The art of connection - rethinking art in a networked world

Abstract

This thesis examines how elements of the contemporary art world can be seen to adapt in relation to an increasingly networked twenty-first century world. Recognising the advent of the World Wide Web as a point of paradigmatic disruption the text develops a selection of theoretical ideas. These ideas reflect that the cultural landscape is shifting to be evermore network orientated. The concept of a networked world, a cultural space defined by hyper-links, is projected onto the development of two forms of exhibition—the monumental commission and the mega-exhibition. By viewing these two case studies the thesis demonstrates ways in which key art world structures may be reconsidered within a dynamic twenty-first century world. The first case study, Shock and Awe, analyses the monumental commission as a conduit for networking—a site designed to produce a specific sociability. This section considers the development of the Unilever commissions at the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall. Five monumental artworks are evaluated for the way they can be seen to operate as socialising media. The second case study, Mega-Forma, explores the development of four mega exhibitions by two separate curators across the last 15 years. Mega-Forma observes that these exhibitions have redirected their energy and become focused on redistributing cultural agency in a decentralised twenty-first century. These exhibitions are recognised as developing into a larger sort of gesamtkunstwerk, an all-embracing art form. The roles of the curators will be seen to shift from a mere arranger of things to a reprogrammer of cultural relations, a cultural auteur—an architect of experience. Ultimately the thesis will underscore some ways in which we might reconceptualise the way the art world operates in the twenty-first century.