Robin Good

CFC: What advice would you give to aspiring curators just starting their careers?

JA: I would say: cultivate a practice rooted in curiosity, listening, and long-term commitment. Curating is not only about articulating ideas, it is about building the conditions for others to create, experiment, and be heard. This requires patience, care, and the... See more

In a world of perpetual data overload, [curation] implies information design and selectivity: the channeling, filtering, and organization into intelligible and usable information; the digging up of new or long ignored cultural corpora. Most of these corpora are simply sitting in storage: less than 1% of the Smithsonian Institution’s permanent... See more

Stop searching for something new.

Organize and add value to what is already there.

Then there’s curation theater.

Posting endless ‘favorite reads’ lists composed entirely of current bestsellers. Ticks the boxes, but doesn’t quite reveal taste. Reposting LinkedIn hot takes, adding cute hashtags but not really contributing much commentary

The curator of the digital world is positioned as mediator and tastemaker, using content created elsewhere as raw material for the making of meaning.

From Attention to Appreciation

In an era of AI-driven automated creation, true rarity lies in the meaning behind content and in our ability to discern what truly deserves to be seen, read, or experienced. The culture of abundance calls for an ethic of the eye—a deliberate, mindful way of seeing that values depth over distraction

References

Ahn, A. (2013). “You are not a curator”. Bullett. Consulted February 4, 2013. http://bullettmedia.com/article/you-are-not-a-curator/

Arnold, K. (2006). Cabinets for the curious: Looking back at early English museums . Hants & Burlington, Ashgate Publishing.

Belk, R. (2013). Collecting in a consumer society . Abingdon, Oxfordshire, & New... See more