Fonds Digital: From Work to Display

How can artworks, with their unique qualities, be conveyed in digital space? This question is the focus of the project “From Work to Display.” Since February 2020 the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart and the Kunsthalle Mannheim have been jointly exploring ways to create an innovative, tailor-made form of presentation for thirty-two artworks selected from the collections of the two institutions. The four-year undertaking has been made possible by a grant from the Digital Fund of the German Federal Cultural Foundation. The project is now in the middle of the first implementation phase.

Thirty-two unique works of art—and solution concepts that are just extraordinary. For the “Equalizer [Sound Graphs]“ (2017) by Sarah Morris, for instance, the process of creation behind the work is made tangible. The digital education strategy corresponds with the title by revealing new levels beyond the visual. Here, users are actively invited to listen, speak, and compose. The digital transformation of individual picture elements offers them the opportunity to imitate the artistic process themselves by making their own voice recording, which they can then use to create their own “Equalizer work.” The painting thus becomes a virtual instrument for users.

In Winter 2019 the jury of the Digital Fund of the German Federal Cultural Foundation selected fifteen extraordinary digital projects. The Kunsthalle Mannheim and the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart are among those being sponsored. The Digital Fund, a cornerstone of the foundation’s Digital Culture program, makes it possible for publicly funded cultural institutions working in partnership to develop model digital offerings together with digital partners and to experiment with new digital aesthetics and forms of expression.