Rethinking What Art Is (And Can Be) In A Digital Age – Tuesday 5th May 2015, 6pm

Google tea towels

Thomson & Craighead 2002

Mobile devices, computer networks and new ways of accessing information and people across space and time, has led to a revolution in art – one which some museums have been reluctant to acknowledge. Artists have long experimented with new tools, but ‘new media art’ has, over the last 30 years, embraced technologies such as the web, not just as a new tool, but a medium – a place to make and share art, often outside of the museum. Although museums are catching up with our new digital lives (remotely-controlled robots have been roaming the Tate Galleries at night!) artists are still forging ahead.

Curator Dr Sarah Cook from the University of Dundee, is co-author of Rethinking Curating: Art After New Media and has given invited presentations around the world on emerging art forms and curatorship. Sarah will lead this talk and discussion to explore some characteristics of recent art projects which might get you to rethink what art is now.

Join us in the relaxed atmosphere of the McManus Café for a short talk followed by your chance to ask questions and discuss the topic.

Everyone is welcome. Free. Non-bookable. Places are limited so please arrive early to avoid disappointment. Doors open at 5pm. This event is likely to last one hour.

Next talk – Striking a chord: bringing old musical instruments back to life

Musical instruments have long proved a source of fascination for adults and children alike. Who amongst us hasn’t felt the urge to reach out and tap a drum or rattle off a quick rendition of ‘chopsticks’ when confronted with a keyboard? However, for curators and custodians, musical instruments present something of a challenge. On the one hand, they have a duty of care to preserve historical instruments for future generations, but if this is achieved from behind the safety of a glass case, the very things that make the instrument interesting are stripped from it and it becomes just an ornate piece of furniture.

This is where music technology can lend a hand, and in this talk Dr Kenny McAlpine will explore a method for capturing and repackaging the sound and playing characteristics of historic keyboard instruments, and how the resulting digital models might complement a traditional music collection.

This talk will take place on Tuesday 7th June at 6pm in the McManus Cafe, Albert Square.

Dundee Arts Cafe talks are held on the first Tuesday of every month at 6pm in the McManus Cafe, inside the McManus at Albert Square, City Centre Dundee. The McManus is Dundee’s Art Gallery and Museum, and the cafe is located at the entrance and will be open before and throughout the talk serving hot drinks, wine or beer and snacks.

This is a FREE talk and everyone is welcome, there is no requirement to book, but there is limited seating for 60 people so please arrive early to ensure a seat.

The McManus Cafe will be open before the event serving hot meals and snacks. If you want to have a meal in the McManus before the talk you have to pre-book by calling 01382 307 201. You can view the menu at http://www.themcmanus-dundee.gov.uk/sites/default/files/cafemenu.pdf