«NOT SO» — media about artistic experiments of the 20th and 21st centuries that initially seemed like bad ideas, and what emerged from them.
Media objective
Present art history as a narrative of bold experimentation, teaching the audience to view works through inquiry rather than pre-conceived judgments.
What if an artist doesn’t create an object at all?
What if a photograph can be made without a camera?
What if randomness creates a poem?
What if the image is removed from a painting?
What if music consists of silence?
Media Themes
Segment — an educational and cultural art media platform
Niche Topic — We explore experimental artistic practices from the 20th and 21st centuries that defied traditional notions of the artwork, and we investigate what would happen if we reproduced them today using modern technologies and AI.
Core Disciplines:
— Dadaism
— ready-made
— Surrealism
— Avant-garde
— Conceptual Art
— Fluxus
— Performance
— Experimental Photography
— Generative Art
— Digital Art
— AI Art
Competitors
1. Artsy — an online media platform dedicated to contemporary art: artists, exhibitions, movements, works, and educational resources.2. Smarthistory — a major educational resource for art history, featuring videos, articles, courses, and thematic guides.3. Great Art Explained — a YouTube channel that centers each episode on a single artwork, explaining it in accessible language.4. Garage — a modern art museum with an educational and research program, an archive, and extensive materials covering 20th and 21st-century contemporary art.
How «NOT SO» differs from direct competitors:
The experiment, rather than the artist or the artwork, is the primary focus of the content. The structure follows a progression: experiment $\rightarrow$ rule breaking $\rightarrow$ reaction $\rightarrow$ consequences. Furthermore, the content itself is provocative rather than academic. The emphasis is not on telling a story, but on posing the question, «What happens if you break this rule?»
- The Art Newspaper Russia — a professional art media outlet that covers artists, exhibitions, museums, institutions, and the processes within the art world.
Despite similar themes with an indirect competitor and a shared cultural audience, The Art Newspaper Russia is based on news and professional art journalism, not the popularization of artistic experimentation.
Distribution Channel
Telegram — a channel with thematic sections and polls.
Topics
1. Failed Experiment
The Story of a Provocative Art Experiment:«He exhibited a urinal. And called it art.»«He took a photograph without a camera.»«They wrote a poem by accident.»
2. What if?
We take a historical experiment and transpose it into the 21st century:Marcel Duchamp: readymadeAI: propose 10 readymades for the museum of the future.
3. Human vs. AI
Humans and AI are repeating the same artistic experiment:Dadaist method of random poetry: human vs. AI.The audience decides which result is more compelling.
Is this art?
Presenting a controversial object or practice:a urinal;
an empty gallery;
an instruction instead of a piece;
a spontaneously generated composition;
AI-generated artwork.The class answers yes / no regarding whether they consider it art.
5. How did they come up with it?
Analyzing what problem existed in art, why the artist decided to violate it, and what experiment they devised.
Alumni Spotlight
1. The Rule:The artist must create the work themselves.2. The Artist Breaks the Rule:Duchamp takes a ready-made object.3. The Conflict Arises:«That is not art!»4. The Experiment:What happens if an object becomes a work of art through the artist’s selection and context?5. The Consequences:How did this change the perception of authorship and the artwork.6. The Experiment Today:What if, instead of choosing an artist, we select an object and ask an AI?7. Audience Question:«Is this art?»