Digital Art

I have always had a rather ambivalent attitude towards technology. However, I have also this strange compulsion to explore new media and digital arts, it is not that I am interested in the technical wizardry of some of the effects that can be created, but more a case of seeing it as a means of communication that can be profoundly engaging and therefore impactful. According to Jean Baudrillard, we are living in a 'hyperreal' society where we are constantly bombarded by images, signs and symbols...all things considered, it is no wonder our attention span for the simple, subtle experiences in life are somewhat reduced or degraded. Everything needs to be flashy, move about at great speed and come with dazzling sound effects to get our attention....or does it?

So where does this leave my interest in mediums like moving images, digital art and animation? Well I guess my argument is that there must be a way these mediums can be reconciled with real-life whether it is through a more tactile expression of materials, engaging the viewer in ways that are quietly contemplative or arresting the viewers most basic primal senses. I think this is where I go back to my earlier post about the artist Takehito Koganezawa. His animated drawings do all of the aforementioned for me as well as bridging the gap between traditional and new media.

Another artist that I have a huge amount of admiration for his Camille Utterback.  She is a pioneering artist and programmer whose use of computational systems links human movement in a way that activates the viewers experience of their own bodies. In Untitled 5 (2004), the viewers movements are tracked by a video and translated by computer code into gestural, painterly marks that are displayed on a screen. There are so many things I love about this work...the beautiful abstract painterly marks generated create a very 'tactile' experience that in some ways seems more connected to real life than if the imagery was entirely computer generated. The work is also quite playful in the sense that the viewer almost rediscovers like a child how certain movements create certain marks. For me, the experience of wonderment is one that is so special yet often lost as we move from childhood to adulthood.

In an earlier work, Text Rain (1999), viewers stand or move in front of a large projection screen where they see a mirrored reflection of themselves in black and white and animated letters. Using their bodies, they lift and play with falling letters. The letters actually form lines of a poem about bodies and language. Again, like Untitled 5 I love the interactivity of the work. Furthermore, I find the idea of the viewer seeing themselves reflected as being very important to the work. Awareness of our own body and that of others - how can this be expressed in a work - I feel this is an important line of enquiry and exploration. Last but possibly more significantly, I really like the rhythm of this work. The motion of the falling letters is reminiscent of falling rain or snow, a rhythm found in nature that is defined by repetition (order) and chaos.