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Reflections on curation When approaching curation, we may notice three actions that are being undertaken:
A curation relies on the aspect of its constituents that have commonality and, like a rhizome or a fractal, any curation is itself only a part of a larger structure of information. The similarities of cybernetics and curation are never more apparent than when a system is organised by an observer. Art is a living, breathing thing; interrelating volume after volume of books, paintings, musical scores etc…, and critics work to expand the hermeneutic circle to include paratexts, intertextuality and metadata. The role of the curator and cybernetician has become intrinsic to modern day society; social media, forums, vast digital libraries of music, art and novel all require some hand to guide their presentation. Rohit Bhargava, writing in 2009, comments within a few years “all the information on the Internet will double every 72 hours”. By 2012, “According to computer giant IBM, 2.5 exabytes - that's 2.5 billion gigabytes (GB) [K1] - of data was generated every day” (Wall, 2014). This number has increased as Jack Loechner, editor of The Center for Media Research, says “For 2017, 90% of the data in the world today has been created in the last two years alone, at 2.5 quintillion bytes of data a day!” The data can be on anything, by anyone, written at any time, presented in any format and curated in any number of different locations. Media can scale from words to sentences, phrases to paragraphs and chapters to concordances. Curations of concordances and concordances of curated material, itself then curated among other clusters, ad infinitum ad absurdum. The observer too is part of the information they are analysing; what age are they? what shoe size? what did they last eat? All factors included in the search. However, despite these most erratic plateaus, a commonality among things constitutes the essence of curation. The scale of curated entities, whilst providing much good, has become too cumbersome for humans to navigate and the methods of systematisation have evolved into a post human state (it would be inconceivable for humans to work with the data in its natural form). The duodecimal system has been replaced by the IP address and the librarian supplanted by the algorithm. Algorithms are an important part of the cybernetic structure of curation and observation in a digital society. They present us with information charged with hidden context and can misrepresent the world, making data into fiction (the contagion of fake news and the tunnel-vision of selected articles). Recently, an uproar was caused by content creators angry that YouTube had supposedly changed its algorithm (BBC, 2016). However, unfortunately, algorithms and rhizomatic information don't naturally work in tandem. One seeks to implement hierarchy; the other, a structure decentred and perpetually multiplying. The success or failure of a search algorithm also depends on how things are generalised, organised and re-presented around common features and categorised by relevant lexia. To decipher precise meaning from terms hewn together in the form of a query is both aided and addled by generalisation. We can look to writings on genre study to identify one of the key issues curators face with their curations. Steve Neal sums it up by saying 'genres are instances of repetition and difference' (Neale 1980:48. In: Chandler, 1997) a thought that has the same implications for curation. Philosophers entreating this dilemma from their field may refer to the “essential vs accidental” property debate to exacerbate the issue further. How do the properties of an object embed it within a curation, when those very same properties may be incredibly divergent? (Wittgenstein’s definition of ‘game’ illustrates this point clearly). The same problems faced by genre studies and essentialism passes to curation, and beyond, thus impacting the definition of digital humanities itself. Lauren Klein and Matthew Gold’s introduction to Digital humanities: the expanded field (2016), take from art historian Rosalind Krauss an analogy for this problem in digital humanities. “This definitional dilemma is not unique to DH. In 1979, the art historian Rosalind Krauss, prompted by the realization that the term “sculpture” had come to describe a wide array of forms and practices, reflected on the preceding ten years of developments in the field. “Nothing,” she observed, “could possibly give to such a motley of effort the right to lay claim to whatever one might mean by the category of sculpture. Unless, that is, the category can be made to become almost infinitely malleable” (30). A “motley of effort”? An “infinitely malleable” term? Transported to the present, she could just as well be describing the last decade of DH.” Gold and Klein see the expanded field as being structured by “relationships among key concepts” and follow Krauss’ formulation to suggest that it cannot be held under one umbrella term. Critics aplenty argue the merits and limitations of genres but none would doubt the use of having such terms (McQuail 1989, Abercrombie 1996[K2] [K3] , Chandler 1997). Yet, with simplification comes over-generalisation and the challenge ensued by over-generalisation is how best to organise objects or data. One common buzzword of the 21st century narrative is ‘hypertext’, a term further endorsed by multi-linearity and decentralisation as being both pragmatic and aesthetically beneficent (Aarseth, 1997. Landow, 2006[K4] ). Yet, a curation can never really exist decentralised. Although in every bit hypertextual, there is always the metaphorical paternity from which items gain ‘familial resemblances’ (Wittgenstein, 1953 In: Biletzki and Matar, 2017). Of the many interpretations of Wittgenstein’s words (Hanfling 1989, Baker & Hacker 1992. In: Bangu 2005[K5] ), there remains the core ‘essence’ of a word and thus, similarly, the essence of a curation. In Georgy Cohen’s blog, she addresses the need to establish a connection between the curation and the curator’s intent. Handley, A. and Chapman, C. say curation involves “continually identifying, selecting and sharing the best and most relevant […] content” (2012:89). It is the trend in contemporary society to allow machines to decide what is ‘the best and most relevant’ sources (a process earning billions per annum). When a query is run, the machine closes off branches in its database before assessing the remaining data to find which of its components is most relevant or best suited. A good literary analogy comes from the writings of James Joyce. In conversation with Frank Budgen, the Dublin-born author remarked: "I have been working hard on it all day," said Joyce. "Does that mean that you have written a great deal?" I said. "Two sentences," said Joyce "I have the words already. What I am seeking is the perfect order of words in the sentence. There is an order in every way appropriate. I think I have it." Budgen, F. James Joyce and the making of 'Ulysses', and other writings. (1972:20) Joyce is seeking the perfect organisation for the words to provide an ideal arrangement to communicate its aesthetic form. He had 720 and 362,880 possible sentences to select the best and most relevant organisation of words. The commonality of these permutations, being that they all consist of the same words, is what accounts for the time Joyce spent curating them1. In the light of words being data sets of semiotic meaning, their familial resemblance, Joyce’s difficulty lay in how best to organise that information to present his thematic or metaphoric core. That being said, the analogy of Joyce is as much organisational as it is an issue of re-presentation. In terms of the final stage, that of ‘re-presentation’ (not to be confused with remediation, remix or representation) in which the old content is re-contextualised, reused and repurposed to fit a new perspective. A gallery can present the works of an artist and later may present works of a style, put simply, one painting may be presented as being part of the so-and-so collection and critics will talk about how it is part of the artists ‘blue phase’ and make note of its qualities in relation to the artist. Another day, the same painting may be part of a surrealist exhibition, and critics may talk of its qualities as it relates to surrealism. Imagine that the curator is quite lazy and for the sake of a few minutes’ work leaves the painting in the exact same spot for both curations. No quality of the painting has changed, but sure enough, its best and most relevant qualities have been readjusted. The curator is creating a different perception, a re-presentation.
I would like to draw attention to the philosophical nature of properties. Each of these three stages requires some form of categorisation to achieve its aims but as with Kevin Nguyen’s prank things may be generalised, organised and re-presented to epitomise qualities which have not been noticed, designed or intended by its creator. Calling a curation art in the same way that a novel curates words, a painting colours or a song notes poses no problem for the modern-day critic. That being the case, there must be some inference of aesthetic qualities that may be drawn from different disciplines to inform a manifesto of curation. Whilst it may be presumptuous for me to do so, and whilst it will certainly be brief, I shall attempt to notarise a few pointers that may warrant consideration for such research.
Of generalisation:
Of organisation:
In conclusion, there is much to be said of curation and the avenues it opens for critical research. Whilst critics such as George Landow[K6] , Gilles Deleuze & Felix Guattari, and many others are happy to point out the decentralised hypertext and rhizomatic intertextuality as being part and parcel of new media. It is not so in my reflection upon curation, merely an epiphenomenon, a by-product of the new mediums. Above all else, a curation develops hierarchy and though the navigation of it may come from any point and traverse in any direction. The essential quality that gives the curation its purpose overrides this inference and reterritorializes the erratic interconnectivity with a singular focus. Of social media; it is social interaction, of art galleries it is art and of global communication it is most assuredly curation. References Aarseth, E. (1997). Cybertext. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Bangu, S. (2005). Later Wittgenstein on Essentialism, Family Resemblance and Philosophical Method. METAPHYSICA International Journal for Ontology & Metaphysics, [online] 6(2). Available at: http://www.metaphysica.de/texte/mp2005_2-Bangu.pdf [Accessed 3 Aug. 2017]. Bhargava, R. (2017). Manifesto For The Content Curator: The Next Big Social Media Job Of The Future ?. [online] Social Media Today. Available at: http://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/manifesto-content-curator-next-big-social-media-job-future [Accessed 3 Aug. 2017]. Biletzki, A. and Matar, A. (2017). Ludwig Wittgenstein. [online] Plato.stanford.edu. Available at: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/wittgenstein/#LangGameFamiRese [Accessed 3 Aug. 2017]. Budgen, F. and Hart, C. (1972). James Joyce and the making of "Ulysses" and other writings. London: Oxford University Press. [online]. Available at: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/JoyceColl.BudgenUlysses [Accessed 3 Aug. 2017]. Chandler, D. (1997). An Introduction to Genre Theory. [ebook] Available at: http://visual-memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/intgenre/chandler_genre_theory.pdf [Accessed 3 Aug. 2017]. Cohen, G. (2012) 'Guidelines for Smart Content Curation': http://meetcontent.com/blog/guidelines-for-smart-content- Kelly, D. (2016). 'Curation: Beyond the Buzzword' http://davidkelly.me/2016/05/curation-beyond-the-buzzword-additional-resources/ Klein, L. and Gold, M. (2016). Debates in the Digital Humanities. [online] Dhdebates.gc.cuny.edu. Available at: http://dhdebates.gc.cuny.edu/debates/2 [Accessed 3 Aug. 2017]. Landow, G. (2006). Hypertext 3.0. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Loechner, J. (2017). 90% Of Today's Data Created In Two Years. [online] Mediapost.com. Available at: https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/291358/90-of-todays-data-created-in-two-years.html [Accessed 3 Aug. 2017]. Mihailidis, P. & Cohen, J.N., (2013) 'Exploring Curation as a core competency in digital and media literacy education', Journal of Interactive Media in Education. 2013(1), p.Art. 2. DOI: http://doi.org/10.5334/2013-02: Handley, A. and Chapman, C. (2012). Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business (New Rules Social Media Series). 1st ed. Wiley. Foxx, C. (2016). PewDiePie quit plan prompts YouTube reply. [online] BBC News. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-38236644 [Accessed 17 Jul. 2017]. Wall, M. (2014). Big Data: Are you ready for blast-off? - BBC News. [online] BBC News. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26383058 [Accessed 3 Aug. 2017]. [K1]Bytes (8 bits) Kilobyte (1000 bytes) Megabyte (1 000 000 bytes) Gigabyte (1 000 000 000 bytes) Terabyte (1 000 000 000 000 bytes) Petabyte (1 000 000 000 000 000 bytes) Exabyte (1 000 000 000 000 000 000 bytes) = 1 quintillion bytes [K2]Genres permit the creation and maintenance of a loyal audience which becomes used to seeing programmes within a genre' (Abercrombie, 1996. In: Chandler, 1997:5) [K3]The genre may be considered as a practical device for helping any mass medium to produce consistently and efficiently and to relate its production to the expectations of its customers. Since it is also a practical device for enabling individual media users to plan their choices, it can be considered as a mechanism for ordering the relations between the two main parties to mass communication. (McQuail 1987. In: Chandler, 1997:5) [K4]As readers move through a web or network of texts, they continually shift the centre – and hence the focus or organising principle – of their investigation and experience. Hypertext, in other words, provides an infinitely recenterable system whose provisional point of focus depends on the reader, who becomes a truly active reader in yet another sense. Landow 56 [K5]Assuming that the target of PI 65-67 is definitional essentialism (there is a common feature, a definition of games), the first interpretation summarizes the anti-essentialist reading, straightforwardly denying definitional essentialism: (1) There is no analytic (essentialist) definition that captures the common feature (‘essence’) of games. Hanfling (1989: 67, 2002: 90) and Baker and Hacker (1992: 131) read the family resemblance point in PI differently: (2) A concept-word like ‘game’ does not need an essentialist definition of games in order for speakers to apply ‘game’ correctly. The third reading will be argued for in this paper: (3) Speakers do not need to know an essentialist definition of games in order to apply ‘game’ correctly. [K6]One of the fundamental characteristics of hypertext is that it is composed of bodies of linked texts that have no primary axis of organisation. Landow 2006:56
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