While there are volumes that can be added to the discussion of what Art is, and what it means in the digital age, I hope in a few sentences here to present a viewpoint that does not invalidate digital Art, or physical Art, but highlight an irrefutable difference in the natures of their existence, and to propose we acknowledge the the implications of this difference as we move forward to evolve Art.
It is perhaps the most obvious difference between the two approaches to image making, but the reliance on a particular type of tool for the Art to exist at all has to be considered when pondering the difference between physical and digital Art. One of the elements of Art is that it can be actualized from visions or feelings as long as a being connected to Art exists in a space. For example, a person without limbs sitting in a totally empty room can still move his head in dance to a hummed or imagined melody, or he could rub his head on the wall to compose marks into a drawing. Ultimately, when we have no pigment or technology, we will still have Art.
And there is still a world of discovery in pigment and surface. The scratch marks pencils make, the sounds of spreading paint, the smells of stretching canvas are areas of exploration beyond the making of an image. These element need to be considered to continue to expand our view of Art and what it can be.
So where does digital Art fit in? Surely it can’t be dismissed. Video work is an obvious area where Art can thrive in the digital realm. I have been experimenting with my physical drawings rendered into fluid mindscapes of color and form to music meant to supplement the flowing experience of the digitized drawing. The physical work, a single piece when it comes down to it, can be rendered with an infinite amount of interpretations when transferred to the digital world. I think if we see it similarly as we see photography artfully capturing a moment in light and time, digital interpretations can capture infinite abstracted moments of light and time from a single image.
We can have different conversations, and more expansive conversations, about Art as we continue to study the fundamentals of its many different approaches and find the increasingly harmonious interactions of contrasts there-in. Let us continue to explore what robots can do with Art while we honor the spirit of drawing symbols in the sand, alone.