What is digital anyway? Is it a complete new media form or just a new platform to exhibit and consume preexisting art? For example, cinema is an art form, but it can exist on physical film or completely in the digital realm. What is undoubtedly true is the substantial impact digital has had on not only the art world, but of all culture. It is truly a technological paradigm shift. And it's relatively young - it is continuing to evolve and develop. And to Bishop's point about artists not reflecting on this brave new world: it might be that we just don't know how to yet. Forest for the trees or something like that.
The fascination with analog is rooted in nostalgia and nostalgia is rooted in the postmodern condition. Bricolage, pastiche, repurposing - in the scary world of postmodernism, there is nothing new. Everything is a reshaping of the old. And with digital, the infinite mutability of every aspect of art is terrifying. "Questions of originality and authorship are no longer the point." It's futile to consider it. Now, energy has to been spent merely selecting what to use/reference/allude to.
Similarly, on the consumer side, we have to skim an entire sea of information. There is so much media in the world, it's impossible to consume it all. On one hand, having all possible information on a topic makes research a purposeful effort - the knowledge is absolutely out there. You'll just have to put a lot of work into finding it.
No comments:
Post a Comment