"I Have to Dwell in Your Mind" The Role of Digital Communication in Spanish Digital Arts Festivals
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Abstract
Since the 1990s, Digital Arts Festivals (DAFs) have been one of the most booming cultural formats dedicated to debate and artistic practice around the intersection of science-art-technology, electronic music and emerging aesthetics in the arts. Although DAFs constitute a vital platform for interdisciplinary dialogue between artists, creators, practitioners, academics and the general public, they have barely been analysed. Using a qualitative approach and multisite fieldwork developed between January 2021 and November 2022, based on semi-structured interviews, participant observation and structured documentation, I explore the notion of festivalscape by integrating the communication and digital marketing practices that these festivals undertake. Through three case studies––the Spanish festivals LEV, MIRA and MMMAD––I expose how these festivals communicate, by analyzing how these practices determine the configuration of identity and authenticity, and how they affect the working rhythms and careers of professionals and creators in the sector.