In recent years the role of embodiment in art perception and creation has become more apparent. Several scholarly contributions, from Merleau Ponty’s “Eye and Mind” (1991), to Varela’s et al. “The Embodied Mind” (1991) and Lakoff’s “Philosophy of the Flesh” (1999), have provided the theoretical framework needed for experimental curatorial initiatives. Moreover, art criticism has undergone a “sensory turn”, with an ever-increasing number of studies dedicated to the consideration of art’s multisensory nature. Bacci and Melcher’s “Art and the Senses” (2011) captured the multidisciplinary scope and width of this phenomenon. This paper will present three case studies which tackled long-standing art historical questions through advanced digital curatorial work. The exhibitions “Sounds for Seeing” (Bolzano, Italy), “In Resonance” (Mart Museum, Rovereto, Italy) and “Touch and Collect” (Harvard Art Museum, Cambridge), will provide a clear methodological example of how it is possible to deploy interdisciplinary methodologies for the fruitful exploration of new curatorial paradigms.
Francesca Bacci is Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Tampa, with interdisciplinary research interests in museum and visual studies, cognitive science and digital technology, and Modern to Contemporary European Art. She completed her Ph.D. in History of Art, as well as a Curatorial Certificate, as a Fulbright Fellow at Rutgers University (USA).
Bacci worked as curator with: MART museum (Rovereto), Guggenheim Museum, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Centre Pompidou, the Musée Rodin, and Courtauld Institute of Art. She co-edited “Art and the Senses” (Oxford University Press, 2011 and 2013). Her latest book and exhibition project trace the history of misogyny in art.