ABSTRACT The rapidity with which images circulate across the Internet has multiplied their contexts of reception and patterns of interpretation. This poses some challenges for the work of the online curator who neither relies on the physical space of the art gallery nor on the photographic frame to designate context and fix meaning. However, it also presents the opportunity to test new conceptual tools for dealing with networked images’ inherent fluidity. This article proposes ‘online critical tracing’ as a reflexive method to begin charting, connecting and critically examining the unstable flow of networked images. The method develops from my tracing of a specific visual object – a T-shirt commercialised by the Swedish international retailer H&M patterned with the statement ‘this image is not available in your country’. Reflecting back on this experiment, I examine a number of implications that conditions of image circulation have for online curation, namely problems of commodification, interpretation and aesthetics. While attempting to situate this method theoretically, I highlight the challenges and possibilities it might open up for the curation of networked images.

中文翻译：

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追踪网络图像：一种新兴的在线策展方法

摘要 图像在互联网上传播的速度使它们的接受环境和解释模式成倍增加。这给在线策展人的工作带来了一些挑战，他们既不依赖艺术画廊的物理空间，也不依赖摄影框架来指定上下文和确定意义。然而，它也提供了测试用于处理网络图像固有流动性的新概念工具的机会。本文提出“在线批判性追踪”作为一种反思性方法来开始绘制、连接和批判性检查网络图像的不稳定流。该方法源于我对特定视觉对象的追踪——瑞典国际零售商 H&M 商业化的 T 恤，上面印有“此图像在您的国家/地区不可用”的声明。回顾这个实验，我研究了图像流通条件对在线策展的一些影响，即商品化、解释和美学问题。在尝试从理论上定位这种方法的同时，我强调了它可能为网络图像的管理带来的挑战和可能性。