a lack of control
Credit: Matt Stokes et al, Art on the Underground
Art can’t be boiled downBut the way we present it should be simple and clear
Art and technology are not new bedfellows
But they don’t have to give birth to this
Image credit: Maurice Li, vectorialvancouver.net
Option 1Work can be displayed & distributed online:
the web as virtual gallery
Website: Saatchi Gallery Online
Option 2Work that engages directly with the web as a medium
Website: www.wefeelfine.org/
The questions you need to ask are the same questions
curators have always asked
What do we need to know •About the artist?•About their materials?
Curation shouldn’t be an obstacleWhen you go to an exhibition, what do you need to see?
Online & offlineyou need to understand your materials
do so many sites look like this?
Certain things matter:• Fonts (sans serif for body copy)• Font sizes (large enough to be legible)• Screen space (use it)• White space (use it too)• Image size, weight and format
These are the principles ofgood design
Credit: Jason Santa Maria
OnlineArt is not site-specific
Installation: Jeff Stark / Photo credit: Katherine Lorimer
Online, our perception is influencedby what we link our work to and by the language around it
The web lets you speakdirectly to your audience
Credit: Terry Summers - Fox Galleries, Brisbane, Australia.
This is terrifying.
And it’s where content strategy comes in
What is your content?
It’s your body of work.
Stand back and treat your work as a curator might.
Credit: Paramount Pictures
How?
How?CATALOGUE IT
How?CATALOGUE IT
How?CATALOGUE IT
Next:Decide how to organise it
Whydoes it have to be
chronological?
Whatabout
by series?
Credit: Rania Hanssen, goshdarnknit.blogspot.com
Whatabout
by materials?
Doesplatformmatter?
No: content strategy is tool-agnostic
You don't buy a frame and then paint a picture to fit that size.
What mattersis your content:it’s the engine for your web presence
First figure out what you want to present. Then plan how you want to present it.
What next?You’ve built your site:
Connecting with the realThe web can help you grow without galleries
To Tweet or to Facebook?
These tools won’t do anything that hasn’t been done before
But they can broaden your reach
Where to start?
Thanks for listening.I’m online at:
•@emcguane
•mappedblog.com
