title: Digital
Tate:
the
use
of
video
and
the
construction
of
audiences
Creators: name: Zouli, I
Publisher: name: London South Bank University
Year: 2018

description: This
PhD
research
emerges
from
an
on-­‐going
discussion
in
museum
studies,
which
recognises
the
effect
of
digital
technologies
on
the
practices
of
contemporary
museums
and
on
the
processes
of
knowledge
production.
It
is
the
result
of
a
collaborative
study
between
London
South
Bank
University
and
Tate,
which
examines
how
the
contemporary
art
museum
perceives
digital
culture
and
understands
its
audiences
under
networked
conditions.
The
research
departed
from
a
recognition
that
Tate’s
practices
of
video
production
provide
an
access
point
to
examine
how
the
museum
creates
and
shares
cultural
knowledge.
By
distributing
its
video
content
through
online
channels,
the
museum
also
participates
in
a
digital
and
networked
landscape
and
thereby
connects
with
its
audiences.
In
an
effort
to
adhere
to
this
constantly
growing
and
evolving
landscape,
Tate
has
been
exploring
different
ways
of
expanding
its
production
and
programming
practices
in
online
spaces
and
engaging
with
the
audiences
that
inhabit
these
spaces.
The
research
regarded
this
point
of
exploration
as
an
opportunity
to
examine
the
institutional
perceptions
and
ideas
that
guide
this
process.
The
core
research
question
that
the
research
addresses
therefore
is:
How
does
the
use
and
production
of
video
content
at
Tate
reflect
the
contemporary
art
museum’s
understanding
of
digital
culture
and
the
way
that
it
perceives
its
audience?
This
question
was
addressed
through
situated
empirical
fieldwork
in
the
organisation
and
particularly
through
the
observation
of
the
BMW
Tate
Live:
Performance
Room
programme.
Following
the
processes
of
the
production
of
this
series
of
live
online
performances,
it
was
possible
to
trace
the
complexities
that
arose
in
Tate’s
encounter
with
the
structures
and
the
audience
of
the
network.
The
study
of
these
complexities
reflected
the
museum’s
difficulty
in
embracing
with
unfamiliar
elements
of
display
and
participation
that
the
network
proposed
and
unveiled
processes
of
moderation
and
editorial
control
that
aimed
to
contain
the
programme
in
the
protected
territory
of
the
institution
and
its
brand.
The
value
of
the
present
work
lies
in
its
focus
on
the
processes
where
institutional
ideas
and
politics
are
enacted
as
a
way
to
understand
the
museum’s
complex
structure.
This
research
contributes
to
museum
studies
and
media
and
cultural
studies
research
by
employing
an
interdisciplinary
and
reflexive
method
embedded
in
the
museum
practices
in
order
to
bring
to
light
problems
that
are
not
new
yet
they
are
present
and
require
attention.
These
problems
pertain
to
the
museum’s
relation
to
technology
and
they
affect
the
museum’s
relationship
with
its
audiences.
The
exploration
of
processes
of
production
that
this
thesis
suggests
is
considered
a
fundamental
step
in
order
to
understand
what
knowledge
the
art
museum
produces
in
its
encounter
with
the
digital,
how
and
for
whom.