Artists have always sought new art forms and new mediums. They push the envelope in efforts to display their creativity and principles, introducing new materials, new movements, and new forms. It is, therefore, no surprise that technology is impacting the art world in a very big way.
Technology is not challenging but enabling the way in which art is created and shared. Artists now have an expanded access to new audiences who were before not part of the “art world.” But these creatives are not only using technology for the sole purpose of expanding public awareness. They are implementing tech tools as an art and design medium in and of itself, creating immersive and highly engaging art pieces that highlight a new multi-disciplinary mixed media.
How it all came about
Since the advent of what we would call modern technology, artists sought to use the medium in their creative spaces. The first attempt to bring together technology and art in the creative process happened in 1967, when a group of New York artists including John Cage, Robert Rauschenberg, Robert Whitman, and Yvonne Rainer worked with engineers and scientists from the world-renowned Bell Laboratories to create groundbreaking performances incorporating new technology. These first installations and performances promoting the use of technology in creating art set a cornerstone for further digital art development.
Andy Warhol was one of the most influential artists who used modern technology in the forms of video, film and screen printing to make his art more visible and accessible. He was also a pioneer of digital art. In 1985, Warhol created digital drawings on an Amiga computer to advertise the computer system as a brand ambassador for the computer company, Commodore International. His digital art pieces were lost and forgotten until 2014 when they were discovered and recovered by artist Cory Arcangel, a NYC based multimedia artist and Warhol fan. From July 2017 to November 2019, the Warhol Museum exhibited these historic pieces using the original medium – a vintage Amiga.
Of course, the 1990’s saw a boon in technological advancement. The internet started a revolution, and the digital art scene started booming. Many artists leveraged the internet to make their artwork more visible, increasing accessibility to worldwide audiences. The technology also enabled the artist to transform and manipulate their artwork, thus becoming a significant art medium.
The trend in digital art since then has continued on an upward slope, becoming stronger and more defined. Many significant artists now create in the digital space. Advanced technology has allowed unique installations and performances to be staged. In this new art form, names are being made and studies are being staged to record historical accuracy.
Digital art taking shape
Digital Revolution – an art exhibition described in the Times UK as the “landmark show” – incorporated diverse digital art forms mounted all together in an art gallery. It opened at the Barbican in London in 2014 and toured various cities in Europe and Asia through 2019. It was the first big-scale show mounted on digital art and all its tech components.
The goal of the exhibit was to explore and celebrate the transformation of the arts through digital technology since the 1970’s. For the first time, the exhibition brought together a range of artists, filmmakers, architects, designers, musicians, and game developers, all of whom used digital media to push the boundaries of their field.
Shown together, the exhibit exposed the intricate connections among the pieces. The experience was highly engaging in an immersive digital art environment. Images and technological tools created interactions with the art and installation programs.
The installations were diverse. They included everything from Umbrellium’s (an award-winning pioneer in design and urban technology) immersive exhibit that filled the space with a series of interactive laser sculptures and Universal Everything, one of the UK’s leading media art studios, which presented a piece allowing visitors to submit a hand-drawn animated artwork that featuredwithin the gallery.
The exhibition also featured new commissions from global music artist and entrepreneur will.i.am, Yuri Suzuki, Pasha Shapiro and Ernst Weber and new work from a range of established artists and performers such as Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Chris Milk, Aaron Koblin, Björk, Amon Tobin, and CuteCircuit. Oscar®-winning visual effects (VFX) supervisor Paul Franklin and his team at Double Negative (who worked on Christopher Nolan’s ground-breaking film Inception)were also involved.
The show also looked to the future and considered the impact of creative coding, DIY and maker-culture, digital communities, and the creative possibilities offered by augmented reality, artificial intelligence, wearable technologies, and 3D printing.
Chris Milk, one of the most prominent digital artists, participated in the Digital Revolution exhibition with his interactive and highly popular project The Treachery of the Sanctuary. The artist used the interaction between spectators and digital birds on panels to explore the agony and ecstasy of a creative process.
The Treachery of the Sanctuary was based on three screens that rose above a black, reflective pool. Visitors stood in front of the first screen and watched as their shadow disintegrated into a flock of flying birds. They then moved to the next screen where they observed the same birds pecking the remnants of their shadow. The final screen showed how the birds form into wings that visitors can move by waving their arms.
Apart from this magnificent, highly interactive, engaging digital art project from Digital Revolution, Milk has started an ongoing art project as an homage to legendary Johnny Cash. Hisidea is that everyone interested in participating would create a portrait of the “man in black,” and their piece of art will be incorporated into a massive portrait with other people’s artwork.
Chris Milk isn’t the only digital artist that has reached high levels of success in the digital art space. Aaron Koblin and Ben Tricklebank are also well known in the field. Light Echoes – their fascinating art project – used a giant laser beam projector that they placed on the roof of a train moving through California. They then projected various materials, including pieces of poetry, onto the starry night sky and the scenery. These projections left visible “echoes” on the trails, and they were captured by a long exposure. This resulted in an extraordinary multimedia experience that inspired sincere reactions in audiences.
The future is now
There is no doubt that technology is transforming the art world and the perception of art. It has given more people access to the arts, giving art enthusiasts and collectors platforms to build their art collection and share with others. Technologies and social media have also revolutionized the traditional art scene by allowing people to express their deepest emotions and beliefs through interactive and pieces and projects.
From AI (Artificial Intelligence), VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) to digital designs and 3D printers, technologies and social media have disrupted the contemporary art and art market in many different ways. It has changed how art is created, consumed and shared in our connected world. And as technology becomes more precise and universally available – the sky is the limit in how artists will incorporate it.
