In the famous museum, at the largest art festival or in the small gallery today most of the people being in front of the art objects do three things – taking out the mobile phone to shoot the painting, sculpture, or installation as itself, making selfie on the background or posing with friends near the art object.
Even though numerous literatures of how to understand the contemporary art, how to visit a gallery have recently appeared, according to scientists’ research, a viewer spends only from 15 to 30 seconds near one piece of art. And an Instagram era that we live in today confirms the modification in psychological perception and leads to have a habit of seeing information rapidly changing on the monitor. Also, it erases the borders between museum space and its image on the smartphone screen, between an electronic copy and the original piece of art.
The development of the electronic media makes the contemporary art rapidly and publicly available to a large audience. The electronic media become one of the major channels of audience attraction. Galleries actively use digital and marketing communications for self-promotion, increasing the level of recognition and awareness. Digital environment encourages the audience to be active: to visit museum’s internet-site, online gallery and finally to buy a ticket. Despite the evolution of information technologies people keep the interest in original art. Visiting museums became available and even fun.
It is not sufficient today for contemporary art only to create new unique content. For the consumer and audience in the consumerism and the visual oversaturated era the story of creating art, personal road to becoming an author come to the fore. Ability for storytelling in any art form, adaptive thinking as a key to functioning in constantly changing environment and readiness for studying on the daily basis become main skills for content creators. That is why the modern museum represents such kind of medium which has to evolve, to change all the time to be able to satisfy new requests of the audience in the art sphere. In the 21st century to visit an exhibition means not only to look at the art pieces but also to document and to reproduce them. A wish to sense the museum space through the selfies and to feel yourself as a part of the exposition is probably what contemporary art turns into.
About Elena Beregatnova
Elena Beregatnova is a professional documentary and art photographer. She has been photographing for over 10 years. Photography of Elena is the way to explore the world, watching for social life, searching for something unusual in the ordinary reality. Today the focus of Elena’s photographic interests is located in the sphere of a future manifestation in the present life, modern art and its influence on the society, consumerism tendencies, youth culture and its transformation, urbanism and the state of human loneliness in the big city. [Official Website]
