GALLERIES
IN CYBERSPACE
A Conversation with Ute Barth of Art Forum, Zurich
Zurich - September 27 - December 22, 2000
A Conversation with Ute Barth of Art Forum, Zurich
Zurich - September 27 - December 22, 2000
"Collectors and art lovers wish to have quick access to all-round information": With this principle in mind, Ute Barth of the Art Forum set to work with her webmaster to design a functional website for her gallery. The result is an informative and well-structured forum with a playful touch to it.
A small puzzle figures on the front-page, each piece of which represents one particular field of the gallery's many activities. The ensemble forms the Art Forum Ute Barth with its exhibitions, artists, activities, and services. Upon clicking on one of the pieces of the puzzle, one is rewarded with brief and accurate information about the hypertext keyword pointing to it. The artists of the gallery are introduced with biographical detail, bibliographies, and frequently with reproductions of their work. Whosoever wishes to learn more about any particular topic is provided with a link to the gallery's e-mail address as well as forms integrated into the website. This layout awakens the visitor's curiosity for more and provides a very appealing portrayal of the gallery, encouraging the surfer to contact or even visit the gallery.
Today, it appears imperative that galleries wishing to reach a broad and international public must have a web presence. On October 2nd, Mrs. Barth and I met up in the real rooms of the Art Forum to evaluate the situation of 'galleries on the internet' and to discuss the pros and cons of such an appearance.
Ute Barth has a clear concept of how a convincing web-presentation of the Art Forum is to be conceived as well as the necessary experience to go with it. To help novices find their way in this medium, her webpage provides guidance by showing up the principles necessary for such a presentation: Hereby, the gallery owner illustrates how websites can be composed in a user-friendly way and programmed to be suitable for most computers: Mrs. Barth defines the internet as a source of information and an elementary reference medium. She maintains that nowadays information concerning artists is often first sought over the internet, while a visit to a library is made at a later stage. This means that the website is a service to help both client and artist. Ute Barth regrets the frequently missing or poor presence of contemporary, as well as older artists on the internet, while at the same time realizing the opportunity this status quo offers galleries to help artists. In this spirit, she deserves the credit for the fact that the terms 'Calder' and 'Zuerich', for instance, will automatically lead search engines to her Zurich-based gallery.
In answer to my question, whether the internet could ever offer the customer so much as to make a personal visit to the gallery unnecessary, Ute Barth vehemently declares 'no'! In her opinion even sales over the internet are unthinkable, as she values personal contact with collectors and prospective buyers and would not think of running a purely virtual gallery. After all, a 'forum' implies an encounter, in this case with art, artists and lovers of art. The team of the Art Forum prefers to find the ideal object together with the client and is convinced that this can only happen if a selection is shown on the premises, especially in the case of lesser known artists and artworks which have never before been on the market. Even though many of the gallery's works of art are digitized and the quality of reproductions in the internet is high, the gallery owner considers the direct confrontation with the original as indispensable. One exception naturally is cyberart, possibly even graphic art or art photography.
Reactions to the website of the Art Forum Ute Barth have been very positive. Lovers of art consult the pages either out of pure curiosity or with concrete questions and requests. People of every age have already contacted Mrs. Barth over the internet, beginning with the child who sought for help with its homework on art and continuing with people in their eighties. Above all, many interested persons from English speaking countries have consulted the homepage. Ute Barth is very pleased with the fact that a typical virtual visit to her site does not end at the portal, but is often prolonged and the search thorough.
On the internet you will find the Art Forum Ute Barth under www.utebarth.com, www.artforumutebarth.com and naturally under www.swissart.ch. Happy surfing!
 Joseph Egan |
Until 22nd December 2000 the gallery is presenting a show titled dieBLAUEausstellung with objects ranging from classic modernity to the present times, showing an impressive selection of artistic interpretations of this colour with its rich symbolism and long artistic tradition. Apart from exquisitely gleaming blue glass sculptures by Edvin oehrstroem there is a sculpture to be seen by Yves Klein, who took out a patent on his radiant blue. Judith Trepp who in her paintings strives to achieve a synthesis of Abstract Expressionism with forms inspired by the Zuercher Konkrete, tells me that the blue colour seems to seep into her paintings whenever she works down by the seashore in Cape Cod. |
Carlotta
Graedel Matthaei
