Whether we’re talking about television, the web or other digital media, artists are constantly looking for new, innovative and bold ways to present their vision of the world.
Technology has always accompanied art. As far back as ancient times it was equated with craftsmanship, because it meant knowing certain rules and following them to create everyday objects. For centuries, the visual arts were based on three main pillars – painting, sculpture and architecture.
The introduction of the camera brought a radical change in the direction of culture, but it is since the popularization of computers and the Internet and the advent of digital media that the world of artists has stood on its head and mixed all its disciplines in one pot.
The Middle Ages also included arithmetic, rhetoric, and astronomy among the arts. The Renaissance slowly began to separate the sciences from it, but it was not until the 18th century that the term “fine arts” was introduced. The 19th century began to associate this cultural field with creativity and individualism, and today its definition is virtually impossible to determine.
Although art is considered another industry in modern society, many artists agree that it must have a primarily cognitive element. Artists and engineers are creative people – the former create a work in which they encode a message for the viewer. The latter create the technology that is capable of delivering that message
The artist, then, is a user of technology that can be simple – like a paintbrush to paint a picture – or extremely complex, like an augmented reality app for smartphones that allows a creator to create a 3D sculpture in virtual reality and share it online. What’s more, the creative engineer creates new technologies that can inspire artists to find new creative forms.
Today’s artists create using digital art – virtual and interactive, computer graphics and animation, video games, robotics, 3D printing, but also biotechnology. Instead of using only brushes and paints, artists can paint with light, sound and, of course, pixels. Besides, they optimize traditional techniques and redefine the boundaries of art as such time and time again.
Digital methods have also revolutionized the way artistic works are accessed and viewed. While nothing can replace a visit to a museum, professionally organized virtual exhibitions can be a very valuable substitute. Moreover, viewing digital artworks or photographs can be even better in the comfort of one’s home, where the viewer can enjoy interacting with the art for as long as they want.
Opening up culture to a wide audience online also provides an opportunity for people who have not previously been interested in such activities. Access to free courses and advice increases the competitiveness and thus the overall level of works. New technologies are developed every day and they surprise every day, exceeding the imagination of modern people
The union of art with high-tech software is no longer uncommon and enriches the artistic discourse. It will be interesting to see which way the wide-ranging, ever-changing landscape of digital creativity will evolve and if new technologies will be a serious alternative to traditional artistic means
It’s been a long time since cave paintings, but just like then, artists are using technology to describe society and record their experiences for future generations.
What is changing is the very technology that makes it possible today to reach a wide, global audience. Artists around the world can work on a collective work, and the audience for art is not a single person, but all of humanity.
Unfortunately, art is not spared by globalization either. Today, anyone can copy photos and videos on the Internet without any repercussions, so artists need new business models and technological solutions, not only related to the creation process itself, but also to the distribution of their works.
Main article photo: Designed by Freepik
