Artistic Balance Between the Digital and the Traditional

Response to article "Making art in a digital/cyber culture: exploring the dialectic between the manual creator and the digital self" by Tracey Bowen

                Technology has completely revamped the day to day life in the modern world. It has changed the way we communicate, the way we perceive, the way we research, and the way we are manipulated by others. Technology at its greatest has helped us achieve more in the past century than its inventors could have ever dreamed. Everything from the automobile, Morse code, telephones, and eventually radio, films and television has shaped the very fabric of our nature as a species. Such changes in daily life cause a ripple effect in works of art. The introduction of Sigmund Freud’s theories, for example, influenced much of the Surrealism, fantasy, and Dadaism movements of art. Computers have as well influenced the art world. Since moving beyond the as-large-as-a-room noisemaker that merely calculated basic mathematics, the digital universe has opened the doors to an intense reality that traditional hands-on artists are already beginning to utilize. The article introduces six authors from different ages and at different points of their artistic careers.

                The most interesting element I came across was a quote from one the artists, Diana. On page 224, she describes how she “will use Adobe Photoshop as a means of quickly mocking up an idea because [she] can draw some lines, change the colours and have 10 versions  very quickly to use as a jumping off point.” I am attracted to this idea because I love to take photographs with my dSLR and then use them as source images for a painting or drawing. So, I really relate with these artists on that matter. It just didn’t occur to me to use Photoshop as a sketchbook to create original work. I am very intrigued by this idea and look forward to attempting it with future works.

                Like many of the artists interviewed for this article use the internet as a way for research rather than conventional was, such as going to a library. For me, the libraries around where I live have very limited resources. I can spend hours on the internet researching for information, history, inspiration, etc.

                To me, this article was a fascinating read. I was able to understand more deeply how artists are handing the transition from traditional art to using computers to influence that art, even if it be only for research or business aspects of their career. 

Digital Creativity. 2003. Vol. 14, No. 4, pp. 219-227