NEW MEDIA: uh, say what?

methods in public humanitiesmarch 2010

Two Perspectives

• New media art: projects that make use of emerging media technologies and are concerned with the cultural, political, and aesthetic possibilities of these tools.

• Social Media/Web 2.0/3.0: A Web 2.0 site allows its users to interact with other users or to change website content, in contrast to non-interactive websites where users are limited to the passive viewing of information that is provided to them.

Net Art/Electronic Literature

• http://www.yhchang.com/• Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries• Art game: Home• Rhizome.org

Social Media as Virtual Playground

• Twitter• Digg, reddit• Youtube, vimeo, • Flickr, picasa, photobucket, etc• Myspace, facebook

slacktivism

• "Slacktivism" is an apt term to describe feel-good online activism that has zero political or social impact.

(guess which kid is me)

Social Media As A Mobilizing Tool

• Twitter: get updates from court, on the ground• Digg, reddit: get more exposure• Youtube, vimeo-testimonials• Flickr, picasa, photobucket, etc• Myspace, facebook - petitions, faxes, call-ins• Blogs: more testimonials, spread the word• http://www.citizenorange.com/orange/2009/0

8/let-america-be-america-again--.html• http://thebiggestlittle.org/?cat=8

Brave New Films

• Began as a traditional film studio focused on creating politically charged feature length films distributed on DVD

• In late 2006, switched completely to being an on-line film studio distributing their content solely on youtube and advertising through email lists, blogs, etc.

Institutional Changes

• Timeliness of video releases• Cheaper production equals more

programming• Access to diverse audiences• More opportunities for community

collaboration• http://www.intheirboots.com/itb/episodes/se

ason-2/silent-partners.html

Matching Form & Content

• What type of projects would work best and make more use out of new media/social media technology?

• With Abandon project

Net Art V. Social Media?

• Participatory culture• Cultural elite, cultural underclass

AAM Accreditation• To participate in the AAM Accreditation Program, a museum must:• Be a legally organized nonprofit institution or part of a nonprofit organization or government entity • Be essentially educational in nature • Have a formally stated and approved mission • Use and interpret objects and/or a site for the public presentation of regularly scheduled programs

and exhibits • Have a formal and appropriate program of documentation, care, and use of collections and/or

objects

• Carry out the above functions primarily at a physical facility/site • Have been open to the public for at least two years • Be open to the public at least 1,000 hours a year • Have accessioned 80 percent of its permanent collection • Have at least one paid professional staff with museum knowledge and experience • Have a full-time director to whom authority is delegated for day-to-day operations • Have the financial resources sufficient to operate effectively • Demonstrate it meets the Characteristics of an Accreditable Museum

New Media + Museums=Friends?

• Museums as places of social change?• Proactive or reactive? (StoryCorps article)

Story/Artifact/Audience Rich?

• how can a museum be story/audience/artifact rich?

• can new media help close that hole? • what new holes does it create?