Page 44 - AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report 2016

44international contemporary art fair ARCO Madrid has been paying to digital art (somewhat inconsistently) for the past decade or so, devoting a speci c space to it between 1998and 2009.31 Although limited, this inclusion of digital art in the art fair has been received with scepticism by artists and specialised gallerists alike, who believe that the ‘Black Box’ into which new media works were grouped has hada somewhat negative e ect.32 The contradiction of giving visibility to this kind of art and at the same time relegating it to a separate space, distinct from that of contemporary artworks,is pointed out by the artists interviewed, who regard positively the fact that sections of this kind are included in art fairs but see no need to establish dividing lines, as ultimately they donot facilitate its incorporation into the market. Indeed, some of the younger artists, such as César Escudero33 and Mario Santamaría,34 admit to not knowing about spaces of this kind at art fairs and are more interested in the festivals circuit or the possibilities of disseminating their work online.Digital art festivals and exhibitions at museums and art centres continue to be these artists’ favourite environments for showing their work [Fig. 8]. As stated earlier, most of them have taken part in, or won prizes at, various festivals, among them the prestigious Ars Electronica. Nevertheless, this festival is criticised by some of them, who feel it is no longer an interesting showcase for new media art. The festivals circuit provides the greatest visibility, yet at the same time it con nes artists’ work to a eld that is largely ignored by the art market. This is happening at a time when cultural institutions’ funding has drastically fallen, damaging the fabric of the communities and creative spaces that used to support the production of new media art. Jaime de los Ríos remarks that ‘it’s curious how in just a few years we’ve lost so many open production spaces, so many artists that we don’t know where they work [...]. For example, I remember the team at Lummo, with Mar Canet related to Medialab, Arteklab withArteleku, Noish and Minipimer with Hangar’. Canet himself underlines this country’s creative potential and the separation between the di erent sectors: ‘Spain is a digital art power and would be even more visible if there were more nancial assistance. [...] Artists who show their work in museums are often totally unknown to gallerists, and vice-versa. The playgrounds are quite separate.’THE ART MARKET IN THE AGE OF ACCESS · PAU WAELDERFIG.8: Varvara Guljajeva and Mar Canet, Wishing Wall (2014). Interactive installation presented at the exhibition Digital Revolution, The Barbican Centre, London. Photo: Andrew Meredith. Courtesy of Google DevArt and the artists.Therefore, the situation faced by artists can be summed up as: should I carry on showing my work in exhibitions, with less visibility and involvement in the art market, or should I adapt my works to galleries’ requirements in the hopeSmart Culture: Impact of the Internet on Artistic Creation