We want it all and we want it now!
Marcel Duchamp
1887, Blainville, France – 1968, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
L.H.O.O.Q. 1919/1964
Rectified Readymade: pencil on reproduction, 30 x 23 cm
The Vera and Arturo Schwarz Collection of Dada and Surrealist Art in the Israel Museum
© ADAGP, Paris, 2007
Anyone who walks around with a smartphone, or tablet at hands’ reach expects the world to appear straight in the palm of their hand. And, not only do they expect it to arrive looking great on their screen, they are not going to wait for any spinning icon to tap out lost time – they want it now!
How on earth can a museum keep up with this frantic publishing demand when the traditional museum is set for collecting/ curating/ and conserving mode; not practices that move – on a good day – more than at a respectful snails pace. There seems to be a built in oxymoron here – a true contradiction of modes between tradition museum practice and the demands of a public that Tweet, Share and Like their lives; shunting everything to and fro around them.
So – lets say that we do manage to meet this demand – what is lost in the process? I will look at the potential loss here and thinking about what we are supposed to be doing as curators…
- Loss of the aura (Walter
Benjamin)- Loss of lossiness (serving quality on the fly)
- Loss of authority
Biography
Susan Hazan is Curator of New Media and Head of the Internet Office at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, identifying, and implementing electronic architectures for the gallery, and outreach programs including the recent Digital Dead Sea Scrolls project at the Israel Museum which received over one million unique users when it was launched September 2011. Her Masters, and PhD research at Goldsmiths College, University of London in Media and Communications focused on electronic architectures in the contemporary museum. Hazan is currently investigating the virtual museum (V-Must), social networks, and crowd sourcing in the cultural heritage sector, and innovative platforms for disseminating virtual museums, and digital libraries. In (2002/2004) was visiting lecturer at the University of London teaching Web Design, Critical E-Museology, and Digital Media, with an emphasis on the correlation between cultural theory and contemporary practice, annual lecturer in the Museology Department at Haifa University, Israel and guest lecturer on the Intelligent Heritage Course, at City University, Hong Kong (2010/2011).
Hazan is the Israel Coordinator the World Summit Award (WSA), and Co-Chair of the AnnualJerusalem Conference on the Digitisation of Cultural Heritage (2004-2012). Hazan sits on numerous program committees: Museums and the Web 2001-2012, Virtual Systems and MultiMedia Conferences to Europe (VSMM2005/2009, 2012), PATCH 2012, Workshop on Personalized Access to Cultural Heritage, High-Tech Heritage 2012, UMass Amherst Campus, Amherst, MA USA. Hazan acts a Reviewer to Discovery Projects, Australian Research Council (ARC).
Editorial Board, Uncommon Culture, ATHENA
New Media Consortium (2010, 2011) Horizon Report: Museum Edition Advisory Board
Il capitale culturale: Studies on the value of cultural heritage
Chair, Israel Museum National Portal Design Committee
Publication list: