Digitalisation and art

Museums across the globe are going digital and are publishing their art collections online through apps, interactive visits to galleries, virtual reality experiences, video exhibition teasers, social media marketing, online museum shops, ticketing software, client relationship management, digital asset management, and central management server databases to name a few. Technology facilitates these new user experiences and content that we can enjoy outside of museums. Museums are filled with thousands, sometimes millions, of objects created over centuries. The majority are man-made objects, mostly crafted from traditional media like wood, silver, porcelain, linen, and canvas. As museums are going digital and publishing open data on these artworks, these traditional objects are becoming more visible online.

At the same time, the digital trend also is visible in art itself.  ‘Digital’ is becoming part of our museum collections. Digital art is often portrayed through digital channels as this can be considered a form of art conservation of the artworks of the digital age. Technology-based art is considered to be more sensitive to damage, loss, misinterpretation, and incorrect installation than a traditional artwork. Successful preservation of these pieces requires maintaining both the original aesthetics of a work and the artist’s intent. Examples of digital art are 2D or 3D projections, interactive projections or virtual reality artworks.

The trend of digital art works also greatly increases the open database of artworks as these works are stored online. The future of cultural open data will be enriched by the interplay between traditional art, new art forms and modern technology.

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