The New Imagineers in Virtual Dynamics: Art Moves on Tourist Architecture

The New Imagineers in Virtual Dynamics: Art Moves on Tourist Architecture内容摘要：

The New Imagineers in Virtual Dynamics: Art Moves on Tourist Architecture By Rosalinda Ruiz-Scarfuto, Kristina Svels and Robert Gutounig Artistic creations based on the collective memory and integrated into architecture (Sutton: 2015), not only attract tourists but serve as departure points of reference (virtual and real). Art as the base of the designs of architecture, especially sculpture can be traced back in ages and continents but the modern age reflects its influence in such movements as Bauhaus (Moholy-Nagy: 2012). Architects convert their thoughts into construction and parallel artists as Barry A. Berkus (2000) notes: “I have been intrigued by how we make associations and translate them into visual expressions...In modern architecture it has been said that form should always follow function, but sometimes it is more interesting when form follows fantasy.” However, in a technological society, the new imagineers form a part of a feedback loop or circular causality. Public participation in tourism stems from the spectator's interaction with the attraction or object known as the “tourist gaze” (Urry: 1990) that seems to have evolved into a virtual reality. Staged authenticity (MacCannell: 1973), whether in cultural heritage or other tourist attractions, enters into the architecture of tourism with links to artistic design in rural and urban settings and played out in virtual worlds. For example in London with Harry Potter’s 9 ¾ platform in Kings Cross Station, in Kamakura, Japan with the Buddha or in Mount Rushmore with former US president sculptures (Instagram: 2016). Don Quixote symbols found worldwide created a virtual network (flickr.com: 2016). Given people appropriate cultural artifacts in many ways these pictures can be analyzed following Lev Manovich’s approach (Manovich: 2016; Manovich, Yazdani, Tifentale & Chow: 2014) for cultural tourism analysis. Due to the fact that more people can participate in the discourse online, forms of circular causality are on the rise (Gutounig & Unterberger: 2015). In the digital society, knowledge processes and democratic processes are becoming increasingly interwoven. Also tourists are engaging in a more creative relationship with cultural artifacts through taking pictures, putting them online, using hashtags, sharing and commenting on them. Also assessment and evaluation of tourism sites have become part of the visitors’ experience by using social media (Nayak and Luger: 2016). These phenomena could be also be interpreted within the theory of self organization (TSO) i.e. the transition to “emergentism instead of (classical) determinism” (Götschl: 2005, 127). By analysing web phenomena we look at the convergence between the Internet (science) and the social dynamics (humanities) with the structural view of TSO. Photo sharing (experiences) can be regarded as a phenomenon of self organization in dynamic networks. The emerging network of pictures related to these artistic creations forms a virtual sphere on top of the real world artefacts (an additional ontological layer). Combined, these artistic focal points are an added value that enhance visitor interaction in created tourism worlds (virtual or real) considering the integrated path of social participation via social media for new imagineers to emerge organically and impact architecture. 1 References: 1. Berkus, B. (2000). Architecture/Art/Parallels/Connections. Images Publishing 2. Götschl, J. (2005). “Self-Organization: Epistemological and Methodological Aspects of the Unity of Reality.” In Luigi Cuccurullo and Ezio Mariani (Eds.), Contesti e Validità del Discorso Scientifico, 107–34. Roma: Armando. 3. Gutounig, R., & Unterberger, U. (2015). Conceptualizing Web Philosophy: Humanities and the Analysis of the Digital Society. The International Journal of Critical Cultural Studies, 13(3), 23–32. 4. MacCannell, D. (1973). Staged Authenticity: Arrangements of Social Space in Tourism Settings. American Journal of Sociology, 79(3), 589–603. 5. Manovich, L. (2016). Instagrammism and the mechanisms of contemporary cultural identity. Available at: http://manovich.net/index.php/projects/notes-on-instagrammismand-mechanisms-of-contemporary-cultural-identity 6. Manovich, L. et al. (2014). The Exceptional and the Everyday: 144 Hours in Kiev. Available at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2zp_-wC_PSzXzZzeDRaS0tpdUU/view 7. Moholy-Nagy, L. (2012). The New Vision: Fundamentals of Bauhaus Design, Painting, Sculpture, and Architectur