We’re excited to announce the April 2024 issue of Multimedia & Technology Reviews. Follow the links from each title below or click the DOI link directly to read the reviews. You can find more of our reviews in the ARLIS/NA Commons CORE Repository.
Artforum Archive
The Artforum Archive is a sophisticated digital platform which provides access to the backfile of one the most influential magazines in the contemporary art world. The archive encompasses art across disciplinary boundaries, from painting to video art, in addition to “reviews and features relating to artists, exhibitions, publications,” dating back to the magazine’s launch in 1962. The state of the art database comprises over 100,000 pages of art, criticism, and cultural commentary–preserving, contextualizing and providing access to work that spans decades, regions and cultural forms within a centralized platform. See full review at https://doi.org/10.17613/08h6-nq46
Artists’ Publications Lab
Launched in February 2023, the Artists’ Publications Lab (APL) provides virtual, interactive access to items collected by the Centre for Artists’ Publications at the Weserburg Museum für Moderne Kunst. The Centre’s collection is focused on post-war European artists’ publications, comprising over 300,000 items; the APL includes only a limited selection of the Centre’s holdings at this time, though it is planned to be continually added to. Despite this limitation, the APL is remarkable as a dynamic and visually browsable tool, augmenting the capabilities of the Centre’s pre-existing online database search tool. See full review at https://doi.org/10.17613/f3h3-gm37
Electronic Arts Intermix
The Electronic Arts Intermix Educational Streaming Site is a subscription-access resource featuring full-length streaming video and media art from the New York City-based non-profit of the same name. The collection spans from the mid-60s to the present and is considered one of the most comprehensive and exclusively focused video and media art and artist collections in the world. It includes works by seminal pioneering as well as emerging artists. Their commitment to preservation and exhibition of video art, as stated on their site, is evidenced in their online catalogue, a comprehensive web resource on the artists and works in the collection. The streaming site allows for more in-depth user engagement with the primary source materials, ideas, and histories collected by the organization and is optimized for personal use or for academic presentation. See full review at https://doi.org/10.17613/xe14-h995
Fashion and Race Database
The Fashion and Race Database (FRD) is an educational platform that focuses on illuminating discourse around fashion’s intersection with racialized groups, historically and current, considering both its impact on and by these marginalized communities. The scope of FRD encompasses components that include a library of aggregated resources listings and several projects of original content including essays and current event pieces, an encyclopedia of objects and profiles, a podcast, and exhibition and events listings. The FRD is founded by Kimberly M. Jenkins, a fashion lecturer and historian. It is continually updated and added to by a small team of researchers and contributors, most with backgrounds in fashion studies. See full review at https://doi.org/10.17613/22b8-0148
Mapping Color in History
Mapping Color in History (MCH) is an interdisciplinary digital humanities project that seeks to trace the appearance of specific hues in Asian paintings temporally and geographically. With a focus on South Asian and Himalayan art, MCH joins scientific data from pigment studies with historical information about individual works of art. In addition to hosting a searchable database, MCH provides clear documentation about its methodologies, processes, and conceptual foundations. Founded in 2018 at Harvard University, MCH is led by Professor Jinah Kim (Principal Investigator/Project Director). The project is supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, as well as several funding sources at Harvard University. See full review at https://doi.org/10.17613/4n45-xb19
Sculpting Harmony
Sculpting Harmony is a digital exhibit telling the story of how Walt Disney Concert Hall (WDCH) in Los Angeles, California was designed and built by architect Frank Gehry. Hosted by the Getty Research Institute, the site offers an immersive experience told in ‘chapters’ with audio and visual elements. To develop the story, Getty selected 171 highlights from the Frank Gehry Papers held in its archive and provided guided narration through interviews, drone footage, and photographs. See full review at https://doi.org/10.17613/397t-3×13