New Viewings creates an opportunity to explore what possibilities an online exhibition and installation can engender that the physical exhibition cannot. What freedoms can an artist be offered and in turn explore that they are unable to do in the IRL exhibition space? The fluidity of an unending stream of digital possibilities that can be manipulated by the artist allow them to not only consider the actual artworks but how they may be contextualised in an idealised space. There is an inherent contradiction within this process encapsulated in the relationship between these two entities. On the one hand in the imaginative interpretation of artworks in an idealised virtual space and, on the other, in the market potential of extant IRL artworks. Criticism has been levelled repeatedly about the deleterious effect that the market can have on creative output and opportunity and this has been augmented by the conversation about inclusivity in contemporary art. This posits that recent global events clearly show that we need to adapt and evolve, adjustments must be made in the creative industries as in the world in general. An approach with a focus on unity, inclusivity and diversity is necessary to ensure artists’ exposure and counter the condition of success governed by a few. Online spaces play a vital role in this process. As part of a continuum of production and display, they help to ensure that creativity can be realised by artists of all backgrounds and actively address the role contemporary art has to play in a world subject to a new normal. The selection of these four of artists has been made with this in mind.
David Thorp