As a means of bringing masterpieces to the masses, Google’s Art Project – launched on the 1st February – is a great idea…
Gathering 17 major galleries from around the globe, ranging from Moscow’s State Tretyakov Museum to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence via our own Tate Britain, the Art Project allows visitors to peruse some of the world’s most famous and technically brilliant works of art from the comfort of their living room.
From a brand perspective, however, I can’t help but wonder whether the Art Project is devaluing the establishments it seeks to popularise.
In an era of intense competition for audience attention, galleries are increasingly presenting themselves as branded businesses with distinct personalities rather than as sacred houses of art. As such, they are seeking to diversify their offering with more mass-appeal activities.
Here, the intention is to tempt Google users into becoming gallery visitors, but is it not more probable that those to whom this will appeal will already be regularly engaging with the arts? Surely if you have no interest in paintings, it is unlikely that you would spend your afternoon browsing Rembrandts in St Petersburg just because your search engine offers the facility to do so.
Just another place to see another star?
The simple problem here is that nothing can beat the experience of walking through the Uffizi, surrounded by some of Italy’s most accomplished works of art, and staring at the intricate detail in Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus, knowing that you are as close to the genius of the master as you will ever be.
Scrolling in on a computer screen just isn’t the same and to pretend that it comes anywhere close negates the distinct brand personality of each individual institution.
New York’s MoMA, for instance, provides a very different customer experience than, say, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but that is lost in this generic format. On their own websites, both provide extensive digital resources as part of their customer experience and works are explored in greater detail. This means that, alongside being part of the Art Project, they are simultaneously doing the job themselves to a higher standard.
Of course, any attempt to expand the art world’s audience is worthwhile, but Google’s Art Project isn’t doing the galleries it represents justice. These are bite-size pieces of a much fuller experience, and should be taken as such.