Whenever someone asks me what my favorite type of art is, or what style I like to follow, I’m always left feeling confused...stuck. It’s like trying to answer the question: “what’s your favorite song?” My answer changes every single time: whether it’s the middle of the day, if it’s sunny or rainy or if I saw my best friends that day; honestly, it even changes if I’m tired or not. So, maybe I’m just indecisive, or my mind moves too fast to choose something (I’ve definitely been accused of my mind moving 10x faster than my friends can keep up with) but when someone asks me to define what art is to me, I never know what to say. Defining art is a pretty ridiculous task. It ranges from someone photographing a piece of fruit to painting naked babies on a church ceiling (looking at you, Michelangelo), to a virus that overtakes your whole computer.
In fact, the only constant about art is that it’s constantly changing--and completely subjective. Art finds its form in so many different ways. I find myself constantly amazed by the everchanging art world, and I’m always learning about new styles and mediums that exist or are being created. One of the bigger changes I’ve seen is the use of digital media and technology to create art.
Digital art can be traced back to the 1980s when computers slowly gained popularity as a household item. Artists began experimenting with computer effects and programs that allowed art to evolve with new imaging techniques. I vividly remember being a kid and playing around on my parents’ computer on Microsoft paint to draw sunset landscapes and puppies with a sun drawn on the corner of the “page.”
I can’t be the only person who spent hours upon hours coloring the whole page with the tiny cursor only to erase words into it, right...? Anyways, I’ve always been more of a paintbrush and canvas kind of artist--walking around with paint streaked across my cheeks and hands for HOURS before anyone told me (it's kind of like having food stuck between your teeth, embarrassing, right?). Anyways....since I've only ever learned traditional art, digital media honestly confounds me.
Digital art finds a way to combine traditional art, technology, computer programming, photoshop, and even types of software that I probably can’t even pronounce. Recently one of my classes highlighted the work of Peter Burr (visit his site here), an artist from NY known for his unique digital media and new art style. His work involves combining the video game industry with abstraction to create “endlessly-mutating labyrinths.” In May 2018, Burr took over half the screens in Times Square, showing his work “Pattern Language”: check it out here (Strobe warning).
Even watching through my small laptop screen, I felt like I was entering some other-world, almost like something straight out of Black Mirror, where technology takes over and time stands still--your senses become overwhelmed in a way, making it feel like you’re trapped in a digital maze.
It’s these online, digital experiences that transform the way we view and interact with art nowadays...especially while we’re unable to visit museums. The art scene is constantly and rapidly evolving, and while I’ll always love traditional oil paints and canvases, there’s definitely something to be said about the incredible skill and knowledge surrounding digital media.
If you're interested in learning a bit about digital media, or even watching some different types of art, check out these sites!
Or just a funny video:
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