Beginnings of Digital Art

Art and Technology

"Skin has become inadequate in interfacing with reality. Technology has become the body's new membrane of
existence."

In 1967, a collective was formed, originated by engineers Billy Klüver and Fred Waldhauer, and artists Robert
Rauschenberg and Robert Whitman. This group was coined EAT (Experiments in Art and Technology) and its
mission was to promote collaboration between art and the burgeoning world of technology. The result was a
series of installations and performances incorporating innovative electronic systems, including electrical
circuitry, video projection, wireless sound projection, and Doppler sonar. Although many of these works were
not strictly "digital" due to the relative primitiveness of the technology involved, they laid the groundwork for a
type of art, which embraced and explored, rather than rejected or ignored, technological progress.

The EAT experiments represented a groundbreaking marriage between artists and technology that had never
been seen before. They ushered the canons of Conceptual art, Performance art, experimental noise music, and
theater from the eras of Dada, Fluxus, and the "happenings" of the 1960s into the revolutionary digital age.

The first piece of digital art that became widely known was created in the 1960s in the scientific research
company Bell Labs where EAT founder Billy Klüver was employed. It was here that computer graphics
specialist Kenneth C. Knowlton, in his work Young Nude (1966), transformed a photograph of a young nude
woman into an image made up of computer pixels, bringing the historical artist's muse (the naked female body)
into the 21st-century art lexicon.

Electronic Superhighway

Following the example of EAT, other conceptual artists began to utilize the artistic possibilities of new
technologies. For example, in 1969 Allan Kaprow created Hello, an artistic "happening" where a group of people
interacted via television monitors. In the 1970s, a number of artists began to explore the consequences of the
connectivity afforded by television, recording equipment, and nascent computers.

Video art pioneer Nam June Paik coined the term "electronic superhighway" in his 1974 text Media Planning for
the Postindustrial Society: The 21st Century is now only 26 years away. He used it to talk about television and its
ability to bring people from disparate geographical regions and social backgrounds together through shared
experience.

This idea of universal communicability would later be compounded by the introduction of mobile phones and
the internet. The 1970s spawned an evolution of technologies such as the Apple II computer, which allowed
color graphics to be rendered for the first time on the screen of a personal computer. In 1979, the development of
the modem allowed digital signals to be transmitted through telephone lines, paving the way for widespread
data transfer, and ultimately, usage of the internet.

Computer animation began to be developed at a significant rate in the 1980s, and the resulting imagery (often
based around bright colors and formulations of square pixels) would have a significant impact on the aesthetics
of the era, as well as on artists' production of work using this kind of software. As graphics improved, Adobe
spearheaded the inception of design software, making programs like Photoshop and Illustrator available to
everyone. Artists were quick to explore these new frontiers.

By 1984, when Nam June Paik broadcast his satellite-transmitted installation Good Morning, Mr. Orwell on live
television, it was clear that his 'electronic superhighway' had indeed become a viable tool to further digital art's
mass accessibility.

The Beginnings of the Internet

With the widespread emergence of the internet in the 1990s, digital art became more accessible for both artists
and viewers. Artists started to explore ways in which the internet could be used as a medium and a messenger,
utilizing its interactive nature and its ability to combine words, images and, eventually, video and audio files. Key
examples include Olia Lialina's My Boyfriend Came Back from the War (1996), where viewers clicked through a
series of hyperlinks to reveal an emotional and engaging narrative.

For some critics, the rise of the internet gave birth to a new artistic movement that can be considered separate
from digital art: internet art or net.art, as it was called by some of its proponents. However, it can also be
considered to be part of the digital art movement, which was growing wider in its scope as the invention and
development of new technologies continued to blossom.

In many examples, such as the collective group Nasty Nets, the internet allowed individual artists from different
countries and social classes to interact, collaborate, and exchange ideas in ways which were formerly
impossible. Where artistic movements of the past were often born out of geographical proximity and social
interaction, artists of the 1990s could start movements that crossed continents.

Exploring the Net

As the internet grew in significance and became firmly entrenched in almost every aspect of society,
relationships, and commerce, artists began to use it to further their own creative aims. They began to use it as an
artistic medium, as was seen in Justin Kemp's Pseudo Event, (2008), in which a visitor would scroll horizontally to
view a collage of photos taken at ribbon cutting events. Some artists worked online to delve into the sense of
detachment from reality produced by internet use and the proliferation of personas being spawned by the world
of social media. Early works by artists such as Marisa Olson (who coined the term "post-internet," a later
development from digital art) pointed to the performative nature of creating identity online. Work by Olson and
other artists such as Gene McHugh and Petra Cortright used blogs and video-sharing websites such as YouTube
as media for their art; platforms that are both inherently internet-based and have become increasingly integral
to everyday life.

Digital Art: Concepts, Styles, and Trends

The very broad definition of Digital art is one that includes art where the final product is digital, the creation of
product involves technological means, or the subject of the art is digital. Within that very broad world, here are
the main sub-categories:

Art on the Screen

Many digital artworks are produced in a format that can only be viewed on a screen, resulting in artworks,
which cannot exist without the technology that supports it. In these cases, the mode of communication is
important. For example, Nam June Paik's Good Morning, Mr. Orwell (1984) was a deliberate statement on the
nature of television and televisual communication. On the other hand, a piece that uses YouTube or an internet
browser is often commenting on our communal experience of the internet, and utilizes the interactive nature of
the web. Petra Cortright is known for her early use of animated graphics that play on top of her live YouTube
videos in which she stars, blending the real and the make believe. Another example is Ryan Trecartin, whose
campy A Family Finds Entertainment (2004) takes his prototypical gallery video installation onto the web for
anyone to see.

Digital Sculpture

In some cases, digital art takes a physical form and can be presented in a sculptural way. This includes work
such as Nam June Paik's collections of televisions in Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii
(1994). In this example, the video clips being shown on the screens are categorized according to the physical
structure of the work (with a television for almost every US state). The sheer scale of the physical object prompts
the viewer to consider the ways in which technology is a powerful, but often unseen, presence in our everyday
lives. Many digital sculptures contrast the physical aspect of technology with its less tangible digital capabilities.
For example, Trevor Paglen and Jacob Appelbaum's Autonomy Cube (2014) functions both as a beautiful
sculptural object and as an open-access Wi-Fi hotspot, while Maurizio Bolognini's Programmed Machines (1992-7)
have their screens hidden, forcing the viewer to focus on both the physicality of the machines themselves and
on their programs, which run unseen.

Interactive Digital Installations

Interactivity has always been a key element of digital art. As Bruce Wands, author of Art of the Digital Age (2006),
points out: "The creative possibilities of interactivity and the development of immersive environments were both
given a large boost by the arrival of computers in installation art, which allowed artists increased control over
the interactive experience and access to cyberspace and virtual worlds." The result is a number of artworks
where interactivity is the primary aim, and where the artist has created a fully immersive experience. For
example, in 2012 the artist collective Random International produced Rain Room, an experiential installation
where water fell from the ceiling of the room. Visitors were followed by 3D trackers, programmed to stop the fall
of rain wherever a visitor was standing. They could experience a rainstorm without getting wet - an experience
of manipulating natural phenomena that would have otherwise been impossible without the assistance of
digital technology. The piece prompted viewers to consider the relationship between man, nature, and machine.

Computer Generated Imagery

When computers emerged, many artists started using their unique technology and underlying programming
systems to inform artwork. For example, Frieder Nake's Hommage à Paul Klee 13/9/65 Nr.2 (1965) was one of the
first artworks to be produced using a computer algorithm. The result looks like an ordinary drawing, but there
was a significant technological step between the artist's input and the final image. Fifty years later, as computer
graphic software hit the mainstream market, artists began to co-opt these programs, borrowing them from the
advertising and graphic design industries, and using them to make their own work. Petra Cortright uses
software to produce images, which can then be printed as "digital paintings" onto two-dimensional surfaces.
Although they resemble paintings, she cleverly lends them titles that recall hastily named computer files, such
as 15_independentBUICKS.$$$ (2015), blurring the line between the physical and digital realms as well as the line
between online and offline creativity. Jeremy Blake's digital collages mixed photography and computer-
generated graphics meant to look like brushstrokes, light, and other shapes and were shown via cutting-edge
DVD installations or more traditional 2D C-prints. Instead of creating his own imagery, Cory Archangel
famously hacked a Mario Brothers video game, co-opting its cloud graphics to create his own on screen visual.

Internet as Medium

With the tools of digital art available to the populous, and a personal computer in almost every home, artists
who utilized the internet for their work forged a game-changing new environment within the art world. This
fresh mass medium allowed their work to be seen outside the traditional gallery setting and provided a wider
cultural reach with more opportunity for exposure in an extremely economical fashion.

Whereas some artists used the internet as a marketing tool for uploaded projects on personal websites, some
artists utilized existing internet frameworks in themselves as a medium for their output. One example is Beijing-
artist Cao Fei, who created an entire universe on the virtual reality platform Second Life as a work of art. Her
RMB City, 2008, acted as an open, public space and platform for experiential creative studies where filmmakers,
artists, designers and other creatives collaborated to build an ever-changing world that pushed the boundaries
between virtual and physical existence.

With the advent of interactive technologies that allowed for social media exchange and the sharing of user-
generated content, the contemporary web presents multiple forms of artistic experimentation. Examples of this
include personal webpages operating as installations, Tumblr pages existing to aggregate curated imagery, and
collaborative blogs based on underlying themes.
Later Developments - After Digital Art
As technology has become more entrenched in everyday existence, the novelty of the "digital" in art has worn
off. Today, it is par for the course to see much conceptual, video, internet, social media, and multimedia art
utilizing digital tools and media without specific alignment with the digital art movement. Works in this realm
are often now considered under the wider umbrella term "new media art."

Technology continues to advance at warp speed, compelled by the imagination of contemporary man. For
example, although many artists throughout time have made art inspired by the cosmos, some artists today are
currently exploring space and other dimensions through the use of high tech, digital astronomical software. We
will no doubt continue to witness an explosion in new media art as this journey continues to reveal potentials
untapped.

Most Important Art

Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii (1995)
Artist: Nam June Paik

Nam June Paik was a member of the Fluxus group and is often called the "father of video art". He often used
contemporary technology to create installations examining the role of television, computers, or the internet in society.
In this 1995 work, Paik revisited his idea of an "electronic superhighway," first posited in 1974. With it, he created the
outline of the United States, in which television monitors showed footage indicating the culture and history of each
state. In its original formulation, the monitors in New York State were linked to CCTV cameras, meaning that gallery
visitors were presented with their own image among the other clips. As critic Anne d'Alleva argues, "this not only made
[the viewers] part of the artwork, challenging their passive status as viewers, but also made them conscious of their role
as part of culture, history and contemporary life."

In this installation, Paik demonstrated the constant evolution of both technology and digital art, something that was
pivotal to the movement. It offered a hybrid vision of an America connected both by television and the new
technological innovations. Although his early writings in the 1970s were primarily based on television, Paik was
revolutionary in that he also eerily predicted the emergence of an internet-like network. This piece represents a physical
foreshadowing of the all-consuming aspects, and potential, of what Paik was witnessing as a new model of connectivity.
Sure enough, in 1995 the internet gained traction and began offering exactly this experience of global communication.

Importantly, this work was a sculptural installation, not something performed or seen only on-screen. Because of this,
he was able to draw attention to the physical trappings of technology, which were essential to the piece's operation, even
in the age of the internet.

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Digital Art Artworks in Focus: