Tate Digital Programmes and Online Learning

Tate Digital Programmes and Online Learning Nadia Arbach E-Learning Curator, Tate Presentation and Preservation of Installation Art, Workshop 1 Amsterdam, 25 November 2004

Tate Digital Programmes • reach of Tate Digital Programmes extends over all four Tate sites • we are responsible for: • public-facing digital content • Tate Online • promoting organisational efficiency • senior digital content manager, e-learning curator, webcasting curator, web editors, web designers, web developers – working to create, manage and disseminate online information and learning Tate Digital Programmes

Tate Online • Tate Online is Tate’s fifth gallery • contains information and links to the four Tate sites • Tate Collection • Tate Learning • Tate Research • Shop Online • http://www.tate.org.uk Tate Digital Programmes

Tate Learning • vision for e-learning and online museum education: it is not only a complement to in-gallery learning, but a goal in its own right • caters to kids, schools, lifelong learners, young people, community outreach groups, etc. • http://www.tate.org.uk/learning Tate Digital Programmes

Tate’s recent e-learning projects Out of Hours • an online resource complementing an in-gallery activity • http://www.tate.org.uk/learning/outofhours International Modern Art • an online resource to learn more about a collections display • http://www.tate.org.uk/liverpool/ima Schools Online • a central, searchable repository of e-learning resources • http://www.tate.org.uk/learning/schools Tate Tools • a resource for Key Stage 2 and 3 art and design • http://www.tatetools.com Tate Digital Programmes

Best practice in e-learning • focus on a specific audience • have specific learning outcomes • appeal to different learning styles (visual, auditory, social, etc) • agreed among the e-learning community that learning by doing, especially if communicating with others, is the way that people learn best • future trends in e-learning include personalisation, localisation and constructivism Tate Digital Programmes

E-Learning project: Bruce Nauman • work in focus: ‘MAPPING THE STUDIO II with color shift, flip, flop, & flip/flop (Fat Chance John Cage)’, a large-scale work based on video footage of Nauman’s empty studio at night • e-learning site will be directed towards lifelong learners: members of the general public who are interested in learning more about conservation and installation art • may also be useful for FE/HE students, and may have some interest for specialists such as conservators, curators, and artists • will contain three main learning sections Tate Digital Programmes

Section 1: Mapping the Studio • first section, ‘Mapping the Studio’, deals directly with the work in focus, allowing users to explore the work in various ways • will include audio recordings (and transcripts) of interviews with Nauman about this work • will include video footage of visitors to the installation • may include a 360-degree panorama of the work • may show selected pages of the Mapping the Studio notebooks used by Nauman to record activity in the video footage of his studio, possibly with links to the sections of the videos that show this activity Tate Digital Programmes

Section 2: Installing a Work of Art • second section, ‘Installing a Work of Art’, will take users through an interactive timeline of the installation of the Nauman work • users will be able to click on any point in the timeline to get information about the issues involved in various stages of installation • this may include information about packing and transportation, preparation of installation space, technical preparations, discussions with the artist, setup of the work, the work on display to visitors, maintenance of the work while it is on display, dismantling the installation, etc. • timeline may include Flash movies, audio recordings, and video footage • this section may also contrast the installation of a contemporary work of installation art with the setting up of a display of more traditional works such as paintings, in order to illustrate the differences involved Tate Digital Programmes

Section 3: Views on Contemporary Conservation • third section, ‘Views on Contemporary Conservation’, deals with conserving installation art, especially focusing on the Nauman piece • will have views from artists, curators and conservators about the preservation and conservation of the Nauman piece, drawing especially on views from the co-owners of this work (the Whitney and the Pompidou) • will highlight various issues involved in conservation of contemporary installation art, such as future presentation of works, use of technologies, the time-bound nature of some pieces, transporting and packing of materials, etc. • may include an online discussion forum where people can discuss the issues surrounding preservation of installation works, with a new topic set out every 2 weeks Tate Digital Programmes

Future e-learning projects • might include a resource about ‘Materials and their Preservation’, focusing on materials used in contemporary works of installation art • would allow users to select different types of materials used in installation art and learn more about the conservation and preservation issues involved with each one • some materials discussed might include videotape, DVD, audio file, metals, natural materials, perishable materials, etc • information would include storage/transportation considerations, ways materials change in appearance or quality during the course of their display, time/effort involved in their preservation, etc • may show 360-degree view, labelled diagram, cross-section, or other relevant views of materials Tate Digital Programmes

Communicating complex issues • need to provide the right amount of information to the target audience (not too much or too little) • need to select from materials/resources in their raw state and synthesise them into a usable format – the selection and editing process is important and takes a large chunk of time • need to understand what will appeal to the audience and engage them in learning • interactivity and learning by doing is one way to communicate complex issues in order for the learner to understand the information Tate Digital Programmes

Capturing and evaluating the results • working with focus groups from the target audience is the best way to ensure that the e-learning project will actually achieve its aims and objectives • plan the project with input from focus groups • get feedback from users after launch of project • standard ways of capturing site use (such as stats) may be useful in evaluation, but individual comments are more focused and may address specific issues that need to be worked on • use these results for future projects – and disseminate so others can benefit from them Tate Digital Programmes

Some questions for discussion • how can conservators, curators, e-learning specialists, artists work together to plan projects? • how can we make this unusual subject appealing to our target audience(s)? • what kinds of interactivity might best suit the subject matter? • what online learning resources do we know of that touch upon preservation and/or presentation of installation art, and how can we draw upon the experiences of those who created them in order to help our work? Tate Digital Programmes

Contact information Nadia Arbach E-Learning Curator Tate Millbank London SW1P 4RG nadia.arbach@tate.org.uk http://www.tate.org.uk/learning Tate Digital Programmes

Tate Digital Programmes and Online Learning