digital ash in a digital urn
A still from Tron (1982), one of the first blockbuster films to use extensive computer graphics
I was having a conversation about theatre the other day, in which I was lamenting its often gratuitous use of technology (the Malthouse’s overuse of their rotating stage, in particular). If it doesn’t actually add to the performance, then fancy-pants technology is distracting and says little more than, ‘Check out how much cash we’ve got!’ or, ‘Lookie here, look what we can do!’ I’m sure many people think the same of new digital technologies used in the artistic sphere, like HDR photography, digital art and installation, as fin de siècle folks thought of photography. ‘That isn’t art,’ they thought, ‘Where’s the expression, the talent, the beauty of the form?’
Well, obviously, they were wrong. Photography is now as legitimate an artform as painting, and the way things are going, digital art will soon follow in its footsteps. Incorporating anything from film, to digital photography, to computer graphics, to virtual reality installations using projection, digital art has infinite possibilities and in my opinion, it will soon break into the mainstream. And why not? Electronic music has been popular since the early 1980s, and you now find elements of it in most musical forms (electric guitars, synthesisers, drum machines, and especially auto-tune).
A recent project which has brought new art forms into the mainstream is the Darwinian electro-opera by Swedish electro-pop duo, The Knife. Combining traditional opera singing with electronic beats and synths and featuring experimental lighting and digitised projection techniques, Tomorrow, in a Year is an innovative way to bring together old-world sensibilities with more challenging innovations in art (although, admittedly, my friend who saw it did admit it was, ‘A bit wanky’.)
The main criticism I have for this kinds of artwork—apart from the strong potential for wankiness—is that it’s all too focused on the fact that it’s digital, in that the aesthetic is always referencing digitial culture. Green neon lights, blurriness and pixelated imagery dominates, making it seem that there is much more to be explored and experimented with in this medium. Other than creating shiny 3D logos, that is.
Irrationnal Geometrics (2008) by Pascal Dombis displays the self-referentiality of digital art
