Re/locating new media in the museum

Multimedia art, net art, art and technology, new media; all of these terms have at one time been used to refer to an ever-expanding field of art that continues to become more indistinct and hybrid in nature. Beginning as art and technology, the relationship between science and artistic practice changed radically once they entered a museum setting together. Specifically, it was when artists began to work with corporate industry during the first Art & Technology program at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), which took place from 1967 to 1971, that this collaborative model became solidified and widely recognized. While artists had been previously influenced by technology, it was at this time that technology entered into dialogue with high art within an institutional setting, thus legitimizing the resulting hybrid rather than pluralizing its identity. As a result, institutions relegated it to the fringes of other, more established art movements. From this early point in its history, new media has continued to diversify and evolve alongside technological advancements. ❧ Despite a great deal of interest, new media has not been able to establish a permanent foothold alongside more traditional mediums in most major American art institutions. This thesis aims to explain this difficulty by examining three different institutional models of curating new media practices in large American museums: the Whitney Museum of American Art, the New Museum, and LACMA. Within each of these institutions, specific attention will be paid to a specialized program of model. By taking careful consideration of these models, I hope to gain a comprehensive understanding of the current state of new media within the museum landscape—not just how and why it is still not considered fine art—but also to analyze the ways in which new media curatorial practice is continuing to evolve.