Jade Cuttle from The Times, has discussed thoughts and opinions around artificial intelligence and its place in galleries and museum institutions. Philip here shares his own ideas on the new gallery gadget ShareArt: a camera which films the visitors expression so as to measure their reaction to a specific artwork. Discover the potential problems faced by curators below and read the full article here.
"One of the higher purposes of a museum is to use curatorship to edify, reveal, educate and entertain...What concerns me about this is that it is effectively reducing the selection of art to a focus group - a sort of 'if it gets a smile, let's keep it' approach. Some of the greatest artistic experiences are not instant, but inducible by thoughtful advocacy, interpretation, juxtaposition, imaginative labelling, quiet analysis. The best paintings often take time to work their magic; instant gratification or first-time emotional response is only one small part of assessing an artefact's validity. As a dominating influence in deciding what to hang, my concern is that it could lead to curatorial idleness - dumbing down, effectively."
An interesting insight into the developing museum experience and how this could come to affect curators. As Philip points out here, can the experience of one work on one occassion then affect the curatorial programme of an institution? Perhaps this AI development is the first of many to come.
