#199 - Semi-obsessed
Hello again
Has it really been seven months since the last one of these? Sorry about that. Normal service shall now be resumed.
The good(?) news is that I've got a huge backlog of things to post about, as well as all the current stuff. Because the pace of digital cultural happenings hasn't exactly slowed down of late.
Anyway, we should probably just get on with it. I just wanted to say it's good to be back.
Virtual exhibitions haven't gone away. Radiohead have released the KID A MNESIA EXHIBITION on the Epic Games Store, of all places.
It's "An upside-down digital/analogue universe created from original artwork and recordings to commemorate 21 years of Radiohead’s Kid A and Amnesiac".
Looking back
Confessions of a (former) social media manager. By Adam Koszary. You know, the sheep guy.
What UX looks like inside a museum. Pip Shea, previously the UX Designer at ACMI, reflects on the types of projects a UX Designer does in a museum.
Audience Labs. Reflections on the Royal Opera House's recent project, looking at "How tech can create space for new theatrical forms, new creative teams and new audiences".
Artbots
Meet the Man Filling the Internet with Art. "Braun and Taraschuk’s bots are made by creating an algorithm and a social media account. In order to consistently share new work, the bots are taught to retweet art that is similar to the output of a specific artist".
Museum Archive (@ArtifactsHub). I'm semi-obsessed with this account that tweets pictures of historical artefacts, has 680k followers, appears to be part of a network of other accounts (many since shut down), and will occasionally promote crypto currencies.
Creating an automated Instagram account to put some Shakespeare into everyday life. A detailed explanation involving the Folger Shakespeare API, Python, Bulk.ly and Buffer are used to create an Instagram account that largely runs itself.
Fine, I'll mention NFTs
NFTs: what are they and how do they work? Paris Hilton explains. "I see NFTs as a way to innovate, empower others and push the boundaries of how artists interact with their fans".
Someone called Cody also explains: "imagine if you went up to the mona lisa and you were like “i’d like to own this” and someone nearby went “give me 65 million dollars and i’ll burn down an unspecified amount of the amazon rainforest in order to give you this receipt of purchase"
NFTs Were Supposed to Protect Artists. They Don't. "When we invented non-fungible tokens, we were trying to protect artists. But tech-world opportunism has struck again". By Anil Dash.
‘Buy the Constitution’ Aftermath: Everyone Very Mad, Confused, Losing Lots of Money, Fighting, Crying, Etc.. "We have educated an entire cohort of people around the world—from museum curators and art directors to our grandmothers". Nope.
En France
Numerique Culturel. The Cultural Digital Service of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region promotes the development of digital in the cultural field. They have some good stuff.
BnF DataLab is a service for researchers who wish to work on the digital collections of the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Veille Histoire de l'art + numérique. Antoine Courtin publishes monthly digests of digital museum things with a European twist. Kinda like this email but on Github.
There we go. Thanks for reading, and please do forward this to others who might find it interesting or useful.
A couple of quick plugs before I go. I'm doing the keynote talk at Museums+Tech 2021: Data Tales next week. The rest of the line-up is great, so take a look if that's your thing.
Also, I'm hiring a Digital Marketing Manager at One Further. It's a remote (UK) job working with a lovely team and some fantastic cultural clients. If you know someone great looking for a new challenge then please pass it on.
Chris Unitt
Coach. Digital training for culture professionals.
There are upcoming sessions on digital ad strategy, dashboards, Facebook Ads and lots more besides.