Beyond Instagram: Curating Galleries that Tell Stories
Why does going to an art gallery or museum feel so much different than seeing the same quality of pictures on Instagram?
It could be that a gallery is a special place with a dedicated purpose. That certainly plays a role, but it has far more to do with the way that images are carefully curated.
Most of us consume and showcase our art and photography in singles — one-off images. We’ll call it the Instagram effect. Rather than telling a story through a series of images, we share our most impressive, highest impact images, often in real time.
Here’s a quick look at an image in our Instagram feed:
The photographer, sureshnaganathan, has uploaded a series of images (9 actually) to a single post, but Instagram only shows us one. We have to swipe back and forth to see the other images, and there’s no way to see them in context, together. This makes it difficult to understand how one image relates to the next.
Clicking into the photographer’s profile is no better. We still just see a series of images, not a story.
We’ve got no problem with Instagram. Our team finds inspiration there every day. But it isn’t an ideal way to share or view art in a way that encourages contemplation.
But we also think it’s really worthwhile go beyond what’s possible in Instagram and arrange your work in a way that tells a story. (And we’re creating an app that lets you do just that. Scroll to the end of this article for more details.)
Five Resources to help you Master the Art of Storytelling through Curation
The idea of curating art or arranging your works into galleries can seem daunting. So we’ve put together several free articles, resources and inspiring stories to help you get started with confidence.
Clever Ways To Arrange Artwork
While intended for home decorating, this article covers eight ways to display artwork, including linear, grid, clustered, salon style and singles. It’s not only a good introduction, it also includes images that can serve as inspiration.
The designer’s guide to Gestalt Theory
Ge- what? Allow me to quote from the article:
In the 1920s, a group of psychologists in Germany developed a series of theories of visual perception known as the Gestalt Principles, or Gestalt Theory. Along with systems such as grid theory, the Golden Ratio and colour theory, the Gestalt Principles form the basis of many design rules we follow today.
A basic understanding of the six Gestalt principles (similarity, continuation, closure, proximity, figure/ground, symmetry and order), will help you arrange your artworks so they look like part of a set, rather than a random collection.
Bonus Articles from Creative Bloq:
10 steps to curating an exhibition
In this lengthy post, the curator for politics and international relations at LSE Library explains his entire process of putting together an exhibition on Indian independence. He not only covers what to put where, but also how he chose what went into the exhibit in the first place.
The article may be overkill if you’re just curating an online photo gallery, but it reminds us that the more thought you put into an endeavor, the better the results will be.
How to Curate an Art Show
This step-by-step guide reminds of the importance of having a clear concept, and considering your audience, but also ensures we don’t forget about some of the less considered parts of hosting a gallery show… like sending invitations to your friends and to the press. (We’ll make that a lot easier in D Emptyspace, letting you invite people to your gallery online.)
D Emptyspace
We’re launching D Emptyspace very soon. It’s an app that allows you to create and explore inspiring virtual art galleries on your phone. More than just photo sharing, it’s a way to tell stories with your artwork.
Whether you want to curate an offline gallery and test the placement of your images first, send a specific arrangement to a curator, or create online galleries to share with your friends, D Emptyspace makes everything free and easy.
