On-Site/Off-Site is a one-year research project focused on how digital technologies might impact contemporary art commissioning in the heritage sector. It seeks to address two key issues: 

 

- the long-term legacy of, and access to, temporary site-specific commissions

 

- the potential of digital space for audience development within the heritage sector. 

 

Working with the National Trust's historic property and collection at Cherryburn, the birthplace of Thomas Bewick, and project partner The Bewick Society, our work falls into two strands: digital re-presentation, and new digital art commissioning. 

 

We are working with the artists Mark Fairnington and Marcus Coates to re-interpret public artworks they created at Cherryburn in 2018-19 as part of an earlier research project 'Mapping Contemporary Art in the Heritage Experience'. The artists are re-visiting these artworks to create digitally accessible versions and we are interested in how, beyond documentation of the original artworks, this might offer an experience to an on-line audience and preserve a legacy for the artwork.

 

 

We are working with The Bewick Society and National Trust to create two new digital-first artworks - by artists Hanna Tuulikki and Ruth Ewan - which seek to demonstrate an alternative commissioning and dissemination approach. We are interested in how different types of work might help to develop different audiences, and the opportunities they might offer particularly small or seasonal heritage sites to broaden their activity and enhance their visibility. 

 

Our four new digital artworks will be launched on this website in Autumn/Winter 2023.

 

As well as producing a report of our findings, the learning from this project will also be shared at an online project symposium taking place in January 2024, delivered with our partner Arts&Heritage.

 

On-Site/Off-Site is funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council, and developed and delivered by Newcastle University in partnership with project partners the National Trust, The Bewick Society and Arts&Heritage. The artists involved are Marcus Coates, Mark Fairnington, Hanna Tuulikki and Ruth Ewan, with digital producers Mnemoscene working with Mark Fairnington.