Journal Articles by Gabriella Arrigoni
Recasting witnessing in museums: digital interactive displays for dialogic remembering, 2020
Recently, the role of personal memories in the exhibition space has evolved synergistically with ... more Recently, the role of personal memories in the exhibition space has evolved synergistically with the creation of digital exhibits that provide opportunities for encounter between visitors and ordinary others remembering their difficult histories. The article contextualises the use of dialogic museum displays in relation to the concept of mediated witnessing by focusing on the use of digital interactivity. Grounded on the analysis of three case studies from museums in Poland, UK and Italy, the article illustrates how dialogic features supported by digital technology frame processes of partaking other peoples’ memories, enriching and reworking the idea of dialogic remembering. Our key findings concern the role of dialogue in enhancing the liveness and the experiential dimension of mediated witnessing. Further, the article notes a shift in the use of the testimony in museums from evidencing past events to a stronger emphasis in supporting listening attitudes and reflective processes during the museum visit. The article observes an expanded use of digital interactivity, to contributes, through dialogicality, to the framing of affective and performative approaches to both knowledge and identity production in museums.
Museum Management and Curatorship, 2019
At a time when it is particularly urgent to identify models of intersection across the digital an... more At a time when it is particularly urgent to identify models of intersection across the digital and cultural sector to respond to an emergent funding and policy environment, this article contributes to a body of scholarly work around designing digital interventions for museums by identifying the role of cultural content in shaping design spaces for collaboration. The context of the article is a research project that brought together magical realist literature and the development of an Augmented Reality smartphone application realised through a public programme held at a museum of children’s literature. This process created an open-ended design space within the organisation embedded into the development of public engagement workshops around magical realism and place making. It investigates how the cultural content (from archival material) occupied a key role in shaping technological development and suggests strategies that could grant autonomy and sustainability to cultural organisations in engaging in digital transformation.
Increasingly material artefacts are attributed a key role in research in the arts and design. Iss... more Increasingly material artefacts are attributed a key role in research in the arts and design. Issues of dissemination and legitimacy of knowledge are however heavily disputed, often through redefinitions of the concept of knowledge itself. This
article contributes to these debates by focusing on artistic prototypes, identified here as one of the prevailing outcomes in technologically engaged art research projects. In contrast with a common conceptualisation of knowledge emerging from inside the world of artistic research as subjective, ineffable and emotional, I discuss four examples to highlight how artistic
prototypes can support transferable and generative contributions to knowledge, grounded in ad hoc but innovative methodologies. Furthermore, the examples offer insightful considerations that help to identify artistic research when conducted outside official institutions, as opposed to simply process-oriented art practices.
Increasingly, digital artworks are developed as part of research endeavours, and respond to a cul... more Increasingly, digital artworks are developed as part of research endeavours, and respond to a cultural climate which values co-creation, practices of tinkering, re-cycling or re-purposing and innovation. As a consequence, these works tend to be unstable, constantly open to change and to the intervention of possible collaborators. Because of such openness to transformation and their involvement in knowledge production and sharing, they can be considered as prototypes, and generate ne'w opportunities for curatorial practice. This article introduces a curatorial project developed around one such artistic prototype, the Eye Resonator, and based on the idea that audience experience can be structured or transformed by speculatively relating the piece to alternative uses and everyday life contexts, different from its role as an interactive artwork. Our strategy is inspired by design methodologies based on the use of fiction, and imagines scenarios where the technological specificities of the piece can be repurposed. This intervention was partially intended to respond to a series of problems encountered in previous showings of the piece, and aims at scaffolding the participant experience by providing, through the scenarios, additional cultural references and entry keys to approach the prototype.
Papers by Gabriella Arrigoni
Doing Memory Research, 2018
In this paper we explore the potential of postdisciplinary practices to contribute to designing t... more In this paper we explore the potential of postdisciplinary practices to contribute to designing technologies that are in alignment with the fluidity of the female body and the nonfixity of objects. We describe a combination of methods for a deeper understanding of medical devices, and the challenges of prototyping bodily-centred technologies.
The paper explores the concept of artistic prototypes to analyse a strand of new media art genera... more The paper explores the concept of artistic prototypes to analyse a strand of new media art generated within research or activist contexts. Two key features of a framework for artistic prototypes, openness and fictionality, are explored through the discussion of two artworks which embody a sense of prototypicality. The contingent, situated interpretation of knowledge emerging from creative practice-based research is associated to the instability of prototypes proposed as a paradigmatic object for experimentation.
This paper suggests a genealogy of Living Laboratories (LL) by comparing similarities in their de... more This paper suggests a genealogy of Living Laboratories (LL) by comparing similarities in their development with media labs and experimental art schools. These histories all share an interest in concepts of innovation, collaboration, interdisciplinarity, and in the subversion of traditional forms of governance and knowledge production. Originally conceived as a research environment in the field of computer science, and subsequently applied as a curatorial strategy for exhibiting and evaluating interactive art, the idea of the LL can be expanded and enriched with new potential. Looking at the models of media lab and the educational turn in contemporary art can not only add a chapter in media histories, but can also indicate a possible trajectory for LL towards the establishment of temporary communities engaged in forms of knowledge exchange. By ascribing new responsibilities to the public and addressing issues relevant to them, this can bring new perspectives on audience development a...
The paper explores the concept of artistic prototypes to analyse a strand of new media art genera... more The paper explores the concept of artistic prototypes to analyse a strand of new media art generated within research or activist contexts. Two key features of a framework for artistic prototypes, openness and fictionality, are explored through the discussion of two artworks which embody a sense of prototypicality. The contingent, situated interpretation of knowledge emerging from creative practice-based research is associated to the instability of prototypes proposed as a paradigmatic object for experimentation.
CoHERE explores the ways in which identities in Europe are constructed through heritage represent... more CoHERE explores the ways in which identities in Europe are constructed through heritage representations and performances that connect to ideas of place, history, tradition and belonging. The research identifies existing heritage practices and discourses in Europe. It also identifies means to sustain and transmit European heritages that are likely to contribute to the evolution of inclusive, communitarian identities and counteract disaffection with, and division within, the EU. A number of modes of representation and performance are explored in the project, from cultural policy, museum display, heritage interpretation, school curricula and political discourse to music and dance performances, food and cuisine, rituals and protest.
.................................................................................................... more .............................................................................................................................................. ii Acknowledgments .............................................................................................................................. iv Publications ......................................................................................................................................... v Declaration about collaborative work ................................................................................................. vi Chapter
This paper addresses the role of chat functionality when included in online performances that do ... more This paper addresses the role of chat functionality when included in online performances that do not fundamentally require it. The explanation that chats are included to reintegrate forms of co-presence is supported by a series of interviews but immediately challenged by the author. This papers argues that the need for co-presence is not a universal one, but is rather rooted in theatre practice. Online performers with a background in the visual arts tend instead to emphasise a purely visual relationship between audience and artwork. This study also elaborates on the use of chat logs as a form of documentation.
International Journal of Heritage Studies, 2020
ABSTRACT Recently, the role of personal memories in the exhibition space has evolved synergistica... more ABSTRACT Recently, the role of personal memories in the exhibition space has evolved synergistically with the creation of digital exhibits that provide opportunities for encounter between visitors and ordinary others remembering their difficult histories. The article contextualises the use of dialogic museum displays in relation to the concept of mediated witnessing by focusing on the use of digital interactivity. Grounded on the analysis of three case studies from museums in Poland, UK and Italy, the article illustrates how dialogic features supported by digital technology frame processes of partaking other peoples’ memories, enriching and reworking the idea of dialogic remembering. Our key findings concern the role of dialogue in enhancing the liveness and the experiential dimension of mediated witnessing. Further, the article notes a shift in the use of the testimony in museums from evidencing past events to a stronger emphasis in supporting listening attitudes and reflective processes during the museum visit. The article observes an expanded use of digital interactivity, to contributes, through dialogicality, to the framing of affective and performative approaches to both knowledge and identity production in museums.
Proceedings of the 2019 on Designing Interactive Systems Conference, 2019
We describe the development and implementation of a 7month-long project which used a series of cr... more We describe the development and implementation of a 7month-long project which used a series of creative workshops designed in collaboration with a cultural institution and conducted with children to draw influences from magical realist literature into the development AR applications. The project culminated in the release of an AR app for Android and iOS platforms, Magical Reality. After describing the design and implementation of the research we discuss its findings as they support the two facets of our contribution to DIS: First, we assess our attempts to apply inspiration, derived from workshopping ideas from magical realist literature with children to the design of AR experiences, making recommendations for future design practice seeking to include comparable influences. Second, we consider the degree to which our workshops were successful in combining specialist knowledges from across the different departments of a cultural organization to answer sectoral challenges and describe both advantages and challenges for future collaborative work.
European Heritage, Dialogue and Digital Practices focuses on the intersection of heritage, dialog... more European Heritage, Dialogue and Digital Practices focuses on the intersection of heritage, dialogue and digital culture in the context of Europe. Responding to the increased emphasis on the potential for heritage and digital technologies to foster dialogue and engender communitarian identities in Europe, the book explores what kind of role digital tools, platforms and practices play in supporting and challenging dialogue about heritage in the region. Drawing on fieldwork involving several European museums and heritage organisations, the chapters in this volume critically engage with the role of digital technology in heritage work and its association with ideas of democratisation, multivocality and possibilities for feedback and dialogic engagement in the emerging digital public sphere. The book also provides a framework for understanding dialogue in relation to other commonly used approaches in heritage institutions, such as participation, engagement and intercultural exchange. The authors map out the complex landscape of digitally mediated heritage practices in Europe, both official and unofficial, by capturing three distinct areas of practice: perceptions and applications of digitally mediated dialogues around heritage within European museums and cultural policy, facilitation of dialogue between European museums and communities through participatory design approaches and non-official mobilisation of heritage on social media. European Heritage, Dialogue and Digital Practices will be of interest to both scholars and students in the fields of heritage and museum studies, digital heritage, media studies and communication, the digital humanities, sociology and memory studies. The book will also appeal to policy makers and professionals working in a variety of fields. Areti Galani is a Senior Lecturer in Media, Culture, Heritage at Newcastle University, UK, specialising in digital cultural heritage. She works with peoplecentred methodologies and research-through-design approaches to explore the role of digital technologies in heritage contexts, on-site and online. She has published on issues related to empathy, reflexivity and sociality in designing and evaluating [digitally mediated] heritage experiences. Rhiannon Mason is a Professor of Heritage and Cultural Studies and the head of the School of Arts and Cultures in Newcastle University, UK. Her research and teaching are focused on heritage, identity and nationalism, and she has published extensively around these topics as well as issues of emotion, memory and migration.
Museum Management and Curatorship, 2019
At a time when it is particularly urgent to identify models of intersection across the digital an... more At a time when it is particularly urgent to identify models of intersection across the digital and cultural sector to respond to an emergent funding and policy environment, this article contributes to a body of scholarly work around designing digital interventions for museums by identifying the role of cultural content in shaping design spaces for collaboration. The context of the article is a research project that brought together magical realist literature and the development of an Augmented Reality smartphone application realised through a public programme held at a museum of children's literature. This process created an open-ended design space within the organisation embedded into the development of public engagement workshops around magical realism and place making. It investigates how the cultural content (from archival material) occupied a key role in shaping technological development and suggests strategies that could grant autonomy and sustainability to cultural organisations in engaging in digital transformation.
Digital Creativity, 2016
ABSTRACT Increasingly material artefacts are attributed a key role in research in the arts and de... more ABSTRACT Increasingly material artefacts are attributed a key role in research in the arts and design. Issues of dissemination and legitimacy of knowledge are however heavily disputed, often through redefinitions of the concept of knowledge itself. This article contributes to these debates by focusing on artistic prototypes, identified here as one of the prevailing outcomes in technologically engaged art research projects. In contrast with a common conceptualisation of knowledge emerging from inside the world of artistic research as subjective, ineffable and emotional, I discuss four examples to highlight how artistic prototypes can support transferable and generative contributions to knowledge, grounded in ad hoc but innovative methodologies. Furthermore, the examples offer insightful considerations that help to identify artistic research when conducted outside official institutions, as opposed to simply process-oriented art practices.
International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media, 2016
Change detection is the study of detecting changes between two different images of a scene taken ... more Change detection is the study of detecting changes between two different images of a scene taken at different times. By the detected change areas, however, a human cannot understand how different the two images. Therefore, a semantic understanding is required in the change detection research such as disaster investigation. The paper proposes the concept of semantic change detection, which involves intuitively inserting semantic meaning into detected change areas. We mainly focus on the novel semantic segmentation in addition to a conventional change detection approach. In order to solve this problem and obtain a high-level of performance, we propose an improvement to the hypercolumns representation, hereafter known as hypermaps, which effectively uses convolutional maps obtained from convolutional neural networks (CNNs). We also employ multiscale feature representation captured by different image patches. We applied our method to the TSUNAMI Panoramic Change Detection dataset, and re-annotated the changed areas of the dataset via semantic classes. The results show that our multiscale hypermaps provided outstanding performance on the reannotated TSUNAMI dataset.
The Design Journal, 2017
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License Newcastle Un... more This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License Newcastle University ePrints-eprint.ncl.ac.uk Schofield T, Arrigoni G. Network Time Where it Counts. Temporality and Critical Approaches to Infrastructure.
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Journal Articles by Gabriella Arrigoni
article contributes to these debates by focusing on artistic prototypes, identified here as one of the prevailing outcomes in technologically engaged art research projects. In contrast with a common conceptualisation of knowledge emerging from inside the world of artistic research as subjective, ineffable and emotional, I discuss four examples to highlight how artistic
prototypes can support transferable and generative contributions to knowledge, grounded in ad hoc but innovative methodologies. Furthermore, the examples offer insightful considerations that help to identify artistic research when conducted outside official institutions, as opposed to simply process-oriented art practices.
Papers by Gabriella Arrigoni
article contributes to these debates by focusing on artistic prototypes, identified here as one of the prevailing outcomes in technologically engaged art research projects. In contrast with a common conceptualisation of knowledge emerging from inside the world of artistic research as subjective, ineffable and emotional, I discuss four examples to highlight how artistic
prototypes can support transferable and generative contributions to knowledge, grounded in ad hoc but innovative methodologies. Furthermore, the examples offer insightful considerations that help to identify artistic research when conducted outside official institutions, as opposed to simply process-oriented art practices.
the field. These can be summarised as follow: i) a less reverential attitude to cultural heritage and archival material, now increasingly open to generative and creative reuse (as opposed to principles of preservation); ii) a stronger awareness of the changeability through time of heritage values and meanings; iii) the idea that heritage discourses are increasingly developed outside the institutional framework, for instance embedded in practices of everyday creativity and self-expression on social media.
The paper makes the argument for the reciprocity between digital and design-based methods, interdisciplinarity, and criticality within heritage research. It illustrates these emerging tendencies by discussing two brief examples. The first one presents the methodology adopted in the study of serendipitous, unofficial understandings of heritage and place by analysing images gathered from photo-sharing platforms. The second one addresses the use of collections as raw material for creative reuse and participatory making in the gallery space.Methodological shifts can not only open up new research possibilities but also redefine,
expand and destabilise a disciplinary field. In recent years, heritage scholars begun to engage with a set of practice-based, digitally-grounded methods and tools, contributing to a shift towards a stronger interdisciplinarity in Heritage Studies. These include: co-design, prototyping, speculative approaches, workshop-based activities, digital making, data visualisation, as well as investigations on social media. Part of these tendencies, particularly those focusing on creative reuse of archives and collections, are often developed within a Digital Humanities perspective. Others converge with now established participatory approaches but also with a more recent critical rethinking of Heritage Studies. Here, digita media and creative practice can contribute to challenge existing power relations, make room for unofficial, bottom-up discourses, and question institutional authority and expert knowledge. Besides introducing new methodologies to heritage research, this emerging interdisciplinary dimension goes alongside transformation of principles and perspectives in the field. These can be summarised as follow: i) a less reverential attitude to cultural heritage and archival material, now increasingly open to generative and creative reuse (as opposed to principles of preservation); ii) a stronger awareness of the changeability through time of heritage values and meanings; iii) the idea that heritage discourses are increasingly developed outside the institutional framework, for instance embedded in practices of everyday creativity and self-expression on social media.
The paper makes the argument for the reciprocity between digital and design-based methods, interdisciplinarity, and criticality within heritage research. It illustrates these emerging tendencies by discussing two brief examples. The first one presents the methodology adopted in the study of serendipitous, unofficial understandings of heritage and place by analysing images gathered from photo-sharing platforms. The second one addresses the use of collection s as raw material for creative reuse and participatory making in the gallery space.
The workshop offers artists from the open call 2014 the context “participatory city” as a discussion forum. There, the results from the Artists’ Camp (Vorspiel) will be discussed, again with focus on strategies and DIY-practices in the context of participation through mobile units and media façades after the “total breakdown”. As the workshop is about working with categories and evaluating them, the artists also become scientists. The ambition is to carve out types of urban interventions in order to critically reflect the thinking of media façades in a suggested discourse of the post‐digital.