Crowd & Art

Dienstag, 12.3.2013, 11.00 Uhr Interface Culture Lecture Room, Kollegiumgasse 2, 3. OG

Gastvortrag von Manuella Naveau im Rahmen der Interface Cultures Invited Lectures Series.

Working online with a lot of people, most of whom are total strangers who might be dispersed worldwide (i.e. activities being outsourced via the internet), is referred to nowadays as crowdsourcing. In the art world, though, the impact of the term crowdsourcing has been negligible to date. It’s a totally different story, however, when it comes to artistic projects based on utilizing the internet to work collaboratively.

That an art project can be based on participation by a wide variety of people isn’t an invention of the internet. What the internet and the social web in particular have done is to open up artistic processes to participation by the general public to an unprecedented extent. In my research I was collecting and classifying projects based on the questions how participation takes place and how the creation process is influenced by the crowd. As a first result I figured out some main differences that I will present based on selected artworks. In addition these artworks will be set in historical context and will be discussed also concerning their technological, social and often even legal impact on our networked world. In the end I would like to discuss with the students the quality of collectives in our networked culture and how outsourced processes via the internet and in the context of technological changes are influencing artistic practice. 

Manuela Naveau (Pfaffenberger)
was born in 1972. She lives and works in Linz, Austria.
Since completing her studies at Linz Art University, she has worked as an artist and curator in Austria and abroad since 1997.
She returned to Linz in 2003 to assume curatorial and project management responsibilities at Ars Electronica. In collaboration with Gerfried Stocker, artistic director of Ars Electronica Linz GmbH, Manuela Naveau developed the Ars Electronica Export division, which she has headed since its inception. In addition to curating, producing and placing Ars Electronica exhibitions at museums and institutions worldwide, her interest is focused on the manifold manifestations of contemporary artistic practice.
Manuela Naveau is currently working on “Crowd & Art”; her PhD thesis research investigates new forms of internet-based participation in the artistic process and their influence on artistic practice that is currently in a phase of flux.

www.crowdandart.at