Digital MediaDefinition & Examples

Digital Media Art is:

1. Created with the help of digitaltechnologies such as computers, digital cameras, GPS devices,mobile phones, etc.

2. Created by artists interested inthe intersection between art & technology

Digital Media Artists:

1. Use technology as a toolExamples: digital photos, prints, etc.

Digital Media Artists:

2. Use technology as a medium(art is being stored in digital format, uses interactiveand participatory features of the medium)Examples: Game Art, Net Art, Interactive Video Installations, Robotics, Data Visualization Art, etc.

Data Visualization Art - C5 Landscape Initiative

Moving Painting

http://thirdfaction.org/blog/

Digital Media - Brief HistoryComputers are “born” in the academic

and research environments

1) 1946 - ENIAC (University of Pennsylvania)

2) 1951 - UNIVAC 1st commercially available computer

3) 1960s - Theodor Nelson - 1st non-linear, branching hyperlinked environment: “hypertext”, “hypermedia”

Digital Media Art – Brief History

4) 1968 – Douglas Engelbart introducesbitmapping (“on” & “off” states), windows, direct manipulation through a mouse

5) 1970- Alan Kay’s invention of GUI

and the “desktop” metaphor

6) 1983 - 1st APPLE computer

Digital Media Art – Strong Connections

to Previous Art Movements

1) Dada

2) Fluxus

3) Conceptual Art

Dada – emphasis on formal instructions

Ex: Marcel Duchamp,

“Rotary Glass Plates”,

1920

Digital Media Art – Characteristics

Formulated by code (math. rules, functions)

Artists set up rules, than leave work

open-ended. Example: Sims

http://www.rhizome.org/artbase/artwork/24114/myData=myMondrian is an interactive computer program in which the personal

data provided by viewers is translated into Piet Mondrian-like composition

http://www.superflex.net/projects/freebeergames/

(Free Beer and Counter-Game Strategies)

Fluxus – randomness and chance

Ex: Nam June Paik,

“Random Access”,

1963

Visitors were able to use the sound

head, which has been detached from

the tape recorder, to interactively

run through the tapes glued to the

wall, and constantly vary the sound

sequence according to location

and speed. This random access to

the musical raw material enabled

visitors to produce compositions

of their own.

Digital Media Art – Characteristics

Random access – basis for assembling

and processing data

“The digital revolution” is the revolution of

random access – a revolution based on the

possibilities of instant access to media

elements that can be reshuffled in seemingly

infinite combinations” - Grahame Weinbren

Digital Media Art – Characteristics

http://www.rhizome.org/artbase/artwork/49165/

(Color Field TV)

Conceptual Art – emphasis on the idea

Ex: Joseph Kosuth, “One of The Three Chairs”,

1965

Conceptual Art – emphasis on the idea

Ex: James Morgan & John Pierre Bruneau, Looks Very Tidy, 2007

http://factorynoir.com/portfolio/media/looks_very_tidy.mov

Conceptual Art – emphasis on the idea

Ex: James Morgan & John Pierre Bruneau,

Looks Very Tidy, 2007http://factorynoir.com/portfolio/media/looks_very_tidy.mov

Ex: Eteam

Second Life Dumpster project

Digital Media Art – Characteristics

Audience is part of the work – interactive and participatory

aspects of digital art

Digital Media Art – Characteristics

Digital Media Art – Characteristics

Audience is part of the work – interactive and participatory

aspects of digital art

My work:http:/dma.sjsu.edu/~vfainshtein/

Digital Media Art – Characteristics

Often open ended, in the state of flux

author is a co-creator along with the audience

Ex: Christa Sommerer

and Laurent Mignonneau,

A-Volve, 1994

(interactive, real-time environment)

http://www.interface.ufg.ac.at/christa

laurent/WORKS/FRAMES/FrameSet.

html

Digital Media Art – CharacteristicsEx: Christa Sommererand Laurent Mignonneau, Verbarium, 1997

http://www.interface.ufg.ac.at/christa-laurent/WORKS/FRAMES/FrameSet.html

Digital Media Art – Characteristics

Author is a co-creator along with the audience…

http://karaoke.sjsu.edu/home/

Digital Media Art – Characteristics

Collapses boundaries between disciplines –

art, science, technology, design, etc.

Ex: Natalie Jeremijenko:

Robotic Geese, OneTrees Project

Digital Media Art – Characteristics

Often requires collaboration with other

artists, scientists, architects, etc.

Ex: Eduardo Kac:

Transgenic Bunny

Digital Media Art – Main Points

1. Consists of binary data

2. Can be easily manipulated, changed, etc.

3. Process-oriented work is ephemeral

4. Often requires collaboration with others

5. Often requires audience participation

6. Often deals with art & technology

7. Often reflects upon digital medium, it’s language and aesthetics

8. Often blurs boundaries between various disciplines

Cool Digital Media projects to check out:

www.rhizome.org

“A Global Festival of Art on the Edge”,

San Jose, California

http://01sj.org/