Hana Salumbides

Professor Lisa Hutton

VSAR 405
23 Oct. 204
Ho! Artists "se #ec$nolo%& to 'reate (nno)ation
Art is all around us. (t is an inte%ral *art of an& culture and
societ& t$at re+ects man& cultural c$an%es and de)elo*ments in
$uman $istor&. ,o!ada&s- !e are all familiar !it$ t$e fusion of art and
tec$nolo%& t$rou%$ t$e numerous de)ices and mac$ines !e use for
entertainment. .rom t$e di%ital %ames !e *la& in consoles and
com*uters- t$e (nternet sites !e )isit- to cell*$one a**lications- s$o!s-
and c$annels !e !atc$ in tele)ision. #$e *resence of art in tec$nolo%&
is blatant in our time/ $o!e)er- t$is relations$i* $as not al!a&s been
t$is !a&.
As $umans de)elo*ed ad)ance mac$ines in t$e late nineteent$
and earl& t!entiet$ centur&- art became in+uenced b& t$ese
tec$nolo%ical c$an%es. 'ubists- .au)es- and Postim*ressionist $a)e
e0*ressed t$eir disli1e of t$e mac$ine2s in+uence and steered into a
di3erent direction alt$ou%$ mac$ines still undoubtedl& in+uenced
t$em. 'onstructi)ists- .uturist and ot$er Postmodernist artists t$en
mostl& embrace t$e idea of t$e mac$ine2s in+uence 4Lo)e5o& 367.
#$ou%$ t$ere ma& be debates on t$e acce*tance or re5ection of t$e
mac$ine2s in+uence in art- it is undeniable t$at tec$nolo%& $as a
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si%ni8cant e3ect in art t$rou%$out $uman $istor&. #$is di)er%ence of
o*inions brou%$t into li%$t a notion contrar& to traditional artists )ie!-
!$ere art is demateriali9ed and e)ol)ed into a conce*t t$at is :uite
se*arate from t$e *$&sical art form. ;uc$am* de8ned t$is
demateriali9ation as a <conce*tual *rocess= 4Lo)e5o& 4>7. #$is
e)olution and com*le0 relations$i* of art and tec$nolo%& $as *ersisted
and de)elo*ed man& inno)ations t$at brou%$t fourt$ ne! ideas in art
and e)en in t$e com*uters and de)ices !e use toda&. #$e main focus
!ill be on t$e ne! de)elo*ments in art !$ere tec$nolo%& $as been
used as tools and as a medium. Paul de8nes tec$nolo%& as a tool in art
t$at can be de8ned as t$e more traditional material as*ect of art but
!it$ t$e use of tec$nolo%ical *rocess in creatin% it- or it can also be t$e
craftsmans$i* of usin% actual mac$ines as an aest$etic to create art.
#ec$nolo%& as an art medium on t$e ot$er $and- deals !it$ t$e )irtual
and di%ital realm com*osed of com*uter al%orit$ms called ne! media
art 437. #$is *a*er aims to e0amine t$e relations$i* of art and
tec$nolo%& in de)elo*in% inno)ations b& e0em*lif&in% $o! artists use it
as a tool and as a medium.
#o use tec$nolo%& as tools to create art means a**l&in% t$e use
of mac$ines and inte%ratin% t$is in t$e creation- *rocess- or actual
*$&sical art itself. P$oto%ra*$& and cinemato%ra*$& in t$e earl& ?00s
is an e0am*le of t$e use of mac$ine to create art. 'ubist 8lm called
@allet Aecani:ue b& Bd!ard Led%er !as able to s$o! multi*le *oints of
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)ie! in t$e com*osition of t$e 8lm as !ell as cubist an%les and s$a*es
!it$in a )ideo 4Hutton7. #$e o*en acce*tance of tec$nolo%& in Russian
'onstructi)ism can also be seen in Verto)2s 8lm entitled- <Aan !it$ a
Ao)ie 'amera= !$ic$ s$o!s t$e inno)ation artists can create usin% a
camera. His <1inoCe&e-= or t$e )ision an artist use to ca*ture and )ie!
t$e !orld is used in t$e creation of t$e 8lm t$at featured ne)er before
seen an%les- *ers*ecti)es- and e3ects in 8lm. #$ese e3ects ma& seem
to transcend realit& b& usin% monta%es- close u* an%les- li%$tin%- scale
or *ers*ecti)e. #$is 8lm ser)ed as a database of s$ots and !as
remar1able in a sense t$at it dis*la&ed numerous *ossibilities 8lm can
o3er as an art- as !ell as ser)e as a basis for t$e tec$nolo%ical
de)elo*ments !e $a)e no! 4Aano)ic$7.
@au$aus artists also su**ort usin% tec$nolo%& as tools in
creatin% art t$rou%$ t$eir teac$in% of <s&nt$esis of t$e arts= b& not
limitin% t$e artists in *urel& traditional art form and sourcin% ne! !a&s
and tec$nolo%& to create. #$e& !ill to embrace traditional form-
craftsmans$i*- and t$e use of mac$ines to create art t$at is s$o!n
t$rou%$ some of t$e t$eir artist2s industrial desi%n !or1s. Lo)e5o& $as
mentioned Ao$ol&C,a%& as a *ro*onent of t$is and $is art!or1 called
t$e <Li%$t S*ace Aodulator= s$o!s $o! $e created an art!or1 t$at
!or1s li1e a mac$ine b& usin% electricit& to s$o! t$e beaut& of form of
li%$t and s$ado! and creatin% a mac$ine aest$etic 4LOVBDOE 42C437.
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Aan& as*ects of Verto)2s 8lm from t$e e3ects- com*osition-
transitions and e)en ideas are incor*orated in *$oto%ra*$&-
8lmma1in%- di%ital art- )ideos- *ro%rams and a**lications !e $a)e
toda&. Some e0am*les are t$e cutCandC*aste feature of 8lm bein%
translated to familiar commands of '#RLFG and '#RLFV in a P' or t$e
incor*oration of t$e loo* of a 8lm reel in modern mo)ie editin%
soft!ares- %ifs- and e)en basic *ro%rammin%. #$ese conce*ts !ere but
a small *ee1 in !$at tec$nolo%& and art could create to%et$er most
es*eciall& in t$e !orld of ne! media !e are familiar !it$ toda&. #$e
relations$i* of art and tec$nolo%& furt$er de)elo*ed as en%ineers and
artist *artner u* to construct ne)er before seen ideas and creations.
#$e Art and #ec$nolo%& e0$ibition in t$e ?602s s$o!cased suc$ !or1s
t$at !ere funded b& cor*orations 4Lo)e5o& >07. #$is collaboration of
bot$ tec$nolo%& and art !ill continue and de)elo* ne! mediums t$at
!ill create inno)ation- as t$is is still a**arent in t$e use of art in
cor*orate ad)ertisin%.
#$e use of tec$nolo%& as a medium is *er$a*s t$e most familiar
to us because of t$e $i%$l& tec$nolo%ical and interconnected a%e !e
li)e in no!. As mac$ines in t$e late t!entiet$ centur& !ere de)elo*ed
to be more li1e t$e com*uters !e 1no! toda&- t$e& inte%rated
numerous tas1s from com*utation- !ord *rocessin%- and art creation.
#$ese mac$ines $a)e created ne! *ossibilities for t$e rise of a ne!
medium in art. ,e! media can be identi8ed usin% four *rinci*lesH
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discrete re*resentation on di3erent scales- numerical re*resentation-
automation- and )ariabilit&. ,e! media or !$at Paul $as de8ned as art
t$at are di%ital and com*osed of al%orit$ms is somet$in% t$at can %o
to%et$er !it$ t$e idea of conce*tualists and t$eir )ie! of
demateriali9ation of art. I$at ;uc$am* said as art becomin% a
conce*tual *rocess and t$e *ure information c$aracteristic of ne!
media is com*lementar&. #$e *remise in understandin%
demateriali9ation of art is t$at it is se*arated from its materialit& and is
elected into somet$in% *ercei)ed and immaterial. Paul continues to
sa& t$at t$ere are numerous *roblems in cate%ori9in% art of t$ese
nature $o!e)er- t$is *roblem in itself created o**ortunities for artists
to inno)ate !a&s into caterin% and e0$ibitin% t$ese 1inds of art 437.
#$e (nternet $as created a nic$e for ne! media art as it suits t$e
conce*tual information based :ualit& of ne! media art. Dose*$ine
@osma from t$e site tem*orar&stelda5i1.com $as e0*ressed t$e
s$a*elessness of t$e di%ital uni)erse as somet$in% t$at is $ard to
contain- d&namic- but eas& to access if a)ailable and if usin% t$e ri%$t
tools. #rue to $er !ord- t$e site ser)ed as a museum of sorts !it$ a
lose na)i%ation and art dis*la&ed in rectan%ular bo0es seemin%l& to
mimic museums but !it$ art!or1 $an%ed in )irtual s*ace and are
sub5ect to mec$anical error and occasional tec$nical diJcult&. Ra*$ael
Rosendaal is anot$er e0am*le of an artist t$at tries to %ras* *er$a*s
t$e closest to *ermanent in t$e Iorld Iide Ieb !$ic$ are domain
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names. @& $a)in% eac$ of $is art in its o!n domain name- $e !as
tr&in% to s$o! $o! di%ital art can some$o! $a)e t$is title t$at can be
bou%$t and o!ned 4Hutton7. Aore *o*ular !a&s to dis*la& ne! media
art in t$e (nternet is t$rou%$ t$e use of sites suc$ as (nsta%ram-
#umblr- ;e)iantArt and Eoutube and re:uired certain le)el of media
literac& and u*dated tec$nolo%ical *ro%rams to use. Accessin% ne!
media art re:uires *ro*er tools for it to function as e0*ected. @ecause
of its demateriali9ed nature- it is more accessible b& a !ider audience
and more +e0ible and interacti)e to t$e )ie!er. Actual art e0$ibitions
t$at aims to s$o!case ne! media art re:uires a uni:ue !a& to *resent
it to t$eir audience ma& it be !it$ t$e use of *rint- multi*le monitors or
screens- *ro5ector- com*uters or ot$er means suc$ as !ebsites.
#ec$nolo%& and art !ill continue to de)elo* !a&s to inte%rate
ne! met$ods and features in bot$ art and mac$ines t$at !ill
contribute to future *ro%ress. Dust as $o! Verto)2s 8lm ser)es as a
database of t$e an%les- *ers*ecti)es *ossible int t$e com*osition of
8lm- it $as also contributed to t$e creation of tec$nolo%ical tools and
*ro%rams. #$ese *ro%rams *romote t$e ease of editin% and access of
current users to create more ne! media. Ie can sa& t$at art and
tec$nolo%& com*lements eac$ ot$er as current inno)ations of toda&
can become t$e in+uence of future tec$nolo%ical ad)ancements.
Ior1 'ited
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@osma- Dose*$ine. <Dodi (n)ertin% All .unctions- Kuestionin% All
.orms.= Temporary Steldejik, 202. Ieb. 20 Oct. 204.
Hutton- Lisa. VSAR405- 204. Ieb. 5 Oct. 204.
Lo)e5o&- Aar%ot. ;i%ital 'urrentsH Art in t$e ;i%ital A%e. Routled%e
Press- 2004. Print.
Aano)ic$- Le). #$e Lan%ua%e of ,e! Aedia. A(# Press- 200. Print
Paul- '$ristiane. ;i%ital Art. #$ames L Hudson- 2003. Print.
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