Online exhibitions, Part 1: The Electronic Gaze

Jesc Bunyard, FAD online, July 4, 2016

In the contemporary landscape it’s not unusual to encounter exhibitions online. These could be artworks made for the digital space or not, but what takes place when we look at these artworks? Does the experience differ from the one that occurs within the four walls of the gallery?

 

To view an online exhibition is to enter a liminal space. Is the viewer fully engaging in the act of looking or does the mediation of technology alter this act? One exhibition that is currently online is on the website of Michael Hoppen Gallery. Entitled ‘Passing Time’ the exhibition is a collection of photographs by anonymous photographers. Aside from having no artist’s name attached to their works, these photographs all show people at leisure. These images are joyous and totally captivating.