Assignment #3 What is the difference between using digital technologies as a tool versus as a medium?

     Digital art  has had a major impact on the world since its emergence. Digital art made art interactive in a way it had never been before. Suddenly, artists were able to convey their messag not just through their own expression, but were able to allow their veiwers the chance to explore their own response to their artwork, and express their respons. Sometimes, this would change the artists work. The audience becomes part of the artwork in this way. This serves to personallize the artwork and allow the audience to apply their own content to the piece.

     The medium of digital art has to do with the content and presentation of the artwork. The medium of digital artwork allows a personal expression to become a place where virtual meets reality. At no other time in history has such an expression existed. It is quite amazing when you think about the fact that we as the viewers can actually add our own unique stamp to the artwork we see.

     ON the other hand, the technologies which create this field of digital art, is also used for more practical purposes. Digital technology can do amazing things, and combined with digital art, it is really a force to be reckoned with. For example, “Science increasingly relies on simulation in its use of 3D world” (Thames and Hudson, p. 86).  This digital technology has been used to let viewers see how science and technology transform nature. It’s simply staggering to think about the fact that this technology has been around a relatively short time. It’s come a very long way,very fast, and

     Digital technology is also used in other interesting ways. When learning to fly, pilots rely on digital technology in order to learn to fly. While this could  be seen as entertainment, I would certainly feel better knowing the pilot about to fly me hom has had many hours on a flight simulator.

     Digital technology has also turned scientific knowledge into aesthetics, a fact that could be offensive to some, but there is so much insight and good to be had in this way. Digital technology is a tool in this way while digital art is a medium, because it is digital art’s specific expression that matters.

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Assignment #2

Amy Lerner

Digital Design

Assignment #2

1/26/10

How Does Digital Art/New Media Relate To Or Impact Different Aspects Of Our Western Culture

The digital world exploded during the 1990’s. All sorts of new and exciting forms of communication which had once only existed in the science fiction realm began to take shape. The military was the jumping off point of what is now the digital world as we know it. As technology developed and became accessible to more and more people, it became clear there was the possibility to mix technology and art in a “revolution of random access” (p. 15, Thames and Hudson).

Computers which create seemingly random and infinite combinations, created beautiful patterns and designs. Artists began combining technology and biology to create beautiful created organisms. William Latham an artificial nature that resembles living organisms. They are actually animated sequences. This shows the beauty in nature, and how technology is not some boring science, but is actually an important part of the cycle of life. Bringing technology and nature together, shows that random patterns exist in nature too.

Going a step further, Andreas Muller-Pohle creates beautiful art by digitizing photographs. It is amazing to see the colors and patterns that make up someone’s face.  He also creates art by “inscribing the genetic makeup of the image itself onto its surface” (p. 51, Thames and Hudson). Human biology is the art itself. This shows how we as human beings are art in ourselves. It gives an artist a new perspective to work from, when one realizes you only have to look within your own genetic make-up for material.

Digital art has also been used in a historical way. Photos have been altered for the purposes of propaganda. A person who has unpopular political beliefs, for example, can simply be erased from a photo. At the same time, this does have its downside. “The fact that the digital medium allows for a seamless reconstruction and manipulation of reality seems to have heightened an awareness of the questionable nature of the authenticity of all images” (p. 36, Thames and Hudson).  Does this mean we can rewrite our own histories? Creating a whole new identity if we choose seems possible now, with the accessibility of digital art.

On a positive note, digital art can be an incredibly useful and powerful tool. Through the use of morphing, law enforcement agencies are able to “age or alter the facial structure of a missing person or suspects” (p. 29, Thames and Hudson). This type of digital art has also been useful for scientists and archeologists learning about cultures from thousands of years ago. To be able to so accurately see what someone who lived 5000 years ago, is simply incredible. We can learn so much about ourselves as a culture and a race through this technology.

Digital art has revolutionized the world, and is being taken more seriously all the time, even appearing in galleries. The random beauty, the connection between biology and technology, and  the new relationship between three-dimensional space and the virtual world has opened doors once only dreamt about by science fiction writers and scientists. The science fiction world has long been important to science, because it gives scientists a jumping off point to creating new technology. Digital art makes these new technologies even more of a possibility in our limited world.

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