Before even diving into digital art, the term should be broken down, what do we mean when we are discussing Digital Art? What does it encompass?
Digital Art is still something hard to box here and there, fair and square. Most definitions agree that digital art is an art that has been created or presented using some sort of digital technology in the process. Other words used include computer art, and multimedia and sometimes get absorbed by the very exponential term new media art. From computer-generated, AI art, or simply something that has been drawn on an IPAD of the like, it can also include illustrations, videos, digital painting, and 3D animation.
Advantages of Digital Art
One of the major advantages of digital art is the intrinsic malleability of the work by the hands of the artist. Whereas an unsatisfactory canvas would have to be painted over or otherwise scraped, the power of the ‘undo’ button is huge! The ability to experiment, test, and challenge your practice while developing is something unparalleled in traditional visual art forms. With this freedom to experiment and grow, new frontiers can be explored and applied. For example, NFTs are not simply jpg for private collectors but are now tokens, which can be displayed for the public in the Metaverse for users to experience. The inherent ability to experiment, test and solve problems is what leads to these groundbreaking new developments in digital art production and experience.
From a user/ viewer experience perspective, digital art also offers the ability for the creator to more easily transport their work to galleries and museums, create multiples to share simultaneously with various exhibitors, and sell commercially. Pricey traditional shipping and logistics charges can be avoided in this realm of art with pieces able to be shared with an e-transfer nearly instantaneously, streamlining the entire exhibition run-up and experience.
Moreover, the artist has the power to manipulate scale and edition size. For example, digital photographers have the authority to create varying sizes of the same image in multiple limited editions all available for exhibition or purchase on the open market, allowing for flexibility and freedom of the artist over their own work. The instant shareability factor is certainly a huge advantage of digital art.
Digital art Do’s and Don’ts
Do’s
As with any medium and practice, it is always advisable for artists to engage with their fellow artist peers to familiarize themselves with the process, trends, and challenges to learn from when beginning to experiment and begin their own practice. The possibilities of digital art can be overwhelming by virtue of the sheer limitless possibilities in the realm of digital creation. Whereas painting may be limited to the physical limitations of the medium, the possibilities of digital manipulation, production, and reproduction can be endless. Fear not, however! Some key steps and tools to get familiar with the practice and creating digital art.
Don’ts
In a field where there is so much potential, with new technologies emerging at a rapid pace, the sheer volume of choice can be crippling and lead to some mistakes.
Digital art platforms
We have also compiled a short list of platforms and artists to get familiar with for cutting-edge developments in digital art.
Ouchhh
Ouchhh studio is a pioneer of data paintings and sculptures, AI – Machine Intelligence, mind-driven approach, and discovering new technological models to reflect the variety of contexts and experiences that shape their futuristic perspective.
They have their main office in Istanbul, and partnerships in LA, Vienna, Barcelona, Paris, London, and Berlin. They are a multidisciplinary creative hub focused on interactive new media platforms, data paintings, artificial intelligence, data-driven sculptures, kinetic public arts, immersive experiences, offering direction, art direction, and producing A/V architectural facade performances.
DiMoDA’s mission is focused on commissioning, preserving and exhibiting cutting-edge VR artworks through virtual and in-person exhibitions. Working on projects around the world, exhibitions are downloadable for an immersive personal experience of the works.
Rafael Lozano-Hemmer
The artist’s website hosts a variety of video and digital projects they have produced and is an excellent example of the multidisciplinary nature of digital art. He was born in Mexico City in 1967 and received a B.Sc. in Physical Chemistry from Concordia University in Montréal, Canada in 1989.
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Lozano-Hemmer is a media artist working at the intersection of architecture and performance art. His artist bio states that “He creates platforms for public participation using technologies such as robotic lights, digital fountains, computerized surveillance, media walls, and telematic networks. Inspired by phantasmagoria, carnival, and animatronics, his light and shadow works are “anti monument for alien agency”.”
Fabio Lattanzi Antinori
The artist works in a variety of mediums including sculpture, print, text, sound, and interactive installations and explores how society’s collective understanding of reality is shaped particularly with narratives of data. His process is very collaborative and research-based, often using data and keywords provided by Google AdWords in his works.
This is still a jumping-off point for the world of digital art. New developments, artists, exhibitions, and platforms are rapidly growing in this area of the art world and with the development of publicly accessible Metaverse Museums and supercomputers on the horizon, there is still so much we don’t know that we don’t know!s
What is your advice for artists that are hoping into the digital art world? Let us know on social!
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