Everything We Do in Digital Leads to the Original
Do Art Museums Benefit from Social Media?
Clara Bläser, Student ID: 12381624
Master of Arts (MA) in New Media and Digital Culture
Supervisor: Dr. J.A.A. (Johannes) Simons | Second reader: Dr. Bogna Konior Amsterdam, June 2019
This document is written by Student Clara Bläser who declares to take full responsibility for the contents of this document.
I declare that the text and the work presented in this document are original and that no
sources other than those mentioned in the text and its references have been used in creating it. The Faculty of Humanities is responsible solely for the supervision of completion of the work, not for the contents.
Amsterdam, June 28th, 2019
Abstract
The aim of this thesis is to conduct how art museums in times of digitisation can get the attention of today's digital natives. It provides an insight into how museums use social media, to gain a new and younger audience. In order to get a clear perception of the Instagram use of museums, this paper is working with two case studies. The objects are two art museums in Munich, the Alte Pinakothek and the Haus der Kunst. Three interviews with social media representatives of the institutions and an art historian were conducted and a content analysis of the Instagram accounts of the Alte Pinakothek and the Haus der Kunst was made to formulate approaches for action. This study concludes that social media, given the Instagram analysis, offers a great opportunity to reach out to younger people and interact with them. But to be able to successfully implement and use Instagram, the importance of this platform must be clear for everyone. Social media users are demanding interaction, therefore a successful social media strategy needs investments in qualified head counts.
Abstract 3
1. Introduction 6
1.1 Research questions 9
1.2 Thesis outline 10
2. Theoretical Framework 11
2.1 Mechanical reproduction, authenticity and accessibility 11 2.2 Digitisation: Opportunities and risks for museums 13
2.3 Affordances on Instagram 17 2.4 Objects of research 20 3. Methodology 21 3.1 Case study 21 3.2 Approach 21 3.2.1 Interviews 21 3.2.2 Content analysis 24
3.2.3 Google Chrome helper tool for Instagram 29 3.3 How users make use of Instagrams affordance 30
4. Findings 31
4.1 Instagram - Everything we do in digital leads to the original 31 4.1.1 Mechanical reproduction and authenticity 33
4.1.2 New media vs. museums? 36
4.1.3 Photographic capturing of art influencing the perception? 37 4.1.4 Contemporary art vs. old masters, non-collecting vs. permanent collection
38 4.1.5 From the museum to the electronic music club 41 4.2 Instagram use of the Alte Pinakothek and the Haus der Kunst 43 4.2.1 Company specific hashtags/ co-creation 43 4.2.2 Technical quality of posted content 45
4.2.3 Snapshot aesthetic 45
4.2.4 Behind the scenes photography 46
4.2.5 Utilizing the different features that are available on Instagram 48 4.2.6 Balance between followers and following 49 4.2.7 Interaction with the Instagram followers 50
4.2.8 Reposting the followers content 52
4.3 Most liked posts 53
5. Discussion 61
5.1 Competition or alliance? 61
5.2 Getting the attention of today’s young audience 63
5.4 The importance of interactivity 67
6. Conclusion 68
Bibliography 71
1. Introduction
Internet of Things, over 5 billion unique mobile users and “(...) more than one million people coming online for the first time each day since January 2018” (Kemp n. pag.), underline that our world is changing dramatically. Today’s young generation is called digital natives, they are born into this digital age, formed by the online world. Reading is replaced by video games and streaming providers. Children and young people of today are “native speakers” when it comes to the digital language of the Internet, video games or computers (Prensky 2). The digital natives come directly after generation Y. For the millennials, being the same as generation Y, different age groups are mentioned, but it can be approximately said that these are the age groups born between 1980-2000, the 20-39-year-olds in 2019. The millennials grew up in a world where computers are taken for granted, social networks have become established, and advertising is more relevant than ever before (Rouse n. pag.).
“Constant exposure to digital media has changed the way the digital generation processes, interacts and uses information. As a result, they think and communicate in fundamentally different ways than any previous generation” (Jukes & Dosaj n. pag.). Communication for the younger generation usually takes place on the modern, digital way, via social media. The share of social media use from the age of 14 to 19-year-olds is at 100% and 98% for the 20 to 29-year-olds (“Social Media: Usage Share”). Nearly everyone owns a smartphone and has several social media accounts on different platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. Their online presence affects their offline life. In order to get the attention of these young people, you will probably reach them best online.
Instagram is one of the rather new forms of communication where users share their lives through pictures and videos. “(...) it is the most popular photo capturing and sharing application” (Hu et al. 595) and reaches a younger, more diverse audience than any other social network (Salomon n. pag.). All income and education classes use Instagram, which makes it especially for museums to such an interesting online platform to reach a big audience (Clarke n. pag.). Young mobile users fulfill their desire of taking photos with their smartphones, to then easily upload and share them immediately with the world. With sharing photos, they connect with others and exchange interests and information among each other
(Abbott et al. 3). In 2018 Instagram had 800 million monthly and 500 million daily active users, and it is still growing rapidly (Etherington n.pag.). 60.4% of all users are between 18 and 24 years old (“Global Instagram User”). At the time of writing this, Instagram users upload 95 million photos a day to the site (“Instagram Marketing Statistics”).
Instagram has become not only a useful social networking platform to individuals but also to companies (Ting et al. 16). “(...) many traditional offline organizations have slowly incorporated social networking services into their businesses in order to reach and communicate with their actual and potential consumers more efficiently” (Ting et al. 18). It is not only about sharing personal photos anymore but also about taking advantage of it, earn money with Instagram, advertise companies or products and draw attention to particular issues. And because the users of Instagram are so young, this platform can reach especially the young target group very well.
Although the platform Instagram plays such an important role in social media today, it has been relatively seldom considered in studies so far. There are studies about the user practices on Instagram (Araujo et al. 19) and research about how visitors using applications driven by smartphone technology are engaging with exhibition content, space, design, architecture, and people (Budge 67). Additionally, Weilenmann, Hillman, and Jungselius studied for example how the everyday use of smartphones with high-quality built-in cameras has lead to an increase in museum visitors’ use of these devices to document and share their museum experiences (Weilenmann et al. n. pag.).
Studies about how social media is used for artworks and how visitors use social media to document their museum visit already exist. What you will not find much about is how an art museum itself uses social media, to gain a new and younger audience. These previous studies can be a good starting point to extend and build upon.
As culture is and will ever be a relevant part of life and history, museums are very important part of our society. The museum is not closed to any medium, any art form, any genre, any style. The museum runs an archive and with it future (Weibel “Das Museum” 1) and they exist for more than 2 millennia. The world's oldest museum was built 2.500 years ago. Early museums began with private collections by wealthy people. In the 19th century, more and more museums were open for the public, like the State Hermitage Museum, the Museo del
Prado and the Louvre. This art is now accessible to visitors in spectacular buildings (“The World’s Oldest”). In the 20th, and also today in the 21st century, those kinds of buildings or palaces are still built, rebuild and renovated. The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, for example, underwent many changes to create more rooms for donated artworks. “ The building was thoroughly modernized, while at the same time restoring more of Cuypers original interior designs” (“History of the Rijksmuseum”). But how do these old institutions continue to exist in the digital world? Museums open access to intellectual content, collect and exhibit art and make it available for everyone. More and more museums try to find solutions to find a ‘space’ in cyberspace. With social media, they get the chance “(...) to attract wider audiences, especially those more difficult to reach, such as young people” (NEMO 15). Learning, education and awareness-raising are still key goals and will remain so for all museum. Nevertheless, rethinking with regard to digitisation is necessary to improve interaction with the visitors and especially with young people and young adults (NEMO 15). Museums and digitisation can be brought together by using Instagram. This fast-moving topic is much larger and is beyond the scope of this thesis, so which deliberately deals only with Instagram as an example, because Instagram focuses on the image as a communication medium.
Nowadays you get information from the Internet, be it on scientific topics, everyday questions or entertainment. Social media platforms are a great way to promote institutions, exhibitions, and events. A big audience can be reached here and information can be widely disseminated. Especially Instagram, a platform that is all around pictures and videos, can be a great way for museums to interact with their visitors and interested parties.
The Musée du Louvre (Louvre), for example, once again had sensational 10.2 million visitors in 2018. But even more interesting is the fact that half of the visitors this year were younger than thirty. The Louvre, which exhibits art from all millennia, is envied worldwide for this number. Why exactly so many young people visited the Louvre this year is not entirely certain. The director, however, believes that it was probably not only the art on display but the fact that Beyoncé and Jay-Z shot their music video in the Louvre. Their video was watched over 147 million times on YouTube (Lorch 15). This shows, that new media, and also social media, are important factors for catching the attention of the younger generation.
The Alte Pinakothek, one of the museums analysed in this work, breaks new ground as well. They just started a cooperation with Blitz Club in Munich for which the artist Anja Lekavski designed the clubs recent posters, inspired by the Renaissance paintings that are shown in their exhibition ‘Florence and its painters’. This project combined ancient artworks with current new media topics like machine learning, facial recognition, and artificial intelligence. Before the event at Blitz Club, one could visit the exhibition ‘Florence and its painters’ at Alte Pinakothek where they also had DJs of the Blitz Club till 23.00 (“Vor dem Blitz”). Promoted got all of this on the Pinakotheken social media accounts like Facebook and Instagram. With co-operations and projects like this, the Alte Pinakothek tries to get younger visitors into their exhibitions and shows, that there are a lot of different ways to promote art on social media.
In order to get insight into the Instagram use of museums, this paper is working with two case studies. The objects are two museums in Munich, the Alte Pinakothek, and the Haus der Kunst. The Alte Pinakothek, with its own collection, presents artworks from the Middle Ages through the Renaissance and the Baroque up to the end of the Rococo period (Die Pinakotheken). The Haus der Kunst is a key global center for contemporary art but does not have its own collection (Haus der Kunst). Both of the museums run Instagram accounts with 15.000 and 30.000 followers. This study will show how these two institutions use Instagram to get a younger audience to visit the museum with a focus on the fact that one museum exhibits older art while the other exhibits contemporary art. In addition, it might be interesting if it makes a difference if a museum has its own collection or not.
1.1 Research questions
As mentioned above, studies about museums and social media exist. Most of them, however, deal with topics like the educational aspect of museums or the art itself. This paper presents another case study towards this scholarship and combines some of the previous approaches, asking:
How do art museums with their centuries of history and tradition try to get the attention of today’s digital natives by using social media?
What kind of Instagram approaches do museums with classic art use in comparison to museums with contemporary art?
1.2 Thesis outline
To answer these research questions the first part of this study will focus on preceding theoretical insights in order to build a general sight of the topic art museums, visitors, new art forms and Instagram. First starting with the theoretical views of Walter Benjamin, Denis Dutton, and John Berger to discuss the topics of mechanical reproduction, authenticity, and aura of artworks. In the next step, there will be a focus on digitisation and what opportunities and risks that brings for museums, focusing here on already existing studies of this topic to expand these afterwards. Following, the affordances of Instagram will be explained to get a better comprehension of the users motives for being active on a particular platform and to see if and how the two objects of this study take full advantage of the affordances provided by Instagram. Before getting deeper into the methodology, the objects of research, the Haus der Kunst and the Alte Pinakothek, will be presented.
For the second part, the methods part, the case studies will be explained. For this research, an empirical case-study research was chosen. To conduct how museums in times of digitisation can get the attention of today's digital natives interviews, as well as a content analysis on the Instagram accounts of the Alte Pinakothek and the Haus der Kunst were chosen. This will not only be a content analysis but also a comparison of the findings of these two accounts with a focus on the fact that one museum exhibits contemporary art and has no collection of its own and the Alte Pinakothek having a permanent collection of old, traditional artworks. Interviews with the social media representatives of the respective institution, as well as an interview with an art historian which offers guided tours of the Munich cultural scene, will contribute additional information and insight to the researched topic.
2. Theoretical Framework
This study examines if art museums still have a right to exist although digitisation gives access to art everywhere and every time. The focus will be on how museums and digitisation might successfully collaborate, using Instagram as an example.
This addresses photography and reproductivity of artworks as well as their distribution on Instagram. Therefore, existing literature and papers on these topics will be discussed and dealt with to be the base for the research questions of this thesis.
2.1 Mechanical reproduction, authenticity and accessibility
Walter Benjamin was probably “(…) the most important German philosopher, cultural critic and essayist in the first half of the 20th century” (Luebering n. pag.). In his essay “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” he discusses authenticity in artworks and how this goes together with mechanical reproduction. If looked in the past, to the Greek for example, a work of art has always been reproducible. “Man-made artifacts could always be imitated by men. Replicas were made by pupils in practice of their craft by masters for diffusing their works, and, finally by third parties in the pursuit of gain” (Benjamin 2). However, with mechanics, this reproduction becomes something new. Reproduction reached a standard and kind of normality and “(…) had captured a place of its own among the artistic processes” (Benjamin 3). But Benjamin also argues, that even the most perfect reproduction of an artwork will lack in “(…) its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be” (3). He as well discusses the aura, the unique aesthetic authority, and the authenticity of work of arts which get lost in the mechanically reproduced copy (4). Art itself has to be defined new in the age of mechanical reproduction. “(…) the work of art reproduced becomes the work of art designed for reproducibility” (Benjamin 6). The point of view to works of art and the reaction of the masses towards it changes here by. Benjamin sees the contemplation of paintings by a larger public very critical and as “(…) an early symptom of the crisis of painting, a crisis which was by no means occasioned
exclusively by photography but rather in a relatively independent manner by the appeal of artworks to the masses” (14).
He sees the problem in the mass from where the behavior towards artworks changes and becomes a new form today (19). All in all, Benjamin argues, that art and its reception are subject to change, especially through the development of photography and film. This is because of the possibility of mass production, as well as a new form of depict reality and therefore a change in collective perception.
Denis Dutton, an American philosopher, writes about authenticity as well. Especially in connection with museums, paintings and photographs of them, he tries to find out to what extent authenticity is preserved or lost. Next to nominal and expressive authenticity, he focuses on the authenticity of the experience. Achieving authenticity here may be an impossible achievement. Dutton argues, that the painter of an artwork, for example, may not see the painted object in the same way the artist did while painting (Dutton n. pag.). Therefore also a photography cannot replace an original painting in a museum as being just a copy of it. So it is questionable if a photography of an artwork on Instagram will then be able to transmit authenticity of experience. The example of art catalogues, which still exist for almost every major exhibition, shows that the need to ‘take away’ and hold on to art has long existed.
Additionally, John Berger discusses the potentials of mass media and how photography has influenced artworks in his work “Ways of Seeing”. In some ways, his work is the connection between Walter Benjamin and the mass media. Berger “(...) had a profound influence on the popular understanding of art and the visual image” (Gunaratnam & Bell n. pag.). In “Ways of Seeing” he writes about how the classics get accessible to the average person when images are no longer only shown in the museum but also on the media through photography (Davis n. pag.). “Oil painting, before it was anything else, was a celebration of private property. As an art-form, it derived from the principle that you are what you have” (Berger 139). Not until years later these artworks became accessible for the public in museums. Today with new media, accessibility has reached a previously unimagined extend. Photography was able to reproduce objects “(...) as only oil paint had been able to do before” (Berger 140). Works of art are no longer only to be seen in museums but also on social media platforms like
Instagram and have thus reached much larger dimensions of accessibility, independant from time and location.
2.2 Digitisation: Opportunities and risks for museums
The above-stated theories of Walter Benjamin, Dennis Dutton, and John Berger do not refer directly to the digital age but can still be adapted to the present time. While a few decades ago the mechanical reproduction of photographs of paintings was viewed with skepticism or was at least discussed, today this has taken completely new dimensions with the Web2.0. Not only is there mechanical reproduction by photography, but also sharing the content afterwards online. Almost everyone owns an online device and uses it constantly and everywhere to take photos and then share them with others on social networks. Mechanical reproduction takes on proportions most reproducers are not aware of. Even if it seems to be a bit negative at first glance, there are a lot of opportunities in it. Museum visits, for example, are documented and shared with others, who might not otherwise have the opportunity to see these works of art. Here again, the question of aura and aesthetics arises. Can photos of works of art, which are then usually only viewed on small smartphone screens, in any way convey the aura and aesthetics of the actual work of art? But also: does this play any role at all for the young target groups, which has the greatest importance in taking and sharing photos, videos and content? With what intention are museum visits to the young target group digitally documented and shared online? And at what point is a work of art or a visit to a museum even documented with a smartphone? Are not more and more museums, exhibitions and works of art oriented towards addressing visitors in the best possible way, knowing that social media and other digital services have a high priority today? These questions arise with the mentioned theories and the topic. Answering all of them would go beyond the scope of this thesis, which focuses on how museums use Instagram, but they are still worth mentioning.
Instagram, being focussed on sharing photos, plays a big role in social media today but, as already shortly mentioned in the introduction, has been relatively seldom considered in studies so far.
Kevin Systrom, the Instagram co-founder, explained in a blog post from 2013 that Instagram should be “(...) a simple app that has inspired creativity while capturing everyday moments through the lens of your mobile phone” (Systrom n. pag.). It is an app with the focus on the unique mobile-only experience. Instagram “(...) is about seeing and taking photos on-the-go” (Systrom n. pag.).
From Systrom’s statement about Instagram in 2013 on, the platform expanded enormously. With 90 million users in January 2013 to 700 million users in April 2017, Instagram became more and more widespread (Manovich 148). Lev Manovich is one of the scientists who wrote a paper on Instagram. He is writing about the platform, that combines several elements of the photo culture, and its users in his work Instagram and Contemporary Image and how this changed the way of the image and photography (11). Manovich talks about the aesthetic, but here in connection with workers, the society and Instagram. Here “Rather than being a property of art, aesthetic is the key property of commercial goods and services” (Manovich 117).
As the world changes to digitisation, museums need to be ‘instagramable’ in a world that arises in the Web2.0. With that, also the institution museum itself changes in some parts. There is more and more literature about so-called virtual museums where the term ‘no-photo-policy’ is not taken into account anymore. Because of course, everything is already online here. Lazaridou et al. in their chapter The Virtual Museum of the Stoa of Attalos describe the advantages of museums in a virtual environment, like for example how the visitor does not need to go somewhere to see the artworks because one can see everything from digital devices at home. Studies about virtual museums focus most of the time on the educational aspect here. To make art accessible for everyone, everywhere. Also, art that is maybe not able to be exhibited in a museum because it is damaged or fragile (Lazaridou et al. 9, 10). “The wide use of internet, social media and websites can make the digitised content of a museum more accessible and transport it to everyone all around the world” (Lazaridou et al. 9). Lazaridou et al. additionally state, museum visitors get motivated to visit a museum after they visited the online platforms of the institution and that they tend to remember information better when they had a digital tour rather than just reading the descriptions next to the artworks (9). “This means that the virtual museum functions in a complementary
manner to the real museum” (Lazaridou et al. 9). Related to the educational aspect that is looked at in the chapter The Virtual Museum of the Stoa of Attalos, content is better and faster absorbed through interactivity and the fact of learning“(...) through a vivid, realistic and appealing process (...)” (Lazaridou et al. 16).
The aspect of digitising art is, in a certain way, similar to looking at a museums Instagram account where the institution posts pictures and videos of their exhibited art. Which art is actually photographed in the museum and in what way this content is then processed and shared is examined in this study.
While Lazaridou et al. in their chapter The Virtual Museum of the Stoa of Attalos focused on the institution and the educational aspect, Weilenmann et al. studied the visitors experiences while they were visiting a museum of natural history and analysed 222 Instagram accounts to look how these visits were communicated on that platform. On the basis of these results, they then discussed what new media practices “(...) imply for the visitors’ engagement with and documentation of museum exhibits” (Weilenmann et al. 1843). Weilenmann et al. indicate, that whether wanted or not, museum visits are most of the time documented with smartphones nowadays. They engage with the exhibitions in various different ways. Museums are highly planned environments with a specific structure and artworks are always curated in a certain manner. “By re-organizing the exhibitions in their own ways, visitors are in effect re-curating the exhibits that they share online” (Weilenmann et al. 1850). Instagrammers become virtual curators, reorganize and tell their own narrative. As the museum serves as a resource for the photos taken and uploaded on Instagram, it is a good condition to then compare the original exhibition to the recurated one on Instagram to make “(...) visitors’ categorization work visible in a way that might be significantly more difficult in other environments where organizational structures are not so readily discernible” (Weilenmann et al. 1851). The online content created in museums and then uploaded on platforms like Instagram will be seen by a much broader online public. From their material, Weilenmann et al. can detect, that Instagrammers prioritize and create their accounts differently from one another with regard to the aesthetics and artistic expressions as well as the manipulation of the photographs and the captions (1851). Weilenmann et al.’s study shows, that unaffected if the institution has strategies on the smartphone behavior or not, many visitors, make intensive use of their smartphones while visiting museums and engage
with the exhibitions in a great variety of ways (1851). “By building on these emerging practices museums have the chance to enrich visitors’ experiences and to extend their reach beyond museum walls” (Weilenmann et al. 1851).
This thesis will extend on the findings of Weilenmann et al. and look how museums seize the opportunity of Instagram to enrich the visitors’ experience and above all to motivate the young generation to come to the museum.
Kylie Budge in Objects in Focus: Museum Visitors and Instagram “(...) draws on a case study of one exhibition using visual content analysis to frame, explore and interpret visual and text-based posts by visitors using the social media application, Instagram, as part of their experience (67). With her research questions, she focuses on the audiences of cultural institutions and how these audiences use Instagram to connect with the objects in exhibitions (Budge 68). Museums can learn a lot about their visitors from the images they post online. Most of the visitors of the exhibitions Budge worked with and analysed focused their Instagram posts on the objects on display, most of the time close-ups of it (79). She describes Instagram as a part of the experience of the museum visit (78). Budge writes about the importance for institutions to not only “talk to” their audience but “talk with” it. This “talking with” the audience can take place on online platforms such as Instagram (82). Building upon Kylie Budge’s study, I will analyse how museums use Instagram and draw value from the social media use of their visitors. Because “understanding points of meaning-making for audiences attending exhibitions can lead to a huge number of possibilities in terms of curatorial decisions, exhibition design, the architecture of gallery space, and deepening engagement more broadly” (Budge 82).
Another study of interest that focuses on user practices is written by Camila Souza Araujo et al. Other than in the above-mentioned studies, their study is more broadly about the understanding of user practices. Their study analyses “1.265.080 publicly accessible photos and videos posted by ordinary and popular Instagram users” (Araujo et al. 19.). “In their work (...) the main role is played by the photos themselves. (They) focus on the photos in order to reveal some cultural practices that take place through Instagram” (Araujo et al. 20). They have analysed that on Saturday and Sunday, during the afternoon and evening the most postings are made. The likes and comments are based on a power-law distribution or the rich
get richer phenomenon which means the more followers you have the more likes and comments you get and the faster your account is growing (Araujo et al. 21). Especially worldwide brands with their big amount of fans and bloggers that promote their brand and Instagram account get a lot of likes. The platform Instagram is often used as a self-promotion media (Araujo et al. 22). The findings of Araujo et al. are the first step to analyse the later on Instagram accounts in the methodology part, to get a better understanding of how the platform Instagram is used best.
The starting point for this thesis are the previously mentioned studies that consider the potential museum visitor. This thesis will broaden the perspective and show how museums could use Instagram to catch the attention of the younger audience and to get closer to the next generation of visitors. It focuses on the use of Instagram by the art institution itself under the aspect of gaining a new and younger audience. While previous studies most of the time analysed the user practices and the educational aspect of museums, I will do a content analysis on the accounts of the selected museums themselves to see how they use Instagram to their advantage and combine art and social media. Instead of talking with the audience of the art institutions, like Weilenmann et al. did for example for their study, I will talk to the social media representatives of the two museums in my case study.
2.3 Affordances on Instagram
An important part when analysing online platforms is looking into its affordances. Through understanding a platforms affordances one can better comprehend the users motives for being active on a particular platform. It is interesting to look if and how the two museums of this study take full advantage of the affordances provided by Instagram. To discuss these online affordances, first of all, it is important to look at the original concept of affordances by James Gibson. The verb ‘afford’ does exist but he made up the word ‘affordances’. In “Theory of Affordances” he discusses the step from surfaces to affordances. “The affordances of the environment are what it offers the animal, what it provides or furnishes, either for good or ill” (Gibson 127). Affordances are measured relative to animals or human beings. “Different layouts afford different behaviors for different animals, and different mechanical encounters” (Gibson 128). Affordances are designed to trigger types of social behavior. A sofa or a chair,
for example, affords sitting for most human beings. It is a surface of support with four properties, which is knee-high above the ground. A chair, or seat in general, can “(…) have various shapes, as long as its functional layout is that of a seat” (Gibson 128). Important to mention is, that the affordance is relative to the individual. When it comes to the size, for example, knee-high for an adult is not the same height as for a child (Gibson 127, 128). “So the affordance is relative to the size of the individual” (Gibson 128). In summary, this means that 'affordances' can be seen as the interaction between humans and artefacts.
Online platforms and smartphone applications, like Instagram, work with a new form of affordances, the digital affordances. As Light et al. describe it in their walkthrough method, affordances appear at multiple levels of scale when we come to online applications. It begins at the app´s button, the interaction with operating systems, over to hardware and structures of connectivity like wifi (6). The multi-touch screen, tapping and scrolling at Instagram are all part of the affordances of this app. Users interact with the app by liking, commenting, posting, etc. This broad range of interactive elements are the most prevalent digital media affordances which are not found in conventional media. It gives the user a feeling of having meaningful dialogue and the chance of control and influence (Schwebs 2).
Going away from the app and to Instagram as a photo sharing platform itself, one can find several affordances here as well. For this thesis, they are only shortly mentioned because they play a role for the big hole in the end and may at some point be an explanation for why users act in a specific way and how platforms work so interactive in the first place, but the work itself focuses on a different topic here. The design and features of the platform Instagram have already been researched in some studies and these can be referred to here.
Treem and Leonardi have elaborated four distinct affordances when it comes to the social media use of organizations. These are visibility, persistence, editability, and association (9). When looking specifically at the affordances of the platform Instagram, Hurley defines multimodal affordances as “(...) photographs, filters, hashtags, captions, and videos that enable postings of pre-prepared content as well as immediate postings of live content” (2). That is also an explanation for Instagram's popularity (Hurley 2).
McNely, in his study “Shaping Organizational Image-Power Through Images: Case Histories of Instagram”, specifically defines the Instagram photo filters as one of Instagram`s key affordances (n. pag.).
Online affordances have to be structured in certain ways to be user-friendly. There has to be found a balance. More information, affordances, and possibilities are not always better. Instagram found this balance which makes it so user-friendly and easy to handle but still having a great opportunity for various actions and reception of information and content. The platform has a self-explanatory design with for example a ‘sear’ icon, ‘add photo’ icon or the ‘notifications’ button. The affordances Instagram uses makes the app stay relevant for the user and invites to produce and share content, for private accounts as well as for business accounts (Lee n. pag.).
For this thesis, the affordances have been specified with the help of existing marketing and PR research. The studies “Marketing and PR in Social Media: How the utilization of Instagram builds and maintains customer relationships”, by Thamwika Bergström and Lisa Bäckman, “Follow for follow: marketing of a start-up company on Instagram”, by Henrik Virtanen et al. and “‘Snap happy’ brands: Increasing publicity effectiveness through a snapshot aesthetic when marketing a brand on Instagram” by Jonas Colliander and Ben Marder, were used to create eight categories under which the Instagram accounts of the Haus der Kunst and the Alte Pinakothek were then analysed.
These categories are the following and will be explained in more detail in the methodology chapter.
1. Company specific hashtags/ co-creation
2. Technical quality of posted content (good resolution) 3. Snapshot aesthetic
4. Behind the scenes photography
5. Utilizing the different features that are available on Instagram 6. Balance between follower and following
7. Interaction with the Instagram followers 8. Reposting the followers content
2.4 Objects of research
The objects chosen for this thesis are two museums in Munich. One is the Alte Pinakothek and the other one is the Haus der Kunst. The Alte Pinakothek with its own collection presents artworks from the Middle Ages through the Renaissance and the Baroque up to the end of the Rococo period. The museum is one of the most renowned art collections in the world. “The collection comprises more than 700 artworks from the glittering epochs of German, Flemish, Netherlandish, French, Italian and Spanish painting. Leo von Klenze’s neoclassical building (completed in 1836), groundbreaking for European museum architecture at the time, provides the setting for this treasure trove of occidental art” (Die Pinakotheken). Among others, painters like Cranach, Altdorfer, Dürer, Botticelli, da Vinci, Raphael, Titian, Rembrandt, and Rubens are exhibited here. At the time of its completion, in 1836, the Alte Pinakothek was the largest museum building in the world (“Die Münchner Pinakotheken”). The Haus der Kunst is a key global center for contemporary art but does not have its own collection. The Haus der Kunst is one of the most important exhibition halls in Munich and a key global center. Artists such as Ai Weiwei, Gilbert & George or Andreas Gursky have already exhibited here (“Haus der Kunst” Muenchen.de). “Haus der Kunst sharpens this perspective of contemporary art by implicating many viewpoints, deploying multiple tools, and developing a critical context for the examination, articulation, illumination, and transmission of the historical dimension of contemporaneity” (Haus der Kunst). Both of the museums run Instagram accounts with 17.200, Pinakotheken, and 33.700 followers, Haus der Kunst. With interviews and a content analysis on Instagram, it is studied how these two institutions use Instagram to get a younger audience to visit the museum with the focus on the fact that one museum exhibits older art while the other exhibits contemporary art and one having its own collection.
3. Methodology
In order to answer the research questions and get the best insights into the topic and the two objects of the case study, the method of this work is divided into two parts. In a first step, three interviews were conducted and in a second step, a content analysis of two Instagram accounts was done. Two methods were chosen to get a better insight into the field and to compare the results of the interviews with those of the content analysis as well as to base the results on each other. In the following, a deeper insight into the approach and selection of methods is given.
What has to be noted is that, since this is a qualitative case study with only two objects, the research is limited. Otherwise, it would go beyond the scope of this thesis.
3.1 Case study
For this research an empirical method was chosen, a case-study research. “A case study is a research strategy and an empirical inquiry that investigates a phenomenon within its real-life context” (PressAcademia). A broad field of research is narrowed down into a researchable topic here. “Whilst it will not answer a question completely, it will give some indications and allow further elaboration and hypothesis creation on a subject” (Shuttleworth n. pag.). This case study gives the chance to focus on a specific and interesting case and gives an in-depth clarification of the examined situation. The aim of this thesis is to conduct how art museums in times of digitisation can get the attention of today's digital natives.
3.2 Approach
3.2.1 Interviews
First, suitable interview partners of the respective institutions were selected and contacted. The person responsible for digital communication and social media of the Haus der Kunst and the person in charge of media design and art education of the Alte Pinakothek were
chosen. In addition, an art historian who is an authority for cultural mediation and leads art tours in Munich and the surrounding area was selected. With this additional, external person a broader insight into the topic could be achieved.
After e-mail contact was made and the persons have been informed about the topic and the procedure, a telephone interview with the responsible person of the old Pinakothek and two face-to-face interviews with the responsible person of the Haus der Kunst and the art historian were agreed on. These interviews took place in Munich.
For the interviews, a semi-structured approach was chosen. “In contrast to informal interviewing, the purpose of semi-structured interviewing is to gain detailed and focused insights into how individuals perceive a topic of interest to researchers” (Silverman 149). One gets/gains an in-depth and direct understanding of the issue researched from the key stakeholders/ key players themselves and their opinions and thoughts about the researched topic (Silverman 149).
What the semi-structured interview makes different to a survey, for example, is, that it is guided by some predefined questions but it is still very free and open and reminds more of a natural conversation. So it could be that in the end not all questions that had been prepared will be asked. It gets driven by the responses of the interviewee and for that, the order of questions that was predetermined can be restructured during the interview depending on the answers the interviewee gives. Because what distinguishes these semi-structured interviews is that they usually work with open-ended questions (Silverman 150).
Parallel to arranging appointments with the interviewees, questions therefore were generated. As people from different institutions, with slightly different professions, have been interviewed, the questions for each person have been adapted to the individual. Whereby these questions were still all around the same specific set of issues that are focused on the research questions. Some consistent questions were formulated to have the same read thread through every interview. These questions have been:
1. How do you try or get the attention of these Digital Natives? What role does Instagram play here? How do you use social media to attract new and younger visitors?
2. Do you think that photography distracts people from the exhibition itself?
3. What do you think of mechanical reproduction and the point of Walter Benjamin that the aura of the artwork gets lost here?
4. Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung (Federal Agency for Political Education): "Museums today face increasing competition from new media". Do you agree? What is your view?
The interview questions are based, in part, on the theories already discussed at the beginning of this thesis, in order to examine to what extent they can be adapted to the present and digitalisation and, if so, whether they are confirmed or refuted. Question 2 deals with how the aspect of photographing may distract visitors from the exhibition itself and how the experience here changes. This is based on Dennis Dutton and his theory, which deals with the experience of museums, works of art and photography through authenticity and their preservation or loss (Dutton n. pag.). In question 3, the reproduction of Walter Benjamin through photography and sharing on Instagram will be addressed and whether art is now created in such a way as to be as reproducible as possible, as instagramable as possible (6). This question leads to John Berger's theory, the potential of mass media and how photography influences the artwork (140). Photography reproduces objects and through social media, Instagram, this art gets accessible for a broad mass. Question 4 deals more closely with the alleged competition between social media and museums. Question 4 deals more closely with the alleged competition between social media and museums. While the Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung sets a statement here, those responsible for the social media channels of the museums should have their say in this work.
All interviews have been recorded with two different devices to avoid losing any information. The participants were informed about the use of the recordings and signed consent templates to allow the usage of the selected material.
The records were then transcribed and relevant information was sorted separately. This happened in three steps. First, the raw interview as it took place was transcribed. In a second step, the relevant information was sorted and everything was written into a grammatically correct version. Then, this second version of pre-sorted material, which proved to be relevant
for the work, was translated into English, as all of the interviews were taken with Germans in German. Direct quotations from the interviews in this thesis are therefore translated into English.
The interviewees have given their written consent for the interviews and their use in this thesis. Access to the consent template can be requested.
The transcripts of the interviews can be found in the appendix while the recordings can be requested on demand.
3.2.2 Content analysis
The second approach is a content analysis on Instagram. The content analysis next to the interviews will give an insight into the actual practice of the two institutions to have additional data to the statements of the interviewees, to validate theory and praxis. For the content analysis, the Instagram accounts of the Alte Pinakothek and the Haus der Kunst were looked at. The research is centered on the social media platform Instagram and not on other platforms like Twitter or Facebook to make the research manageable, therefore the research questions are focused on Instagram as well. As mentioned already in the introduction, Instagram was chosen out of the various platforms because it centers around photography and videos and is one of the rather new forms of communication where users share their lives through pictures and videos. “(...) it is the most popular photo capturing and sharing application” (Hu et al. 595) and reaches a younger, more diverse audience than any other social network (Salomon n. pag.). 13 to 29-year-olds use this platform the most. In Germany, 7.4 million users are in their twenties, which makes 42% of Instagram users in all of Germany (Anssari n. pag.).
The accounts of Pinakotheken and Haus der Kunst were analysed according to various criteria. In order to identify what institutions should look out for when they maintain an Instagram profile and want to reach as many people as possible and thus aim for high followers, various existing studies on online marketing and PR on Instagram were referred to. The relevant aspects for a museum account were sorted out and compared to each other to see the similarities of these studies and get the most relevant information for the content analysis for this thesis out of it. The studies “Marketing and PR in Social Media: How the utilization
of Instagram builds and maintains customer relationships”, by Thamwika Bergström and Lisa Bäckman, “Follow for follow: marketing of a start-up company on Instagram”, by Henrik Virtanen et al. and “‘Snap happy’ brands: Increasing publicity effectiveness through a snapshot aesthetic when marketing a brand on Instagram” by Jonas Colliander and Ben Marder, were applied for this. Eight relevant aspects were selected for the content analysis by which the two Instagram accounts were examined. These were the following:
1. Company specific hashtags/ co-creation
Companies mainly use Instagram to market their products and spread information about upcoming events or new releases. As Bergström and Bäckman found out in their study, just sharing information does not lead to a high level of interaction, but when the company used co-creative features, like the use of a company specific hashtag, “the level of interaction increased by as much as five times” (Bergström & Bäckman 2). Nike and Starbucks made their followers collaborate and co-create material, which then showed higher interactivity of the followers (Bergström & Bäckman 34). “Users uploading pictures with company specific hashtags can also be seen as part of a word-of-mouth process, since the hashtagged picture can be seen by all of the users’ follower” (Bergström & Bäckman 34). This leads to an expansion and higher reach of a widely extended network. It strengthens the bond with the followers who get the feeling of self-involvement. Bergström and Bäckman believe that “(...) utilizing Instagram in a way that the users become co-creators of material is one of Instagram’s greatest strengths (...)” (42).
Virtanen et al. agree, that Instagram, compared to other platforms, is distinguished by its high level of usage for interaction, engagement, and co-creation (471). The company specific hashtags can be searched for on Instagram by interested consumers or, in the case of museums, the visitors to give them an insight of the institution and the experiences other users shared of it (Virtanen et. al 472).
2. Technical quality of posted content (good resolution)
In their analysis, Bergström and Bäckman saw evidence, that followers choose institutions on Instagram “(...) based on the quality of the posted content (...)” (43). The
factor of uploading content in good technical quality is a determining reason for users to follow and like posts.
3. Snapshot aesthetic
Jonas Colliander and Ben Marder analysed the snapshot aesthetic on Instagram. They have put forward four hypotheses.
H1: “Using pictures with a snapshot aesthetic in image based social media will result in higher levels of liking of the images than using pictures with a traditional studio aesthetic” (Colliander & Marder 35).
H2: “Using pictures with a snapshot aesthetic in image based social media will result in higher levels of perceived source credibility than using pictures with a traditional studio aesthetic” (Colliander & Marder 35).
H3: “Using pictures with a snapshot aesthetic in image based social media will result in higher levels of brand attitude than using pictures with a traditional studio aesthetic” (Colliander & Marder 36).
H4: “Using pictures with a snapshot aesthetic in image based social media will result in greater intentions to recommend the social media account to others than pictures with a traditional studio aesthetic” (Colliander & Marder 36).
Their results showed, “(...) that for each of these variables the means of respondents following the Instagram account utilizing a snapshot aesthetic were significantly higher than the means of those respondents following an Instagram account utilizing a traditional studio aesthetic” (Colliander & Marder 38). All four hypotheses could therefore be supported and show, that the snapshot aesthetic carries high importance for the user.
4. Behind the scenes photography
Instagram changed what is being displayed on the front stage. By posting behind the scenes content, the institutions give insights of scenes, that are usually not seen by the
audience (Bergström & Bäckman 21). The image of the company can evolve for the user and makes following it more attractive (Bergström & Bäckman 35).
“The fact that the companies found at the top list of companies that use Instagram all upload behind the scenes photographs may be seen as one of the underlying reasons of their elevated status” (Bergström & Bäckman 37). Before social media, television was the device where people could follow events from all around the world. Through the internet and, in case of behind the scenes material, Instagram, it got possible to instantly follow these events and get insights about what is happening behind the scenes. Especially Instagram removes this limitation and makes content accessible that other platforms do not (Bergström & Bäckman 43). This makes the posting of behind the scenes photography on Instagram so appealing for the follower and should not be omitted.
5. Utilizing the different features that are available on Instagram
a. Posting videos next to photos b. Using the captions and hashtags
c. Uploading content on Instagram stories d. Saving content in highlights
Instagram offers several different features. By using them, an institution can influence the level of interaction and trust of the user (Bergström & Bäckman 44).
6. Balance between follower and following
Virtanen et. al state in their study, that the company should keep a balance between follower and following. An account with a lot more following than follower may be seen as a spam account, an account that uses bots to randomly follows hundreds of accounts. An approach here would be to unfollow all accounts that do not follow the company back (472).
7. Interaction with the Instagram followers
As already mentioned above for company specific hashtags and co-creation, Instagram is the platform with an especially high level of usage for interaction and engagement (Virtanen et. al 471).
People like to talk about their experiences and wish for involvement. Through social media, a lot of limitations concerning this interactive part have been removed. Users get more possibilities for communication, be it with other users or the company itself. The possibility to comment and response under the posted content of the institutions enables the follower to communicate directly with the institution itself (Bergström & Bäckman 18, 19). This “(...) provides an ideal platform for companies to build loyalty to their brand” (Bergström & Bäckman 38). By involving users in conversations amongst themselves and with the institution, trust can be evolved, which is an important part in creating loyalty (Bergström & Bäckman 40).
In “Follow for follow: marketing of a start-up company on Instagram”, by Henrik Virtanen et al., following and liking is considered “(...) as the primary social behaviour on Instagram, and leaving a comment as the secondary social behaviour” (472). Liking and commenting are the most common ways of interacting with followers. Virtanen et al. study showed, that the practice of liking and commenting, the interaction with followers, strengthens the relationship with them (480).
8. Reposting the followers content
Not only through company specific hashtags, the word-of-mouth process can be utilized by companies, but also with reposting the users pictures. The posts of followers that are tagged with the institutions' account or hashtag are very well to be shared. This lets the bond between company and follower become stronger, gives another opportunity for interaction, and evolve their brand recognition. Reposting lets the user become a part of the development process (Bergström & Bäckman 19, 34).
For the content analysis of the two Instagram accounts the general features such as follower numbers, shared posts, and the number of highlight stories were noted first. The
frequency of content sharing was taken into account as well. Then a more specific look at the accounts was taken by comparing the accounts to the above mentioned eight aspects. The Haus der Kunst uses Instagram since the 14.11.2013 and the Alte Pinakothek since the 30.07.2014. For point eight, reposting the followers content, and four, behind the scenes photography, the entire content was used for the analysis to have an overview since when and how often images of the followers are reposted and if or how often behind the scenes content is posted. For point seven the last 27 weeks were analysed. On the 04.10.2018 the exhibition “Florence and its painters” was mentioned for the first time on the Instagram account of the Pinakothek. Therefore, this timeframe was chosen. To analyse all 356 respectively 525 posts on comments, responses and likes would go beyond the scope of the manual analysis. In order to be able to compare the profiles of the Haus der Kunst and the Alte Pinakothek in terms of likes and followers, the pictures that were liked by more than 800 people at the Haus der Kunst and by more than 400 people at the Alte Pinakothek, which corresponds to approximately 2.36% of the total followers of the respective account, were chosen for a more detailed analysis. The number 800 for the Haus der Kunst account was chosen since 800 or more likes turned out to be the top third of the most liked posts in the overall view. Because the two analysed accounts do not have the same amount of followers the percentage share was taken here in order to be able to draw a comparison at the end. Point two, technical quality of posted content, and five, utilizing the different features that are available on Instagram, were as well analysed for the whole posted content while for point three, the snapshot aesthetic, a time frame of one year was chosen, to have insights of the current state of this practice.
3.2.3 Google Chrome helper tool for Instagram
For point seven of the content analysis, the balance between those they follow and those following back, a digital methods online tool was used. Therefore the Google Chrome browser has to be installed and the ‘Helper Tools for Instagram’ have to be downloaded from the Chrome web store. In the first step, the profile of the studied account on Instagram has to be opened and the helper tool needs to get activated. Another window will open then where
username, the prefered output and the sum of the profiles that follow and are followed by the chosen profile have to be entered in the boxes provided. When clicking on ‘Get Insta Users’ one gets directed to another page where the followers and followed by profiles will be received with profile names, IDs, user profile page URL, etc.. The table shows who is following, who the account follows and the intersections of them, called mutual followers. The list can then be exported to Excel.
3.3 How users make use of Instagrams affordance
As already mentioned in the chapter of affordances on Instagram, the platform's affordances are important to stay relevant for the user. Instagram adapted more features over the years. In the beginning, the platform was all about uploading photos and using the Instagram filters to edit them, tag locations and other information. Today, in 2019, users also have the possibility to upload videos into their Instagram Stories, one of Instagram's biggest innovations that they launched in August 2016, tag people and locations on posts, use gifs, etc. (McCracken). Looking through the eight years of Instagrams history, one can see, that the app with its affordances changed from a very social aspect to a more commercial one including ads and shopping links. Still, photo and video sharing is the main point done on Instagram, the story feature, however, is Instagram's most effective update and catches hundreds of millions of followers here (Von Bronewski n. pag.).
Looking into the affordances of Instagram helps to set different focuses on the content analysis and especially to better investigate the point of use of the different available features on Instagram. It gives information about whether or how the two institutions use the different features Instagram offers, like the popular Instagram Stories for example, and what they could do differently or better to be more successful on Instagram.
4. Findings
Conducting interviews with the social media representatives of the Haus der Kunst and the Alte Pinakothek, as well as the interview with an art historian who offers guided tours of the Munich cultural scene, give a good view of the current usage of new media of these institutions and their audience, as well as the challenges they are facing with digitalisation. The content analysis of the two Instagram accounts additionally gives an insight into the actual online practice of the two museums. Besides it can be analysed what followers like most, which posts are the most popular and what could be different or improved in terms of attracting followers and thus potential visitors to the museum.
All data of the content analysis on Instagram were retrieved for the Alte Pinakothek on 17. April 2019 and for the Haus der Kunst on 18. April 2019.
4.1 Instagram - Everything we do in digital leads to the original
What quickly became clear during the interviews is the importance of Instagram for museums. It is seen as a valuable tool for promotion, education and informing. The change through digitisation might have actually been a slow process but in the last five years social media, like Instagram, has been used, especially to reach out to young people, to get connected with them (Lindner-Haigis art historian). Not only the worlds biggest and most popular museums use Instagram, like the Louvre (2.9 million followers) or MoMA (4.5 million followers), but also smaller institutions. The importance of this platform is taken seriously and the advantages that come with it are becoming more and more obvious to the responsible people at the museum.
“Instagram is important because it's the channel that is used to reach a younger target group than Facebook and because the channel is much more interactive. (...) It's also the perfect channel for art because you can let the art speak for itself and add content accordingly. You don't have to write much about it, but you have the possibility to explain something about the work, to convey content. But the picture speaks for itself in the first
place and that's why I personally like Instagram very much”, says Lili Christoph-Homberg, who is responsible for the social media channels at Haus der Kunst.
In addition, Instagram works as free advertising, getting a lot of interaction without having to place expensive ads.
Talking to Max Westphal it was obvious, that the Alte Pinakothek as well sees its young target audience using Instagram. The platform gives the opportunity to interact with visitors and interested people, be it through pictures, videos, comments or stories. The exhibition teams know by now, that there are young people who photograph the exhibition, who interact with art, and who have their own view and comments. “It is very important for us to consciously take this into consideration and to perceive it. Social media is an opportunity and a chance for us. In general, we are interested in addressing people”, explains Max Westphal, who is responsible for the digital communication at the Alte Pinakothek.
It is especially important, that curators, who have the superintendence of exhibitions and collections, realize the importance of social media and use it for their advantage. There needs to be an interplay between the curators and the social media representatives. Christoph-Homberg notices thankfully, that she does not have to fight the curators so much anymore in her position or make social media somehow appealing to them. “They understood the relevance of social media and that is important” (Christoph-Homberg Haus der Kunst). Instagram often helps to communicate the exhibition to interested people and visitors.
The Alte Pinakothek as well sees Instagram as a chance and opportunity to involve visitors more in what is happening. It is about creating access to the art that is exhibited in the museum and to address people in general. “Everything we do in digital leads to the original, that is an addition to what we do in the exhibition rooms” (Westphal Alte Pinakothek). Another sign for the ever increasing acceptance of digitisation and social media is the cancellation of the no-photo-policy in most cases. Some years ago in most of the art institutions, it was not allowed to take photos, this has changed significantly. For a lot of museums, a ban on taking photos is no option anymore, which also applies to the Alte Pinakothek, as Westphal states.
“We sometimes have various lending contracts for an exhibition, where the lenders do not allow the objects being photographed. This, of course, presents you with the challenge of how to deal with it. Is it forbidden to photograph in the exhibition or do we stick a 'No Photo' notice in front of these five, six, seven works? The trend is to equip these works with such a hint. For us, a photo ban in the exhibition is no longer an option” (Westphal Alte Pinakothek).
It is practically impossible to keep people from using their smartphones these days. The effort alone of having the staff to monitor the visitors around the clock and then tell them not to take pictures is not possible in a reasonable way. So the acceptance of photos in museums and the often associated uploading of photos on social media channels happens more or less involuntarily or with an acceptance to no longer have a hundred percent influence here. Of course, a lot of advantages come with social media and Instagram and the fact of the unenforceable “no-photo-policy” seems more negative at first than it actually is. The El Anatsui exhibition, that currently takes place at the Haus der Kunst, for example, is a so-called very “instagramable” exhibition due to the size and brightness of the artworks. For that reason, it is very hard to ban photography there. Lenders of two artworks nevertheless did not allow photography in their cases which confronted the institution and supervisors with extreme problems. “These works of art have to be monitored all the time. Photography is simply uncontrollable in the meantime, which is nice for us in a way, people post a lot from the exhibition.” (Christoph-Homberg Haus der Kunst). They then spoke again to the lenders and convinced them to release the artworks to the public for private purposes. This was a great relief for the museum staff and supervisors, which otherwise had to guard the artworks around the clock.
4.1.1 Mechanical reproduction and authenticity
As Walter Benjamin writes and is already stated in the theoretical framework chapter above, photography and film are changing art and its reception through mechanical mass reproduction and the appeal of artworks to the masses (14). The reproduction of art and photography of art that gets uploaded on social media has been a big topic for quite some time. More and more art is digitised and accessible online, like for example with the online
Bavarian State Painting Collection. This raises the question of whether it is still necessary to visit the museum when you can see and read everything online. Do you lose visitors due to digitalisation, especially as access is available online? The Alte Pinakothek’s argument for digitisation is findability. “The more visible our collection is on the net, the more visible is where the pictures come from and where the originals are” (Westphal Alte Pinakothek). This opens the exhibition to a wider audience and on the other hand gives access to those who cannot visit the museum, be it due to financial reasons, geographical distance or health issues. The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam serves as a prime example and shows, that this kind of online reproduction works, argues Westphal. You can make a thousand reproductions but all of them will recur to the original. “Our claim remains: Experience originals. Because every image of it leads us to the original. In the long run, we would also like to create targeted educational programs for our online collection, such as the Rijksmuseum, for example, or the Met” (Westphal Alte Pinakothek). The Haus der Kunst stands behind the point of visibility that rises with online exhibitions, digitised art, and Instagram as well. “You might also reduce some thresholds for people who don't know what to expect and then might get the desire to visit and see the art. That outweighs the people who say I've seen it online, I don’t need to go to the museum anymore”, explains Christoph-Homberg when talking about the digitalisation of art and uploaded photography of artworks on Instagram. Constanze Lindner-Haigis sees it in a similar way. She says, that art on Instagram or at online collections offers a great possibility to inform yourself, do research and get information.
“I would claim to take the step into the museum and really stand in front of the originals is still very important for most people. That's a completely different experience again because I think it's also something to go into such a building with the consciousness to see art now and experience original sizes, see the colors, maybe see a real Picasso. That's what makes a visit to the museum so attractive and an online collection can't replace the museum” (Lindner-Haigis art historian).
Christoph-Homberg agrees with Lindner-Haigis statement. The physical experience of art, the visit to a museum, is still important for the young generation in her opinion. You cannot compare the experience of an online exhibition to a museum visit. She often goes through the Haus der Kunst and looks at the people, what they do, how they react to the artworks, and how they stand in reverence of the art and are enthusiastic. “It’s just about the certain
