The Virtual art world: Real talk about the Art World in a Pandemic
Week 1 of lockdown and week 2 of video lectures, this time all of us used our camera and it was unexpectedly less awkward then I thought it was going to be.
Our theme this week was the virtual art world. We had three guest speakers, Ryan and Andy from the Convenience who we had met before, and Katy Morrison who runs the PINK Gallery in Manchester. This week was going to be when our Manchester trip was going to take place but like a lot of things, it is no longer due to lockdown.
Our session started with our own research into the different virtual exhibitions that are happening right now in the art world. Due to corvid-19 everywhere has had to adapt, many turning to the online world to keep their projects running. We looked at a number of virtual exhibitions, some ranging from full Virtual reality tours of gallery spaces to pictures of the artworks in the exhibition, which is what OUTPUT has been doing on their Instagram. Though many galleries have suddenly produced these virtual exhibitions and tours, virtual exhibitions started years before and there are even virtual galleries that exist purely online. I find this all pretty cool considering I’ve grown up with technology it doesn’t seem like a massive stretch for art to find a big platform online; it feels like a natural evolution to the art world. I don’t think these online exhibitions will ever take away from the physical spaces they will just become another sect in the art world and when most of us live online it definitely keeps the current art world more relevant to those who aren’t necessarily living that world 24/7. It also makes a lot of art more accessible for those who can’t physically go to galleries and exhibitions which is a big thing that people are looking for these days.
Katy went on to discuss PINK and the formation of that and how this week was going to be an opening so she had many bottles of wine that sadly was not going to be used. This led to our discussion about smaller places and independent artist-led spaces and how they are and will cope with the pandemic. Because smaller places rely on funding and that means they need people to go visit their projects and exhibitions to get that funding in place and with no other source of money they are at risk. Especially when places are trying to cement a future for themselves, with The Convenience they were just about to start this big project for the year and are having to adapt like many places are.
A lot of what we talked about was using the online space to continue projects and create an online platform. It was interesting to hear everyone’s view about using social media because I always think that nearly everyone has a social media, especially spaces and art groups because it’s a great way to to get out there but by the sounds of it it’s not always everyone's priority. Which understandably is changing as places are having to learn to move online and adapt to stay relevant in the pandemic. Though I think we all agreed that it’s a great way to stay connected to each other and is a great way to connect with artists who don’t always check their emails.
Overall this meeting was very invigorating, it was fun to hear everyone’s opinions and what they were doing moving forward within these times. I love having these conversations with people working in the art world because they always seem to be so interesting and I learn so much. As Katy said we can take this free time to work on our selves and take time to figure things out that we’ve been putting off which is definitely the mindset I’ll be having moving forward.