Art in the online space

2023. January. 09.

Can an artificial intelligence copy our style in the future? What laws can we use to protect our original works of art from the dangers of the world wide web? Why is it important to build the brand of an art institution, what does a good image look like, and how can we communicate effectively on social media? What tools do we have for online art education? 

In the following lines, asking the experts of our research institute for help, we will approach the issues of the presence of art in the online space from the direction of three areas, while using their useful advice, we will also try to highlight what pitfalls we should avoid as professionals in the given field in order to succeed. 

(In our article, we present a selection of recently published and soon-to-be-published publications of the MMA MMKI.)


Fine art / Photography Anikó Grad-Gyenge and Adrienn Timár examine the copyright issues of fine art and photography in their next volume of Workshop Studies. The comprehensive scientific work reveals, among other things, what exactly the concept of author's work means in the fields of fine art and photography, what is the concept and significance of the original work in these areas, and what are the most important aspects related to the protection of the author's work.

The modern era has brought with it the unprecedented technical development of mobile phones and other imaging devices. As a result anyone can become a photographer and, where appropriate, an author, since with an ordinary device that can be bought by anyone on the market, extremely high-quality images and videos can be taken, which are now can even be edited with applications available on the phone. Most of these works will probably not be artistic and will not have special aesthetic characteristics, but this is not necessary to establish individual, original character. For all these reasons, it is important to emphasize that the nature of the image-making device is irrelevant in relation to the question of the creation of the author's work, it can even be a mobile phone, the technical characteristics of the device alone do not influence the creation of the author's work.

Regardless of the criterion of originality, questions related to the original (first) work must be addressed in the field of visual and photographic works. Among the majority of author's works, the original copy does not have a prominent role, since we rarely hold the original manuscript in the case of a book, or the original film strip in the case of a film. These are not often commercially available. Of course, this can also happen, primarily in the context of special auctions, but at the same time, in the case of visual works - especially paintings, sculptures and photos - this concept is of particular importance, since the original work is mostly sold, and in some cases the author also creates several original works.

It is worth briefly mentioning the works of photographic art, where with the development of digital photography, determining the original copy can be a serious problem, since any number of copies of the same high-quality printed version can be made based on the author's decision with the appropriate tools, while in fact the original photo only exists on the memory card of the photographer's machine. Photo artists often decide to sell simple copies, which can be considered original copies, but the larger the number of them sold, the lower their market value is.

A relatively new but thriving phenomenon is the so-called non-fungible token, which is a digital data unit that, like the signature of the creator, proves that the digital device is unique and non-exchangeable. It is also suitable for carrying works of art and photography. In this way, the originality, which is a defining aspect of the value of fine art works, can be ensured in the digital space.

It is a relatively common phenomenon in relation to works of fine art and photography that they are faked in such a way that they copy the creator's familiar stylistic features, which are well-recognizable to the public, or even combine works that have never existed before and sell them as original works.

Imitation of style will continue to be of great importance in the future: if artificial intelligence is already able to learn the style of some well-known authors and thereby produce new products that compete with the author's original works, its legality will not (necessarily) be a question from a copyright point of view, but it will be possible to prevent such products from competing with original works on the art market on a legal basis.

 

Marketing communication 

 

In our book #maradjotthon #veled vagyunk, Dér Cs. Dezső and Euridiké Fehér look for the answer to what marketing communication means, how it can be interpreted in the online space, and what trends shaped by the pandemic we need to pay attention to in order to communicate effectively in the period that follows. The book also reveals what actually happened during the first year of the pandemic in the case of theatres in Hungary.

One of the most important tasks of marketing communication is differentiation. Perfect communication clearly indicates how we differ from others, what we are "better" at. We have to constantly inform, convince or even remind our visitors about this. However, we are wrong if we think that wt66t/e only communicate with the means of the media: our presentations, image, appearance (design), our colleagues or even our prices reveal a lot about us to the consumers of culture. Communication is the "voice" of the institutional brand, the unavoidable and most important task of branding. In order to communicate effectively, we always have to plan a long process step by step.

One of the main tasks of marketing communication is therefore to deliver the message to consumers as efficiently as possible. This task is getting more and more difficult, as consumers can choose from more and more cultural programs and promises of experiences every day.

Thinking about the following steps can help you plan your communication strategy or campaign:

  • What is our immediate/direct goal?
  • Whom do we want to speak to? Who is the audience?
  • What do we want to tell them? What message do we wish to convey?
  • How much money do we have for the task?
  • What mediums should we use?
  • How can we measure the results of our communication?

 

One of the biggest advantages of digitization is that we can gain a lot of data through it, but if we don't want to get lost in the sea of ​​data, it is important to define the goals in advance and adjust the measurements to them. We can measure practically anything that is digitized, from the number of visitors to the download rate of our application to the amount of photos with our hashtag. Collecting data is also useful for data-based marketing. In the digital world, what we like is mapped based on the content we prefer, and algorithms are generated based on these, so we can receive personalized offers on different interfaces.

As frustrating as the lack of digitization can be, it can be confusing or difficult for a different kind of audience. People who are at home in the digital world, or who work specifically in this field, really don't like having to carry printed papers with them all day; they need to access everything on their phone. If, on the other hand, the target audience is more "conservative", they will definitely be bothered if, for example, they have to search on a touch screen or scan a QR code in order to access all the information, even though they don't have a smartphone. It is therefore important to know the digital habits of our target audience and use these tools accordingly.

Digitization has an advantage when it simplifies something, eliminates the difficulties of an offline solution. However, it is not worth using it without thinking, forcing it on everything, because there are many sub-areas where the traditional solution is more functional.

 

Music education

 

The volume "The appearance of the online space in music education and concert attendance" was created as a result of the collaboration of the MMA MMKI and the art pedagogy research group of the Doctoral School of Human Sciences of the University of Debrecen. The project examines the experiences and impact of online art education at all levels of education in Hungary, as well as in Hungarian education beyond the border. The professionals sought answers to how online education changed the methodological toolkit, what new, innovative ideas, learning-supporting or supplementary initiatives were created. 

Rita Kerekes and Julianna Kiss from the article entitled "Group music lessons in the online space" show that, despite the fact that Ouren already wrote in 1997 about the positive experiences of the Vivace Personal Accompanist software in the dimensions of musical ability development, precision, musicality (musicality) and interpretation, the traditional and music education with an effective methodological repertoire neglected the tools of information and communication culture for a long time. In the case of group music lessons (music knowledge/solfége, singing-music), the positive effect of Internet interfaces is most evident in the areas of listening to music, acquiring musical knowledge, and developing listening and rhythmic skills. In recent decades, more and more programs and software have become available. Notation programs (Musescore, Sibelius, Finale) support the display of sheet music images on a smart board, and several alternatives are also available for skill development. The SmartMusic web-based application supports music education from several sides, it is a program with a teacher and student interface and a digital sheet music library. It gives immediate feedback on the performance, it can record the recording, and the teacher can also benefit from immediate feedback to the student. The advantage of the software is that it helps with instrumental practice, provides digital accompaniment, and "co-rehearsal". Music education in Northern Ireland is supported by Musical Mysteries, a website grouped around four different themes (rhythm, voice, orchestral instruments, styles). The special feature of the interface is that, in addition to teachers and students, it also helps parents in how to support their 7-11-year-old children's music learning. The software called Earmasterpro is a program containing more than 2,000 music lessons that offers opportunities for development up to the professional level. In addition to detecting intonation, the software is also suitable for developing polyphonic singing skills.

Looking around the sitation in Hungary, on the Sulinet Digital Knowledge Base we can find pedagogical aids available for free for public education and vocational training, but hardly any meaningful content can be found for the subject of singing and music. Some of the Hungarian music pedagogy research calls for a technology-supported learning environment, digital catch-up, due to the negative student attitude surrounding singing-music lessons. Experience shows that the development of digital aids for singing-music and solfège subjects was far behind the introduction of the restrictive measures. from other subjects. The staff of the Music Pedagogy Research Group of the University of Szeged developed the Music Island program based on the approach of edutainment and gamification. The motivational toolbox, which offers playful learning opportunities both online and offline, primarily wants to help the methodological palette of singing and music lessons.

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