Web and Art: the Romeo - Juliet story

Elena Campus; Mar 27, 2009

The Internet and the Arts, both alike in dignity, In fair London, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, But Will Gompertz makes them live together happily.

From the columns of The Atlantic Nicholas Carr wonders, “Is Google making us stupid?”

With scientific evidence at hand, he argues that the new era of the “instantly available” information is flattening our intelligence and creativity.

It is undeniable that in some cases, technology is taking attention and resources away from traditional forms of art. For instance, the closure of many ceramics departments in the UK demonstrated just this, recently.

However, Tate Media's project in London, demonstrates that sometimes art and technology can go arm-in-arm, creating new and meaningful synergies.

The man behind this ambitious project is Will Gompertz. In 2006 he was nominated to lead Tate Media and in a couple of years he turned Tate’s website into the biggest virtual museum in the world that records up to 1.5 million visitors every day.

An immersion into art

Browsing Tate online is a multimedia experience that engages all the human senses.

Tate Media initiatives involve various content across a range of media, in which art and technology combine into podcasts, videos and interactive education.

TATE ETC is a mind-blowing magazine with an original approach to art.

In TATE TRACKS, twelve bands were invited to walk around the Tate gallery and find a work of art that would inspire them to write a music track.

TATE SHOTS is a video project that invites the artists themselves to talk about their art. You can watch the video on YouTube or download them for free.

Will Gompertz appears to have achieved his goal of making this section a proper TV art channel online. The average time of watching videos on the site, has increased from six to twenty minutes in just one year.

The ingredients of success

Talking to 'IL', an Italian magazine, Gompertz said that the key to the success of Tate Media is to have considered art as a business like everything else, cinema and publishing for instance, and to have tried to make art more open and approachable to people, just as the Internet is.

If you are a believer in the old way of thinking, then yes, it makes perfect sense to agree with the fact that maybe google is making us stupid.

But, you can't ignore the fact that the internet is an endless source of inspiration. If you try to use the net creatively, then you'll be amazed at the endless amount of possiblilities just a click of a finger away.

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