The simple fact that physical and online galleries have totally different modes of presentation is impossible to deny; often contained within a single, rectilinear room, "white cube" galleries, with their high-monied patrons and cordoned-off curations, often evoke ideas of art-world exclusivity. Online galleries, on the other hand, typically present artworks in a thumbnail grid, slideshow, or on an infinite scrolling page, but generally lack the substantiality and depth of their physical counterparts; flattened onto 2D screens, these are restrictions that the online viewer has grown to accept, and that many artists have learned to work within.
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Manuel Palou and Moises Sanabria, the duo known as Art404 (aka Art Not Found), have seemingly bridged this gap, creating a link between physical galleries and their online counterparts. Gallery404 is a browser-based gallery space where the first-person "player" can explore a three-dimensional gallery filled with iconic artworks. The show currently on display is entitled The Classics, and features pieces by big-money art powerhouses including Andy Warhol, Constantin Brancusi, Jeff Koons, and Barbara Kruger.
These online renditions, however, are very different from their original versions; Koons’ Balloon Dog sculpture stands in a corner, but rather than staying in place (as the heavy stainless steel dog normally does), expands and contracts like a real balloon animal.Kruger’s Belief+Doubt is transformed from a large installation into a GIF-like piece, flashing various words in quick succession. This re-contextualization presents an interesting duality that synchronizes the works themselves with the endlessly-morphing capacities of web technology. These are new works, in a new space, under the guise of older masterworks.
Whether this is a stepping-stone for the future of art display or simply a commentary on how we view art, Gallery 404 allows a level of interactivity often absent from online galleries. Is this how we'll begin seeing all our digital art? Maybe not— but it's definitely a step in a new direction.
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