Technology and the Art: How our Art is Affected by New and Emerging Technologies
There’s no denying that technology is rapidly changing the way we live and do things today. With computer involvement in nearly everything we do today, we have come a long way from expressing ourselves by dragging ashes and dirt across cave walls. But how are these new technologies affecting our ability to express and create today and is it to our benefit or detriment? Let’s discuss this.
Art: A Brief History
Since the beginning of time mankind has needed to express themselves through creative means. Over the years art styles and subjects have varied greatly but all share the same goals and interests, to explore and communicate the intricacies of the human experience. It may have started with crude cave paintings but art has moved out into the real world in various forms, mediums, and styles. Over time historians have seen art develop into deeper and more refined works as the world around the artists began to change.
In a polytheistic society, Egyptian art was centered on their religious beliefs depicting the Gods they worshipped and the rituals they performed. In Greece and Rome, gods were displayed in beautiful statues and unique pottery. Later as Christianity developed centuries of biblical-based art was created in recognition of the one true God.
Although art is more than just showing off your religious beliefs, the Baroque art period strove for luxury, and western art continued to flourish and explore various subjects and topics, as well as techniques and mediums as history continued. Impressionism and post-impressionism took Europe by storm in the 19th century, and other art isms such as cubism, expressionism, surrealism, modernism, and postmodernism began to emerge as the years went on.
Art and it’s Place in Society Today
A quick Google search will show you that art is a prevalent and important aspect of daily life today. From our home décor to entertainment, art is still a large part of daily life. But much like the artists of history’s past, artists today are still evolving and adapting to the changes in beliefs, and resources and technologies available.
While much art is still done with paint and canvas, artists today are exploring new mediums and revisiting old ones. I myself choose to paint with razor blades as opposed to traditional brushes. Some artists are part artist and part street performers creating theirs works in the public eye with chalk and spray paint. And a great many artists are opting to create digitally with noteworthy editing software like Adobe Photoshop and Procreate.
The way artists market and promote their work today has also changed a great deal throughout history. Once upon a time, professional artists relied on the generosity of patrons to survive. Today savvy artists are now turning to social media to build their brand and sell their art.
So What Does This Mean to Artists of Today and the Future?
As with most things, there are pros and cons to the overall evolution of art through the use of technology. Pros include increased ease and sharing of new ideas and methods as well as better and more affordable marketing capabilities of artists lacking wealthy patrons. Unfortunately, with the ease of sharing information via the internet and mobile applications comes oversaturation of trending ideas and the potential for new things to be buried under already established and popular sensations. This makes the art world more competitive than ever and finding new and unique artwork a difficult task.
What this means is that artists still have to work hard to find their own style to create something beautiful that the world wants to see. All in all, this would still lend itself to the betterment of the art industry because it will push artists to try hard, create more, and stay true to their own visions. Do you agree? Let me know in the comments below. I would love to hear your thoughts on this!
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