I read about an organization called CHArt (Computers and the History of Art) that is having its 25th annual conference on the subject "Object and Identity in a Digital Age" the 12 and 13 November, Birkbeck, University of London.

So, I guess I'm not the only one thinking about these issues...

"This year's CHArt conference engages with the idea of object and identity in relation to art practice, production, consumption, representation and display. The conference will explore new notions of the identity of the artist, including those involving collaboration and anonymity; new conceptions and ontologies of the art object, as processual, virtual, or hybrid; new means of consumption and reception, whether in galleries and museums, in public spaces, or over networks of broadcast and narrowcast; and the challenges these transformations bring to the display of art and to its curation and access." (copied and pasted from the organization's website http://www.chart.ac.uk/ ).

Some subjects and speakers that seem interesting and relevant:
Curation as High-Level Programming, Gabriel Menotti, Goldsmiths, University of London.
Making Connections: Children, Objects, Meanings and Museums, Helena Tomlin and Irit Narkiss, The Manchester Museum.
Re-Materialisation of the Art Object, Dew Harrison, University of Wolverhampton.
Puppeteers, Performers or Avatars: A Perceptual Difference in Telematic Space, Paul Sermon, University of Salford.
The Work of Art in the Age of Virtual Production, Andrew Sempere, IBM Watson Research.
The Creative Use of Online Social Networking Sites to Increase Public Engagement and Participation in the Professional Arts Through Collaborative Involvement in Creative Practice, Sophy Smith, De Montfort University, Leicester.

Okay, I'm gonna stop there before I get carried away and end up in London next month.... but these are all really interesting angles from which to view the issues I've already begun to delve into with this lil' blog....