Digital Futures

Digital Stewardship is the Future for Contemporary Art Museums

Digital Stewardship is the Future for Contemporary Art Museums

While contemporary art museums often focus on re-creating the physical experience of the museum online, there is a wealth of unexplored opportunities for creative digital engagement with art that is largely unexamined.

The Need for Art in the Smart City

The Need for Art in the Smart City

How and within which frameworks are artists part of the future city? Is art a critical element in the relationship between future cities and future citizens? Municipal leaders are realizing that smart city strategies start with people, not technology.

2022 UX Design in Museums: How Are “Innovative” Exhibits Driving Attendance?

2022 UX Design in Museums: How Are  “Innovative” Exhibits Driving Attendance?

User Experience Designers in today’s world must discover new ways to evolve their work alongside the external challenges that they encounter. Since the Covid pandemic began, many museums have adapted their exhibits to be accessible online, allowing for continued traffic and artist exposure— from the living room couch rather than in person. How have levels of digital readiness compared to user experiences?

NFTs and Arts Management

NFTs and Arts Management

As the world seemed to erupt with NFTs in spring 2021, AMT Lab thought it would be an appropriate time to curate a collection of essays on the emerging, some might say exploding, world of NFTs with a focus on the arts and technology’s disruptions. The following article provides context to the arts marketplace, ownership, and the disruptions caused by blockchain technology, especially NFTs, and concludes with a short commentary on the forthcoming collection and an existential thought to send you along your way down the rabbit hole of NFTs and blockchain.

For Theatres, Digital Experiences are Here to Stay

For Theatres, Digital Experiences are Here to Stay

One of the biggest shifts that the theatre industry has seen as a result of the pandemic is the rise in virtual experiences. For millennia, theatre has been an art form that brings people together in the same space to share the buzz of excitement and thrill of emotion connected with live performances. However, Covid-19 has made this almost impossible. Over the past few months, institutions have been forced to make changes, but this has allowed for innovations in the field as well. The issue moving forward into the “new normal” is how to operate in terms of offering seasons as in-person or virtual experiences. I believe that theatres will choose to integrate both types of programming into their future season planning because of the developments made during the pandemic.

New Tech Impacts Ancient Sites

New Tech Impacts Ancient Sites

Last April, contributor Jana Fredricks attended the 2018 Museums and the Web conference in Vancouver. Amidst the chatter of digital collections, online audience engagement, and shiny new tech, she presented research on three technologies that have changed the way cultural heritage sites are understood and documented in the digital age. Her paper, Digital Tools and How We Use Them: The Deconstruction and Reconstruction of Cultural Heritage in Syria, was presented in a panel entitled Post-Colonial Digital.

Why Net Neutrality Matters for Arts Institutions

Why Net Neutrality Matters for Arts Institutions

Net neutrality died by the hand of the FCC in November 2017.  The policy, to be implemented summer 2018, will be detrimental to the work and impact of arts institutions and artists.  The following article provides an overview of what changed, why net neutrality is important to the arts, and what you can do to help reverse the policy, or, as AT&T's CEO has called for, ask for Congress to create a consumer Internet Bill of Rights. 

The Role of Technology in Museums

The Role of Technology in Museums

With tools like beacons, iPads, touch screens, and haptic interfaces, technology provides museumgoers with detailed information, customized viewing experiences, and precise location mapping services. However, the use of digital technology in museums is often seen as a double-edged sword, which begs the question: does technology really belong in museums?

Silicon Struggle: The Battle for The Bay Area Arts' Scene

If you told the average San Francisco resident 40 years ago that the art scene in the Bay Area would be gasping for life in 2015, they probably would have laughed in your face.  But it is 2015, and that is the reality we are facing.  The tech giants have moved in, and  tension is building between the Silicon Valley community and its non-profit entities.  In particular, arts organizations seem to be at an extreme disadvantage for a few reasons: