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The digital revolution is a boon for artists and art lovers
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No matter how touchy-feely the business of art buying may be, the web has made it easier for the initiated and not necessarily erudite, to take a peek into the so-called hi-art and get on with the business of buying and selling, never mind physical distance
The Internet — the ultra fast information highway that took off in the last quarter of the previous century — is the new information devta. It is a situation totally different from the time when the audio-visual media seemed to `threaten' newspapers. The fact is that while fleeting images on television may have made definite inroads into our homes with their so-called exclusive footage of news or views on as-is where-is basis, newspapers continue to remain the one-stop shop for both information and entertainment. The value of the printed word far outweighs the images. And the Internet is exactly that — a validation of the printed word combined with the best of visual imagery.
It is this that has perhaps impelled a revolution of sorts in the art world. Art sites all over the virtual and the real world reach out to those on the information highway to share the oldest and the latest on the arts scene at the click of a mouse.
Be it music, dance, theatre, painting, culture or heritage, the Internet has demolished the existing structure of one-way communication a la newspaper or television, by providing the option of almost instant two-way communication.
The saviour
In a scenario where space for the arts in the media is shrinking, the net is the saviour of sorts, promising hope for a closer fraternity for the arts globally. It is far more valuable than it seems on the surface. The web as a virtual art gallery for instance, puts the provider or seller of the art - be it the artist or the gallery - and the buyer in a situation of comfort of interaction, physical distance notwithstanding. A gallery that puts its collection on the web makes it that much simpler to reach out to a clientele that is far more global.
Personalised music!
But the area where the web has revolutionised the scene completely is music. The sheer array of music that is accessible to even the not-so-net-savvy is mind-boggling! It is possible to download and create your personalised selection in virtually any form.
Institutions like All India Radio, Doordarshan, the Sangeet Natak Akademi and the ICCR among others, which are repositories of some extremely rare footage and soundtracks, are in the process of completely digitising the entire collections of their recordings. The process was started by DD and AIR marketing a few select CDs. But considering the sheer number of outstanding recordings available in their archives, it is not going to be a practical proposition. The web is the only viable answer.
The situation vis-à-vis other performing arts like dance and theatre is similar. Dance recordings of contemporary performers and digitised versions of plays from the National School of Drama and even amateur theatre groups which make recordings only for archival reasons or mere record purposes will perhaps find that having slightly better quality recordings and then putting them on sale on their sites will encourage viewers. Initially there may not be a deluge of buyers, but it will serve an important historical purpose. After all, everything needn't be market driven. And also, issues like copyright and legal ownership must be addressed to make the web a viable and potent vehicle for the arts.
However, it might be interesting to remember that a recent survey has revealed shoppers who are trying to decide online what to buy, take on an average 19 hours to decide.
And shopping cart abandonment is actually a habitual part of many consumers' behaviour. But instead of seeing that as a disadvantage, it needs to be viewed as a convenient window-shopping tool. Saved search functionality, where returning purchasers can easily pick up where they left off is critical to turning window-shopping into an actual sale. Of course, needless to say, sites need to be safe and inspire confidence for the online shopper.
ALKA RAGHUVANSHI
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