Abstract

This dissertation investigates the theory and praxis of curating web-based
exhibitions from the perspective of a practitioner (the author Marialaura Ghidini).
Specifically, it investigates how the web as a medium of production, display,
distribution and critique has had an impact on the work and research of
independent curators and the way in which they configure their exhibition
projects.
With a focus on the last decade, curatorial work of production and commission
is considered in relation to technological developments, previous theoretical
work into the mapping of exhibitions online and the analysis of case studies
which are paralleled with the author’s own exhibition projects. What has
emerged from this combination of theory, practice and comparison of
approaches is the rise of a tendency in contemporary curatorial practices online:
the creation of exhibitions that migrate across sites—online and offline—and
integrate different components—formats of display and distribution—giving life
to exhibition models which this study names as those of the 'extended' and
'expanded'. The figure of the curator as mediating ‘node’ is another
characteristic emerging in relation to this tendency. Its features are identified
through the observation of six case studies, which include Beam Me Up,
CuratingYouTube and eBayaday, and interviews with their curators, and three
projects that the author organised with the web curatorial platform or-bits-dotcom,
128kbps objects (2012), (On) Accordance (2012) and On the Upgrade
WYSIWG (2013), which experiment with modes of integrating web-based
exhibition with other exhibition formats, such as the gallery show and print
publishing.
Through combining contextual review and curatorial practice, this study names
the tensions existing between online and offline sites of display and modes of
production and commission, offering critical and practical ground work to
discuss the tendency of migrating exhibitions and integrating formats within the
larger context of curating contemporary art.