ART ± technology + Introduction.

Welcome to ART ± technology. In this blog, I will be examining specific examples of artworks and other creative projects from out in the world, analyzing how the advent of new technologies and media has affected the creative processes of various artists. While this blog will examine the relationships that exist between art and technology, it will not necessarily be a blog about new media theory, at least in the direct sense. That is to say, new media theory addresses a wide range of issues, including issues of networking and communication, which may or may not be covered in this blog. Interestingly, the examples of artworks and creative projects covered in this blog will not always be those that have been executed through new technological means, which leads me to a pivotal argument that I anticipate to be touching on throughout many of my posts.

While the advent of new media technologies within the last century and particularly the last couple of decades has certainly opened up the doors to many new possibilities within the arts, I would also argue that many artists and creators have started to limit themselves to such technologies, thus limiting their creative processes. Perhaps for many of these artists and creators, such a situation is inevitable, as there is no doubt that artistic works created through new technologies have become the norm in today’s society—or perhaps even what is expected by today’s society. However, I think that this idea of technology limiting creativity is one that many people today overlook. Many people are often so absorbed in the latest and greatest thing, thus sometimes forgetting that more traditional means can achieve their purposes—and perhaps even in a more effective way.

In an essay entitled New Media from Borges to HTML, new media theorist Lev Manovich proposes eight propositions that describe new media and technology. In one of these propositions, Manovich describes new media as a “faster execution of algorithms previously executed manually or through other technologies.” In discussing this point, Manovich mentions the example of the composite photograph. In the nineteenth century, soon after the invention of photography, many photographers were creating “combination prints” which were made by putting together multiple photographs. (Example shown below.) This is obviously the traditional version of ‘Photoshopping.’ What used to take hours upon hours to do in the nineteenth century can now be done in a much shorter time period with just a few clicks of the mouse in Photoshop. However, while Manovich mentions that new technologies allow for faster ways of executing various processes, nowhere in his essay does he mention that new media provides for better ways of doing so. Traditional means of making art will always have their time and place, and it is my belief that some people miss out on this opportunity by being too caught up in the latest and greatest technology.

Henry Peach Robinson's Fading Away, 1858. A combination print made up of multiple photographs.

Although I have spent the majority of this post discussing how I believe artists often limit themselves to new technologies, this argument is not even half of what I intend to be exploring in this blog. I have simply touched upon that idea in detail as it is probably the one that would be most foreign or unfamiliar to most readers (if I ever get an audience). I will certainly also be exploring the many interesting ways in which new technology has enhanced the art-making process, as there truly are countless examples of such cases. And perhaps my first one or two posts will be in this category. In addition, I will probably throw in numerous other arguments and observations in various posts, in accordance to the subject matter that I am discussing, thus making the blog into an all-around journal about the relationships between art and technology.

Stay tuned, and see you next post.