digital landscape

self portrait

Images of the dark side of life

What is the difference between using digital technologies as a too versus a medium?

Using digital technologies as a tool  enables you to use some forms of computers and their technology to arrive at you final output. Animators  and film makers use the digital process to help them with special effects or to generate computer drawn characters instead of having to do this the conventional way of drawing things or actually make them out of materials such as plaster or plastic or something of the like. Fine artists such as sculptors may use the computer to generate a blue print , if you will, of the final product they are to sculpt. Also car makers and architects use blue prints generated from computers of the final products they are to produce. There are many ways the digital format can be used as a tool versus the Medium.

When you use the digital world as the Medium of the output for the work of art it is very different than using it as a tool in the fact that the whole work of art is generated and viewed on the digital format. Video games, perfect example this does not leave or can be utilized other than in the digital format it was intended for. Interactive forms of digital art is another example, installations intended for the computer. An example of this is the work by Nick Crowe Discreet Packets 2000,this combines film with the language of web browser. This is meant to be viewed solely on the computer. This media is also becoming more interactive with the viewer to were the person can be a part of the piece in navigation and control of the spacial aspects of navigation though the piece.

The difference between the use of tool and the medium can sometimes be discreet however it is always underlying.

this is a meld betreen a karl denson video and the overdose scene from pulp fiction

What are the major themes in digital art and why?

The major themes in digital art are, artificial life and intelligence; telepresence and telerobotics; database aesthetics, mapping and data visualization; activism and tactical media; and gaming and narrative hypermedia environments.

Artificial life and intellegence is a subject that dates back  the early sci fi topics of the 1900’s this is what i feel a given topic , just perfect for the digital realm to explore in reality what the for fathers could just dream up. We have the technology to actually do. Computers and science have put this in our lap to make reality. Dream up fictional characters and give the our own personalities and make them think for themselves.

Telepresence and telerobotics come through the telecommunication technologies and with the digital age has given it the infinite possibilities for communication all over the world at once. Communication with the whole and reaching all the viewers visually and communicating also. Telerobotics is the manipulation of a robot or robotic installation over the internet. This is mostly used in science in the use of surgeries and other applications. This can also be used in the art world also such as Ken Goldberg and Joseph Santarromana’s Telegarden 1995-present, where the public , with the use of a computer can nurture and grow actual plants in a far away garden.

Data base aethetics  makes light that databases are not of the visual and graspable world of the norm. Artists have used this to make works of art that make computer code if you will a visible aspect that one can in turn make visual sense of what other wise  lurking in the distance.

Activism and tactical media, oh do we not only see this every day we might be immune to it. With all the media today about war the sate of the world and so on who doesn’t encounter this. With everyone having a personal computer out there it is very easy for everyone to voice their opinions in more way than one. Artists have the tool to be political and edgy and everyone can see.

Gaming by far is the largest subject for digital media, all the kids wan to be in a different world and the gaming industry offers them this opportunity. Games are so advanced that you can actually physically go through the motions of lets say bowling, you are physically acting like you are bowling but the bowling lanes are on the television. That’s what telerobotics can do when mixed with gaming. Virtual worlds provide the viewer and escape from the real world.

draft one for not art?

This was designed in power point using their background choices and different fonts with the letters rotated so somewhat resemble a foreign mark or letters.
not art? by Amy Macha is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

How does digital art/new media relate to or impact different aspects of out western culture?

Well digital art/new media impact our lives in various ways. One way is that digital art is everywhere somewhat making us immune to the response to it. The web is in almost everyone’s life on a daily bases. Today children are put in front of video games as babysitters, so at a very young age they are infiltrated into the world of digital art. The advertisers have take over the Internet so every time you go to Google or Yahoo their adds pop up everywhere. 

Also it is relatively easy to view digital art from your own living room instead of having to travel to the nearest museum, however the museums are showing more digital installations. This form of showing art can be very interactive with the viewer playing a large role in the manipulation of the different pieces, video gaming is a very good example of this.

Most of the Graphic design produced by designers today are done on the computer from picture manipulation to typesetting magazines. Not only do the designers use digital media as a tool they also work solely in the digital realm. There is a lot of images that can be gathered of the web them manipulated into you own work of art. Advertising as a big one to use others work to sell their own product they especially do this with music and most commercials use the digital world to produce their product in one for or another. Animation has grown into a big digital affair of late. the most interesting thing I have seen was the digital artist using the lions in London square to animate then to generate shoppers and tourists by making them speak when the sun goes down.

Video games are in a world of their own somewhat like the children and adults them play them obsessively. A lot of  art and designs go into the final product along with sound and music. This is an art form that requires the player interaction. Through your interaction you are thrust into imaginary world that do no exist in the reality of like even though some people get confused or obsessed and can not tell the boundaries are there.

It would be safe to say that digital art and new media is absolutely everywhere in our society today, from the traditional museums to our televisions to our personal computers and lets not forget the gaming machines almost every house hold owns.