DIRECTED BY YOUNG COLOMBIAN VISUAL ARTIST AND FILMMAKER MANUEL CORREA, #ARTOFFLINE PREMIERED IN 2015. HOWEVER, NOT MUCH HAS CHANGED IN THE ART WORLD IN THE PAST FIVE YEARS AND WITH THE NEW CORONAVIRUS, THE ISSUES CORREA DISCUSSED THEN ARE WORTH OUR SERIOUS ATTENTION NOW
TEXT: NAPAT CHARITBUTRA
PHOTO COURTESY OF ATELIER BOLOMBOLO
(For Thai, press here)
Directed by young Colombian visual artist and filmmaker Manuel Correa, #artoffline premiered in 2015 and has been to international film festivals since 2016. It’s now 2020 and so this is no longer a new film. However, not much has changed in the art world in the past five years and with the new coronavirus, the issues Correa discussed then are worth our serious attention now.
#artoffline is a documentary film on art in the internet age, featuring interviews with artists, curators, gallerists, philosophers and anthropologists in six topics–namely Experience, Digital Native, Market, Education, Homogenization and Future.
Of course a lot of artists are holding tightly onto the audience’s “direct experience” of art. As the virtual space on the internet continues to develop, several artists have pointed out the strengths of museums and galleries and how physical visit remains important–how the actual size of the work and the viewing distance affect how its meaning is conveyed to the audience. Looking at the exhibition view of 10 to 12 works online, an artist notes, doesn’t mean you “have already seen” them. Accordingly, a curator comments how the contemporary world is abbreviating the role of curator so much that many practices are being referred to as curation. And as we can access most information from home, a question is raised on how clearly we understand what we’re seeing online. Curators, thus, are more essential than ever as they can select, explain and create stories for the audience.
On the other hand, a philosopher questions our perception of art and the importance of “tactile experience”. As the young generations are familiar with the perception of the same image in different dimensions of TV, computer tablets and smartphones, the “quality” they want has changed. Materiality is no longer prioritized as they’re looking for something so attractive that their fingers wouldn’t slide to other available contents.
That’s all we’d like to share, or spoil, for now. Another merit of #artoffline: it puts together two opposing thoughts, leading to new thoughts. For example, if the virtual space can never replace the physical one, why doesn’t the former only focus on presenting what the latter cannot?
atelierbolombolo.com/artoffline
fb.com/ArtOffline
twitter.com/artoffline