A Digital Chat About Digital Art
This conversation is from a WhatsApp chat between Michaela Butler and two peers studying MA Curating in Bristol. They discussed their experiences of lockdown as curators through web-based projects, analysing how Covid-19 has transformed the way they make and engage with art.
The Speakers
Michaela Butler is an arts coordinator based in and around Bristol. She is currently studying for an MA in Curating at UWE, Bristol and working at Bristol Museums, with a focus on community participation. Within her practice, Michaela is interested in experimenting with co-production to make art spaces more accessible.
Eden Coffey-Cockram is an MA Curating Student studying in Bristol and currently working with Arnolfini contemporary arts gallery. With an eclectic background in contemporary theatre practise and cataloguing, Eden is currently undertaking research into the role of audio and audio descriptions within contemporary art settings.
Aloys Feeney is an MA Curating student at UWE. He was a founding member of Commute Artist Collective and helped organise The Underground Gallery, a public art commission in Norwich. He has also worked for a number of Contemporary Arts organisations in the South West and on independent exhibitions nationally.
Michaela created group “Art After Covid”
Michaela added Eden
Michaela added Aloys
Michaela: For anyone reading this, can we all introduce ourselves? I'm Michaela and I'm hosting this chat, and I'm currently on a little end-of-summer holiday in Torbay.
Eden: Hi I’m Eden. I’m currently at home in my flat in Bath!
Aloys: Hi I'm Aloys, I'm in (surprisingly) sunny Bristol.
Michaela: I saw it's like 30 degrees in Bristol today?
Aloys: Yes it's been lovely but I've been at work in the gallery.
Eden: It was so hot in Bristol today! I was at Arnolfini doing some work today and the harbour was packed.
Michaela: And we're all studying MA in Curating at UWE, Bristol, which is how we met.
Eden: Feels like a long time since we started the course.
Michaela: For some context, we did our first semester from Jan 2020 - March 2020, then our course was essentially cancelled for a whole year. We didn't return to uni until May 2021.
Michaela: How did you feel when the course was put on hold?
Eden: That’s a really tricky question actually. I still feel really mixed feelings about it. At the time I was really frustrated and confused about the whole thing.
Michaela: Me too, I think I was mostly annoyed because I'd moved around so many aspects of my life to be able to do this course.
Aloys: At first I was a bit annoyed because I'd left a decent job managing a University Arts Centre to come back to education and get my MA. But as the pandemic progressed and I realised this (covid) isn't going away I realised it was the right choice.
Eden: Yes! It felt really unfair, which might sound a bit dramatic but I felt like I’d taken a risk going back to uni and it was out of my hands. I think being lockdown as well it was really easy to feel sorry for myself!
Michaela: Did lockdown change your feelings about your own practice?
Eden: Lockdown was a weird black hole for creativity for me. It felt like I lost my creative brain. I ended up deciding to sew a patchwork quilt which was actually a great way of engaging with making stuff again. It was fiddly and time-consuming and I became weirdly obsessed with sewing ring triangles together.
Aloys: Did you complete it?
Eden: I finished the quilt!
Aloys: I did have a go at 'upskilling' and tried to use the pandemic and lockdown as a catalyst for learning some new skills, I learnt a lot about digital art and NFTs but I'm still not really there with that yet.
Michaela: I don't understand NFTs AT ALL.
Aloys: Haha well I have spent a good year now learning about the tech, blockchain and the market and it still amazes me tbh. It definitely feels like a house of cards that is ready to fall down any day.
Michaela: I was thinking about Home is... which we did together just before covid. That was a digital project and I remember thinking 'this would be great to carry on during covid'.
Aloys: I was thinking about it today actually, I felt like we couldn't have picked a more prescient topic if we had tried deliberately.
Eden: It’s just so hard to manage that kind of thing remotely. And keep the energy and momentum.
Michaela: How did you engage with digital art during lockdowns?
Aloys: As I mentioned I tried to learn things, or 'upskill'. I started looking into virtual viewing rooms. I thought as I was placed with Hauser & Wirth through uni and they need to sell artworks that they'd probably be expanding heavily into virtual exhibitions.
Eden: To be completely honest I find digital work hard to engage with generally! But I did really love what the Getty Museum was doing, did you see? They were encouraging people to recreate famous artworks at home during lockdown.
Aloys: They're still doing this aren't they?
Eden: Are they? That’s great! I think it was just wholesome, engaging and it also didn’t try to recreate a gallery setting. I really don’t like the idea of trying to replicate a gallery experience at home. For me you just can’t!
Michaela: I liked participatory things like that. They seemed like a positive way to connect with people during lockdown. I remember Shy Bairns did an Instagram takeover of BALTIC in Newcastle. It was fun to get involved with, asking us questions like ‘what is an artist’s book’ and ‘search ‘book’ in your phone photos and send us what comes up’.
Eden: That sounds fun!
Michaela: Did Hauser & Wirth do any virtual exhibitions?
Aloys: They definitely invested in the technology, but I think they have only just debuted their first one to coincide with the opening of H&W Menorca. I think it's really hard with what Hauser & Wirth sell to understand the work without seeing it, I imagine they plan to use it alongside irl exhibitions as a marketing device really.
Michaela: I found I did a lot more reading and I think I read through all The White Pube articles lol. So I was reading about art instead of properly engaging with it.
Aloys: I read a lot of their stuff too!
Michaela: Through TWP I found the website Internet of Things, it's a site with lots of files and folders, with lots of different digital artworks to explore. I liked that you’re in control of what you see, when and for how long.
Aloys: As a piece of 'digital curation' I feel like this is a shining example.
Eden: I will have to check that out.
Michaela: Yeah, I don't know if I really understood it...but it felt close to the same way I would feel visiting a physical gallery, which I think is why I liked it. I could look at it for however long I wanted, go out and come back into things.
Aloys: One thing I find about a lot of digital projects is that they can seem gimmicky, like why is this an online archive when it could be an exhibition? And until covid I don't think there's ever been a pressure to explore the digital on an even level as physical projects, so they've often felt like a gimmick.
Eden: Did you feel like you needed to engage with art during lockdown? I didn’t naturally gravitate towards online stuff at all really. It was only when things were recommended to me.
Aloys: I felt like I was bombarded with emails promoting online events, seminars, zoom talks, virtual studio visits etc that I lost a lot of interest in looking for things. I felt exhausted after reading my inbox a lot of days haha.
Michaela: Did you attend any online talks or discussions?
Aloys: I listened to a few podcasts but I didn't really do anything live. I'd see a lot that I was interested in and think "I'll sign up for that" only to realise I'd missed it later.
Michaela: I went to a couple of talks. I liked that you didn’t have to travel though and there is no cost except your wifi bill. I don't think I really paid as much attention as I would in person though because of being at home and getting distracted.
Eden: I felt very intimidated about online talks.
Michaela: How come?
Eden: I felt a bit unsure about those spaces to be honest. I find online forum spaces really alien to me. I think it’s the lack of interaction with people, I like the chat you have in the queue to go in, finding your seat, saying hi to the person next to you etc.
Michaela: Haha, I think I liked them because you don't have to interact with anyone.
Eden: Haha!
Aloys: I think an artist's talk is only about 30% about listening to the artist, the rest is that networking/meeting like-minded others that make those events a success. I really like the conversations you have after.
Eden: Also atmosphere! I love the theatre and I tried to get into National Theatre At Home but I just miss the atmosphere of a place like the theatre. Same with galleries!
Aloys: Watching them online kind of feels like going to the cinema alone haha.
Eden: This is exactly the feeling!!!!!
Michaela: How do you think covid has changed the cultural sector?
Aloys: I think there's been a lot of shift towards digital online work, with a mixture of success. I think maybe we'll really see the impact of it a while down the line, people will start to refine the things that worked digitally. Was there a type of art you thought did well out of lockdown?
Michaela: Great question, I think it was a good time for participatory projects like we talked about earlier. Although there seemed to be a lot of them, it’s hard to really stand out.
Aloys: I think from what I was reading about art collecting and the commercial art markets, technology has opened the door to digital art collectors, we've seen people begin to buy digital artworks in the same way they might have paintings and sculptures which seems really mad but also great. I'm excited to see where that will go in the future tbh.
Eden: I think in all honesty nothing has really clicked for me in terms of my own art consumption. But I do think it has informed my practice. Preparing for my final project at uni I have been so conscious of ‘covid-proofing’ it so I can complete something. And I wonder if that will stick.
Aloys: I also think it's really highlighted the value of in-person events, ones which maybe were taken for granted a bit before.
Michaela: Any last thoughts...?
Eden: I’m just really glad I am not the only one who has found the digital art world at times difficult to engage with. It’s interesting that it’s something that even we have mixed feelings on as quote ‘arty people’.
Aloys: Yeah agreed, I remember rushing to see Hassan Hajjaj: The Path at Arnolfini when the first lockdown ended and feeling like I'd been to the greatest exhibition, like I'd just been released from some kind of cultural prison.
Michaela: Well thank you so much both, I think this was great.
Eden: Thanks for having us!
Aloys: It was nice to be involved.
Michaela: Enjoy your evenings!!
