Abstract:

This study discusses the process of designing and implementing a structured data model that aims to organize and distribute information related to contemporary audiovisual art events to the wider academic audience, for research and educational purposes. The proposed data model, named ArtData Model, is designed on the basis of popular existing metadata schemas and ontologies and caters to the specific needs of audiovisual content. The model’s practical implementation in the process of extracting data on audiovisual events from the Web and disseminating them through an application programming interface (API) is discussed, with emphasis on potential uses of the aggregated information in research projects in the fields of art and media communications, as well as educational initiatives concerning audiovisual literacy.

The ArtData Model, detailed in this study, has been developed within the framework of the ArtData project. The ArtData project aims to investigate the outreach and cultural impact of contemporary audiovisual art events in Greece, as expressed through the events’ presence on informational media outlets on the World Wide Web. During the course of the project, a large amount of media publications are extracted from the Web and the information they contain is structured and recorded using the ArtData Model. The model’s data include a title and detailed description of the event, information about their temporal and spatial characteristics, classification based on multiple aspects of their nature including their subject matter, information about the people involved and more. In order to populate the data model with diverse information from an large variety of websites, the system makes use of Generative Artificial Intelligence algorithms as well as Semantic Web technologies.

The sum of collected information constitutes a robust dataset concerning contemporary audiovisual art events, which is then openly disseminated both through a digital repository in the form of a Web application and through a specifically designed API. The digital repository utilizes a user-centric design to create an optimal User Experience (UX) for visitors, while the API focuses on providing large amounts of data in a manner that is easily readable by software. The API is based on the principles of Representational State Transfer (REST) and provides all information using the JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format, thus adhering to popular Web standards.

This study focuses on the thought process behind the design decisions that lead to the ArtData Model as well as the challenges of its implementation for both its use in the digital repository’s relational database and the project’s API. The data ultimately communicated through the use of the ArtData model is openly available to both end-users and developers and can be used not only as the basis for data-driven research in the fields of audiovisual arts and media communications, but also as a useful tool for the promotion of audiovisual literacy in an educational context.

Keywords:

Data Modeling, Semantic Web, Audiovisual Literacy, Application Programming Interfaces, Audiovisual Art, Digital Media.