This weeks topic examines how “art” is made, percieved and classified in light of new media. Traditional art, like painting, sculpture and even photography have become only one faucet of what is now deigned “art” . One example is the film discussed in last weeks entry, “Scenario” by Dennis Del Favero. The director, Dennis, classifies it as art, but it does not fit neatly into any of the old world art genres. It is an immersive 3D user generated film, using artificially intelligent characters who interact with the audience. Thus no two screenings are the same, and it is a new form of story telling, according to Dennis, a “two way narrative”.
Watching the piece, it is impossible to deny the artistic merits of it and I am sure anyone else would agree. But there are other forms of “art” that are slightly more suspect. See the following links:
http://sverigesradio.se/cgi-bin/Src/sing/sing.asp?key=undefined
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BioArt
The first is a program that recognises words typed into the input box and finds words from popular songs to “sing it” for the user, and the second explains “bio art”, where bacteria and fungus create “living art”, sometimes so small that it has to be viewed under a microscope. Can we classify these as art? Both examples smack of the product of students mucking around with various programs or in the science labs. Yet they contain some semblance of the idea of what art should be. According to Dennis Del Favero, art is about “creating a set of experiences for the audience to encounter and interpret for themselves”. This definition is quite loose, but in the new media sphere, black and white options do not exist.
“A diffusion is occurring in which art methodologies can pop up unexpectedly, not even recognising themselves as art” says Matthew Fuller, and this is true of the above linked examples. Art is longer definable by a set of strict terms, it occurs and exists in an almost organic fashion.
Armstrong, Keith (2005) ‘Intimate Transactions: The Evolution of an Ecosophical Networked Practice’, the Fibreculture Journal 7, <http://seven.fibreculturejournal.org/fcj-047-intimate-transactions-the-evolution-of-an-ecosophical-networked-practice/>
Fuller, Matthew, 2008, ‘Art Methodologies in Media Ecology’ <http://www.spc.org/fuller/texts/art-methodologies-in-media-ecology/>
Interview with Dennis Del Favero, 21/05/11, Recorded by Louisa Bathgate
