Virtual Museum |
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The encounter between man and art, once an exclusive privilege of the rich and their elite entourage, has in time been slowly transformed into a cultural experience available to all. The opening of the great national museums to the public, as well as the development of cultural institutions and private galleries in great numbers, has begun to modify and intensify the relationship between the artistic production and the public. The work of the artist has also quickly transformed and evolved; gradually liberated from the specific demands of the client, the artist is able to produce work more searching and personally inspired. In every epoch, technology has furnished increasingly sophisticated media and tools such as photography, video, the computer and the internet, to cite only a few fundamental examples. In these past few years, the speed and simplicity of movement and communication have facilitated an ever-increasing influx of cultural tourism, giving further prominence to already notable institutions. Today the first stop of a cultural trip in a capital city is the modern or contemporary art museum. At times, paradoxically, a trip is organized, first to visit the museum, and then to experience and explore a new city. |
Virtual museums, that is, those museums that exist within the cyberspace of the Internet, travel to individuals rather than having individuals travel to them. The virtual museum in its fundamental 'approach' is exactly opposite that of a real museum.
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Quondam © 2004.02.15 |