Digital is Dangerous, notes on the art of Keir Williams, Chris Poolman and Jonnet Middleton

- Reflection arising from the ‘democratisation’ caused by digital especially in regards to art and in particular to relational aesthetics or participatory art. Relational aesthetics has always been problematic for me, put in the basest terms I don’t think the act of participation makes the artwork. There is the problem of how to get people to participate and to what extent one should coerce the audience. It seems controlling to determine a certain level of interaction for the viewer. It also questions where the other, physical elements of art fall. Are these really less important? However a social media art seems to fall in more readily with relational aesthetics and is perhaps a way to develop the concept. Social media are by their nature participatory. An art that exists in this space is compelled deal with questions of interactivity. The physicality of this art is also more limited allowing participatory aspects to come to the fore without this seeming contrived. Also perhaps because social media are inherently participatory, it is easier and more natural for the individual user to take part without feeling coerced or placed in an artificial situation.
- A variety of different temporalities are developed through the projects as they exist in multiple forms, and the interesting question arises which will last longer; physical, emotional or technological? The relationships between these are constantly shifting as online and offline share strategies. There is the question to what extent could online communities could exist without the offline? Or where does an online community forge a link with the physical world? Does it require person to person contact or merely the act of say creating a knitting pattern one finds online? There is a feeling that traditional difference between the online and offline are dispersing, for instance most online communities used to be characterised by anonymity and openness, in contrast facebook follows offline protocol in that it uses real names and depends on privacy. Does social media aesthetics play a part in breaking down boundaries between on and offline communities?