The first observation indicated
that the mobility tools of temporal, situated and shadowed give artefacts a
mobility/mooring characteristic which enable artefacts to become
territorialised and deterritorialised across the social media landscapes.
The associated analytics drives
the curating of the artworks, reflecting an underlying monitoring of all
activity.
Assemblage of the database
ArtStack, Pictify and Trover aim
to offer a balance between participation and a level of aesthetic enjoyment
from engaging with the visual elements. Engaging with the users will guarantee
further uploads, befriending and support the apps’ viability in a commercial
context.
For all three applications, the
photos are eye catching, some are displayed larger than others but this seems
the result of the screen’s optimisation, the layout framing a delicate balance
of photos and text. Users must be convinced, seduced, enticed, intrigued...
Matching interests, as Kress
(2011) suggests, is the main drive, the screen an ever changing assemblage
collated by the underlying database. Kress (2011) uses the metaphor of ‘orchestrated
ensemble’ indicating that the screen provides ‘the “ground” on which my
selection and interpretation take place.’ (Kress, 2011,
p.161) (his italics). Orchestration for him describes the process of
selecting/assembling/designing the semiotic materials which, Kress (2011)
suggests, give shape through time and space. Kress’ emphasis however, is on the
choice made by the viewer, whilst in a social media context, the curating is
determined by the underlying crowd sourced database. We are therefore not
dealing with a traditional museum curator, but dealing
with a multiplicity of curators focusing on the process of curating. The
building of personalised gallery spaces is incorporated into a heterogenic whole.
These artworks are no longer fixed at specific locations but appear
rhizomatically along social media landscapes. The public networks of the
social media environment enable the curating of artworks and graffiti which
move from a condition of co-determination (Kozinets 2010) to one of underdetermination,
‘enabling the simultaneous reception, alteration and redistribution of cultural
objects’ (Poster, 1999, p 15).
Assemblage of touch
The salience of the tabs at the
top of the screen is further enhanced when the viewer ‘hovers’ over with cursor or finger, this will temporarily activate a ‘live’ icon (usually in the
shape of an illustrated ‘finger’) indicating potential navigational
action. This enhanced affordance of inviting the user to touch and take
action is repeated all over the screen, to make the app user-friendly, slick
and speedy in its handling. A sense of ‘control’ is offered to the user, who,
through regular engagement becomes an expert user, reinforced by the
repetitiveness and semi-automated feel. Artworks in this context switch from
being artworks to becoming navigational aids, or buttons with a
function. Artworks thus become signifiers, underlining the social
media's purpose of interactivity.
Curated photos on the centre of the screen also act like ‘buttons’, to be
touched, caressed, a way for drilling down to offer more personal engagement
and further befriending. Depending on the nature of the artworks, touching may
well offer a body-touch of a figure, adding extra connotations and meanings to
the navigation.
This switch from the artwork as the focus of our gaze, to artwork as the focus of a navigational function is heightened by the temporal, situated and shadowed characteristics of mobility in the curatorial spaces. Increased analytical value of the artwork will reassure an increased engagement on the social app, a visibility enhanced but also the artwork reduced to a sense of the sameness (all artworks are buttons) and dissimilarity (buttons are not artworks) when viewing images.
