Tate

James Davis, Tate, London

http://www.tate.org.uk/collection

Abstract

Suppose three people need something. One is bored and needs inspiration, another is focused and needs concentration, a third is curious and needs information. How could their needs be met? Is it possible to make a single thing that could help them all? Would it be a tool, a system, an application, a service, an environment? This paper describes attempts to imagine this problem, to invent a solution, and to try to build it. The context is that of Tate, a family of British art galleries, and the means by which to deliver artwork information, concentrated study, artistic inspiration, and much that is in between, online.

Keywords: art, Tate, gallery, collections, databases, interfaces