Art on Demand

Music, books, and movies are all easily found on the Internet for free (let’s leave the legal and ethical implications for another post) but it not that easy when you’re looking for a art. But recently, some pieces of art, especially video, have starting to be distributed online (but not for free in many cases)

Some museums and art centers have shy initiatives to distribute art on the Internet. MoMa was the first museum to create a channel at YouTube with trailers of Doug Aitken’s Sleepwalkers film. Also, this week we have read that Tate Modern, with the collaboration of The Guardian and BBC, allowed users to download a signed photograph of Gilbert & George (last wednesday at midnight, and only for an hour).

But some private initiatives launched recently could make a difference. Culture.tv is a broadband channel about culture and arts. It broadcasts programs reviewing exhibitions but also gives viewers the chance to see some pieces of videoart online. Ubuweb has a huge archive of avant-garde films, visual poetry and video art. It’s a non-profit site that offers free quicktime clips of over 150 contemporary artists and creators.

In Spain, we find Hamaca, a project by Yproductions, a distribution company of video art and media art. The idea is to create a platform to distribute art from artist to costumer without any mediation. Since its a non-profit project, all the money of purchasing is for the artist. The aim is also make video works more accessible to the audience. Hamaca provides three servicies: video rental (video art for festivals, exhibitions, pedagogic purposes, television broadcasts), sales (for media libraries or collections) and, for me, the most interesting, online viewing (streming of all works of their catalogue).

Contributed by Cristina Díaz