In a few days time I’ll launch Democracy, a crowd sourced exhibition / competition which asks designers from around the world to respond to the theme of Democracy.
The launch is in the shape of a website which will allow designers to post their artworks, debate the merit of the entries and vote for what should be included in the final exhibition.
The website is (if I say so myself) looking great, and after a lot of publicity within the design community we are confident that we’ll get a lot of entries.
So what is the problem?
As the launch approaches I am gripped by a fear, and only time will tell if it is justified.
Had I approached the exhibition in a traditional manner, I would as the curator have a lot of control over the designers and the work selected for the final exhibition. However the format of Democracy means I have no control, anyone can enter work in the exhibition and it is the public who will select what is appropriate for display in the final exhibition, not me.
In a few weeks time I will know if I have an exhibition of great design, or a wall full of entries from high school students (not that the first can’t be created by the latter, but you know what I mean), until then I am getting little sleep and thinking perhaps Dictatorship would have been a better concept then Democracy.
Democracy will take place at the Square Yard Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
14 - 30 October, 2009.
Tags: Democracy, Jim Richardson, Participation, Web 2.0
love the idea, can’t wait to see how this turns out. Design by Committee vs.The Wisdom of Crowds
It could be a very interesting show. Don’t lose sleep over it. Just go with the flow. The challenge for you is then to pull it together into a coherent show. It won’t be worse than hanging any open competition show.
And you can always say that the really important aspect of it was the digital democratic approach: that the process is a work of art itself.
I suppose there is little point in worrying as the quality fo the work will have to be understood in the context of the criteria for entry and the basis upon which items were voted for. Providing guidance, or a framework for entries and voting, much like in any political system, would probably help you sleep a little easier at night.
I understand your fears, but from experience I can say: don’t worry. Lately, we’ve been running something very similar, focused on photography. Photography is even more accessible than design, I think, so Yes we were worried the end result would turn out to be a lousy exposition. (And it is the opening exposition of our museum, so the stakes are high.) The audience does everything, we only support, so there’s no way for us to control the outcome.
These weeks we’re running a campaign, which shows the project so far. It’s basically showing all the photos and having the audience select the ones they like best. And to be honest, I’m not disappointed at all. Of course, there are pictures taken with cell phones and a complete lack of feeling for aesthetics. Of course there’s an overload of the same old cliché photos of sunsets. However there’s also a lot of hidden beauty, in the photos, the stories behind them and even in the decisions the audience takes about the photos.
Luckily the audience seems to discover the hidden beauty as well. From all the photos send to us, every time they can make a selection some truly beautiful photos are selected. Then, they add their motivation. In a way, they teach me to look at what is beautiful and desirable in the eyes of the masses. And I’m rather confident, based on the reactions of the audience so far, an exposition made and designed by the masses, can be a great exposition too. It’s only the fear of letting go of control that made that I didn’t see that before.
Hi Jasper
Is this online? Do you want to share a web link?
Thanks
Jim
Of course, but I fear it’ll be a bit hard (project is in Dutch and I do not particularly like the website). The website where people can upload their photos is http://www.nieuwegroetenuit.nl. For an impression of the tour we’re doing, I’d like to point to http://www.flickr.com/photos/erikvanroekel/sets/72157621804476904/ which are some photos of the official launch.
In short: Most of our postcards show mills, cheese and other old-fashioned things. We asked everybody to take a picture of what they considered Holland in 2009. At this moment, the audience is selecting the photos that best represent their region. We’ve had some wonderful photos already! The best photos (selected by the audience) become part of our national collection of photography, will be used as new postcards and will be the contents of the first exhibition of the National Museum of History.
(And I have to add, that most of the work on this project is done by FOAM, the museum of photography in Amsterdam. They’re a great bunch of people, a wonderful museum and a respected partner in this project.)
Jasper. I like the website, it is nice that the pictures are related to where they were taken on the map and the general look and feel of it all.