Tracing networked images: an emerging method for online curation

ABSTRACT

The rapidity with which images circulate across the Internet has multiplied their contexts of reception and patterns of interpretation. This poses some challenges for the work of the online curator who neither relies on the physical space of the art gallery nor on the photographic frame to designate context and fix meaning. However, it also presents the opportunity to test new conceptual tools for dealing with networked images’ inherent fluidity. This article proposes ‘online critical tracing’ as a reflexive method to begin charting, connecting and critically examining the unstable flow of networked images. The method develops from my tracing of a specific visual object – a T-shirt commercialised by the Swedish international retailer H&M patterned with the statement ‘this image is not available in your country’. Reflecting back on this experiment, I examine a number of implications that conditions of image circulation have for online curation, namely problems of commodification, interpretation and aesthetics. While attempting to situate this method theoretically, I highlight the challenges and possibilities it might open up for the curation of networked images.

KEYWORDS:

• Networked images
• online curation
• critical online tracing
• reflexive curating

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank the following people for their feedback on earlier versions of this article: Prof. Andrew Dewdney, Dr Annet Dekker, the research group Centre for the Study of the Networked Image, London South Bank University and the Journal of Media Practice peer reviewer.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Gaia Tedone is a PhD Candidate at London South Bank University and a curator with an expansive interest in photography and in the technologies and apparatuses of image formation. Amongst her recent projects: Dispositifs d’occasion, Comédie de la Passerelle project, Paris (2016); Twixt Two Worlds, Whitechapel Gallery, London & Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne (2014–15); Shifting Gazes, Guest Projects, London (2013).

Notes

1. I specifically draw the term ‘tracing’ from the work of Latour (2005), as I will further explain in this article.

2. This is a significant problem that has a wide impact on all forms of online cultural production. For a discussion of the topic in relation of the conservation of net art, see, for instance, Dekker (2014).

3. The purpose of the doctrine is to allow for limited and reasonable use of content as long as it does not interfere with the owner’s right. Factors to be considered include the purpose and character of the use, including whether it is for commercial or educational purposes. However, there are no fixed rules currently regulating the fair use of Internet images. Although a thorough exploration of the topic is beyond the scope of this article, it is worth noting that such a state of affairs positions in a ‘grey area’ the work of many creative practitioners who source images from the Internet.

4. Bots are software applications running automated and repetitive tasks online. Recent artistic projects have explored the link between their performance, audience reception and market value. See, for instance: Constant Dullaart, High Retention, Slow Delivery Bots (2014) and Erica Scourti, Empathy Deck (2016).

5. Throughout the process of tracing the image of the H&M T-shirt, I encountered a number of artworks that similarly appropriated the web semantics of its patterned statement. See, for instance: Berkay Tuncay, This Image or Video Has Been Removed or Deleted (2011) and Paul Mutant’s This Painting is Not Available in Your Country (2010).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by London South Bank University, School of Arts and Creative Industries.