What is Digital Art?

Summary

This video explores the world of digital art, highlighting its evolution and increasing recognition in galleries and museums. It covers key exhibitions like Digital Revolution and features innovative works such as the Pinocchio Lamp and Chris Milk's 'Treachery of the Sanctuary.' The rise of online platforms like 'The Creators Project' and 'The Space' is also discussed, showing how digital art has democratized access for artists worldwide. The video emphasizes how data is used as a creative medium, allowing artists to challenge traditional notions of truth and artistic creation, and explores the thriving digital art community.

Takeaways

• 😀 Digital art refers to art created in the digital age, leveraging technology as a medium.
• 😀 The exploration of digital art's materiality has become a significant focus for artists today.
• 😀 Although digital art has existed since the 1950s, it has gained more attention in recent years from museums and galleries.
• 😀 Major institutions like the V&A, Tate, and Barbican have recently hosted significant digital art exhibitions.
• 😀 The 2014 Barbican exhibition 'Digital Revolution' showcased digital creativity across arts, design, film, music, and video games.
• 😀 The Pinocchio Lamp from the 'Digital Revolution' exhibition represents how objects can engage and connect with people through technology.
• 😀 Chris Milk’s 'Treachery of the Sanctuary' uses technology to allow visitors to interact with their own shadows, blending digital art with user engagement.
• 😀 15 Folds is an online digital art gallery that invites artists to create GIFs based on monthly themes, fostering a global digital art community.
• 😀 Digital artists see data as their primary material, allowing them to explore new forms of creativity, such as creating live drawings with news headlines.
• 😀 Platforms like 'The Creators Project' and 'The Space' provide valuable spaces for showcasing and commissioning digital art, making it more accessible to artists worldwide.

Q & A

What is digital art?

Digital art is art created using digital tools and technologies. It involves the use of data and the possibilities of digital media, such as design, film, music, and video games, to create artwork.

How long has digital art been around?

Digital art has been around since the 1950s, but it wasn't until more recently that museums and galleries began to take it seriously as a subject matter.

What has contributed to the growing recognition of digital art in the last decade?

In the last 10 years, many venues around the world, including major museums like the V&A and the Tate, have started showcasing digital art. This has led to a growing recognition of the importance and relevance of digital art in contemporary culture.

What was the Digital Revolution exhibition at the Barbican?

The Digital Revolution exhibition at the Barbican in 2014 was a major event that explored digital creativity across various fields, including arts, design, film, music, and video games, providing a historical context for these forms of digital expression.

What is the significance of the Pinocchio Lamp in the Digital Revolution exhibition?

The Pinocchio Lamp was a key highlight in the exhibition, as it demonstrated how objects can have interactive and engaging qualities. Using camera-based technology, it could recognize gestures and facial expressions, blending design and technology in an artistic context.

What is Chris Milk’s Treachery of the Sanctuary?

Chris Milk's Treachery of the Sanctuary is a three-screen narrative artwork that uses Kinect camera technology to allow viewers to interact with their own shadows, creating an immersive and participatory experience.

What is 15 Folds, and how does it showcase digital art?

15 Folds is a digital art gallery that invites 15 artists every month to create work based on a specific theme, often in the form of a gif. The platform provides a space for artists worldwide to share their digital art, which is often not widely showcased in traditional galleries.

What is the role of data in contemporary digital art?

For many artists working in digital media, data is considered the primary material. Artists experiment with using data in new and innovative ways, such as drawing with live news headlines or creating automatic animations using real-time information.

What is Decorative News Feed, and how does it engage with news?

Decorative News Feed is an artwork that automatically generates drawings based on syndicated news headlines using RSS feeds. It explores how the presentation of news as truth can be manipulated and engages viewers by combining different headlines to provoke thought about media representation.

What digital platforms support the growth of digital art?

Platforms like 'The Creators Project' (a collaboration between Intel and Vice) and 'The Space' provide artists with a platform to showcase new commissions in the digital domain. These platforms are vital for young artists to find an audience and collaborate within a digital space.

How has the rise of blogging impacted digital artists?

Blog culture has played a significant role in the rise of digital art. Artists can now easily share their work online through blogs, gaining followers and immediate feedback. This accessibility has fostered a sense of community and collaboration among digital artists worldwide.

How has the notion of the 'struggling artist' changed in the digital age?

The traditional notion of the 'struggling artist' working in isolation has shifted. Digital artists now have the opportunity to share their work instantly with a global audience, engage with communities online, and receive immediate responses, making the process more interactive and less solitary.