The End of Digital Media Art - Article Example

The End of Digital Media Art Digital media art has become very popular nowadays primarily because it is absolutely based on the computer and the internet. These are the two continuously developing technological fields that have benefitted almost all spheres of social life, especially in the last two decades. For the modern artists the use of the computer as a tool for crafting works of art have allowed him to realize or visualize his creative ideas beyond what can be allowed by his manual capabilities. This ability to overwhelm limitations set by traditional means has made them even more innovative. Before, when many of the art forms relied solely on non-digital or analog media, the artist had to reduce much of what his imaginations can achieved to what could only be allowed by the medium. Now, with digital media, the artist can create an artwork that takes into consideration his and his audience’s most surreal imaginations. At the same time, audiences can themselves interact with the artwork itself, making it virtually their own by applying their own enhancements. Video and photo editing software have made this possible. All these advantages provided by digital media art have definitely heightened its appeal among the people. At least, for the time that it came out first as a novelty and now that both artists and audiences are still in the process of discovering its full potentials. However, just like the rest of the art forms that came before it, digital media art will soon enter into the process of dying out. Of course, this is not going to be too abrupt. People are not going to wake up one day and realize that the works of art they often see in the internet, in the movies, and in the videogames are no longer around. They will still be very much around. In fact they will probably dominate even more. Gigantic LCD screens will ease out every tarpaulin billboard from existence. 3D holograms will replace the flat-screen cinema as theaters will be circular in architecture, much like the amphitheaters of the ancient times. Weinbren mentioned how cinema’s medium has evolved through the years, from videotapes to the DVD. (The Digital Revolution) He pointed out how one technological wonder became ordinary and old later. What will happen is that digital media art’s novelty will surely be gone first. When its newness is gone, it will definitely go into the next stage of the process of being ordinary. Once it is at that state of being ordinary, it achieves inertia. Of course, as Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation asserts, digital media art will fall towards its demise. (Principia) Digital media art’s end, however, does not mean that it will actually be gone. Its end simply means the closing stages of the significance that it enjoys today and in the next ten to fifteen years. Digital media art is certainly not the ultimate development of modern art forms. It may be revolutionary though. Nevertheless, it went through stages of development. All such stages were in response to problems and limitations set by its precursors. Based on this historical trend, it is, therefore, possible for a new art form to be developed soon and to replace the dominance of digital media art. The increasing commercialization of digital media art has led it to the shorter route toward being ordinary and mainstream, toward inertia and the subsequent fall. This is why many artists and digital art critics say that the post-digital era is fast approaching. (Rothschild) Cinema’s pattern is actually the best example. It started out as merely moving pictures provided by the use of the kinetoscope in 1893 and then the cinematograph only two years later. At the beginning, these earned skepticism but later it became a craze, especially when film camera developed further and brought in the silent movie era. Of course, as the equipment for this artwork became more advanced, moviemakers also began to improve on their craft. Soon, however, when movies have become so commonplace, these began to lose much of its appeal. People have now come to prefer entertainment that does not just let them sit and watch but interact also, making themselves very much part of the story than just being the audience. Because of this, interactive media was developed. People play the part that used to be the exclusive domains of actors they see on screen. In a survey by the NPD Group, a research firm, it is said that 64% of Americans have played videogames in the first half of 2009 compared to 53% who watched movies. (Entertainment Trends) Does this mean that movies are on the way out and computer-based videogames have just become the craze? Movies are, indeed, no longer as attractive but even videogames have also begun losing their appeal too. Another survey by the NPD Group says that videogames sales have been dropping by about 17% yearly since 2008. This can be blamed on the economic recession that the US has been suffering. However, what is clear is that digital media art, which is quite prominent in the field of videogames, is beginning to have inertia. The end of digital media art in its unadulterated form, however, is not something that must depress both the audience the artists. Instead, they should expect new art forms to emerge along with more advanced media. In fact, digital media art will not end in the sense that it will be gone. It will only evolve to something more than just digital. It will be a part of an advanced art form that combines digital electronics and software with the real physical world. Alexenberg describes it as the “humanization of digital technologies through interplay between digital, biological, cultural, and spiritual systems.” (The Future of Art in the Digital Age) Of course, such combination would not have occurred had digital media art not achieve the highest possible level of development. Now, the trend is moving towards the assimilation of such art form by reality. It is entering the post-digital era; a new period when all the imagination visualized without limits through digital art can be realized and be given life not just through the movies and the computer screen but in actual situations. Only recently several movies regarding this direction have been made. Avatar and The Surrogates both narrated how individuals or real-life creatures can be controlled as much as gaming characters can be manipulated with the computer mouse. Of course, such development has material basis. The most solid basis for its future is the present. As the current surveys show, people’s preference for entertainment has shifted from the passive to the interactive. The movies, used to be mere means of visual escape from the present as how the book The Present Tense explains. (Roberts) Now, people want to create their own reality; to be totally involved in it and not just be a mere spectator. This has been achieved with the computer and the internet providing the desired interactivity. In music, the convenience of the internet has made it possible for non-musicians to obtain digital music and combine it with other sounds. This too signifies the entry of music into the post-digital era. (Cascone) However, this is not the end of digital art’s development. Instead, it is just the transition stage towards the convergence of the digital and the real. This is no longer just virtual reality. It is unadulterated reality where the distinction between digital and the physical no longer exists. Just like most developments in the arts, the convergence of digital media art and reality may be met with skepticism. In fact, moral issues may arise out of this. Nevertheless, art development is an unstoppable train. This is because it relies on the unquenchable thirst of man for advancement in all spheres. Art does not imitate life. It is, in fact, always the other way around. Digital media art obviously does more than what can be realized in life. However, with creative imaginations visualized or heard with the help of electronics and computers, people can get a glance of the future. Inspired by the presentations of digital media art, they begin to crave for more. It is not just more digital movies and music and the interactive games that they want. They want digital art to become very much part of their real life. In this sense, it is life that they wish to imitate art. At this point in time, making digital objects and characters come alive alongside humans and other physical objects may not be immediately realizable. However, the direction is truly towards that. The themes of many present movies certainly depict that future. It may be the end of digital media arts but it will be the beginning of a new lifestyle. Works Cited Alexenberg, Mel. The Future of Art in a Digital Age: From Hellenistic to Hebraic Consciousness. University of Chicago Press Cascone, Kim. "The Aesthetics of Failure: "Post-Digital” Tendencies in Contemporary Computer Music." retrieved from http://mitpress.mit.edu/journals/COMJ/CMJ24_4Cascone.pdf Newton, Isaac. Principia, Book 3, General Scholium. 1729 Roberts, Sara. “The Present Tense.” Retrieved from http://www.music.calarts.edu/~sroberts/pdf/CatalogEssayDK.v4.3.pdf Rothschild, Kate. "The Future of Digital Art." Artsline. Retrieved from http://www.dca.wa.gov.au/__data/.../The_Future_of_Digital_Art.pdf The NPD Group. "Entertainment Trends in America," Wave 4, March 2009 retrieved from http://npd.com/lps/Entertainment_Trends2009/ Weinbren, Grahame. "The Digital Revolution is a Revolution of Random Access." 1997 Read More