Exploring Art through Internet Aesthetics

Digital cultural heritage (CH) platforms largely replicate the search paradigms of web engines, privileging precise retrieval over exploratory engagement. This presents a challenge for casual visitors, who often approach art collections with curiosity rather than specific queries. We present Sensing a Vibe, a demo system that replaces the traditional search box with browsing through Internet Aesthetics—user-generated, affective categories (e.g., Cottagecore, Dark Academia) reflecting contemporary cultural literacies. The system operationalizes aesthetic-based exploration, as is demonstrated through interactive user scenarios and preliminary usability findings, illustrating how alternative organizational logics can support serendipitous discovery and engagement in CH collections.