Digital art

Irrationnal Geometrics digital art installation 2008 by Pascal Dombis

A close up of the details in a Mandelbulb, a three-dimensional analog of the Mandelbrot set. An example of fractal art

Digital art is a general term for a range of artistic works and practices that use digital technology as an essential part of the creative and/or presentation process. Since the 1970s, various names have been used to describe the process including computer art and multimedia art, and digital art is itself placed under the larger umbrella term new media art.^[1][2]

The impact of digital technology has transformed activities such as painting, drawing, sculpture and music/sound art, while new forms, such as net art, digital installation art, and virtual reality, have become recognized artistic practices.^[3] More generally the term digital artist is used to describe an artist who makes use of digital technologies in the production of art. In an expanded sense, "digital art" is a term applied to contemporary art that uses the methods of mass production or digital media.^[4]

[edit] Digital production techniques in visual media

Lillian Schwartz's Comparison of Leonardo's self portrait and the Mona Lisa based on Schwartz's Mona Leo. An example of a collage of digitally manipulated photographs

The techniques of digital art are used extensively by the mainstream media in advertisements, and by film-makers to produce special effects. Desktop publishing has had a huge impact on the publishing world, although that is more related to graphic design. Both digital and traditional artists use many sources of electronic information and programs to create their work.^[5] Given the parallels between visual and musical arts, it is possible that general acceptance of the value of digital art will progress in much the same way as the increased acceptance of electronically produced music over the last three decades.^[6]

Digital art can be purely computer-generated (such as fractals and algorithmic art) or taken from other sources, such as a scanned photograph or an image drawn using vector graphics software using a mouse or graphics tablet.^[7] Though technically the term may be applied to art done using other media or processes and merely scanned in, it is usually reserved for art that has been non-trivially modified by a computing process (such as a computer program, microcontroller or any electronic system capable of interpreting an input to create an output); digitized text data and raw audio and video recordings are not usually considered digital art in themselves, but can be part of the larger project of computer art and information art.^[8] Artworks are considered digital painting when created in similar fashion to non-digital paintings but using software on a computer platform and digitally outputting the resulting image as painted on canvas.^[9]

Andy Warhol created digital art using a Commodore Amiga where the computer was publicly introduced at the Lincoln Center, New York in July 1985. An image of Debbie Harry was captured in monochrome from a video camera and digitized into a graphics program called ProPaint. Warhol manipulated the image adding colour by using flood fills.^[10][11]

[edit] Computer-generated visual media

Digital sculpting can create photorealistic 3d models used in still imagery.

A procedurally generated photorealistic landscape created with Terragen. Terragen has been used in creating CGI for movies.

There are two main paradigms in computer generated imagery.^{[citation needed]} The simplest is 2D computer graphics which reflect how you might draw using a pencil and a piece of paper. In this case, however, the image is on the computer screen and the instrument you draw with might be a tablet stylus or a mouse. What is generated on your screen might appear to be drawn with a pencil, pen or paintbrush. The second kind is 3D computer graphics, where the screen becomes a window into a virtual environment, where you arrange objects to be "photographed" by the computer. Typically a 2D computer graphics use raster graphics as their primary means of source data representations, whereas 3D computer graphics use vector graphics in the creation of immersive virtual reality installations. A possible third paradigm is to generate art in 2D or 3D entirely through the execution of algorithms coded into computer programs and could be considered the native art form of the computer. That is, it cannot be produced without the computer. Fractal art, Datamoshing, algorithmic art and real-time generative art are examples.

[edit] Computer generated 3D still imagery

A virtual girl art generated by a computer (software)

3D graphics are created via the process of designing imagery from geometric shapes, polygons or NURBS curves^[12] to create three-dimensional objects and scenes for use in various media such as film, television, print, rapid prototyping, games/simulations and special visual effects.

There are many software programs for doing this. The technology can enable collaboration, lending itself to sharing and augmenting by a creative effort similar to the open source movement, and the creative commons in which users can collaborate in a project to create unique pieces of art.

[edit] Computer generated animated imagery

Computer-generated animations are animations created with a computer, from digital models created by the 3d artists or procedurally generated. The term is usually applied to works created entirely with a computer. Movies make heavy use of computer-generated graphics; they are called computer-generated imagery (CGI) in the film industry. In the 1990s, and early 2000s CGI advanced enough so that for the first time it was possible to create realistic 3D computer animation, although films had been using extensive computer images since the mid-70s. A number of modern films have been noted for their heavy use of photo realistic CGI.^[13]

[edit] Digital installation art

The Cave Automatic Virtual Environment at the University of Illinois, Chicago

Digital installation art constitutes a broad field of activity and incorporates many forms. Some resemble video installations, particularly large scale works involving projections and live video capture. By using projection techniques that enhance an audiences impression of sensory envelopment, many digital installations attempt to create immersive environments. Others go even further and attempt to facilitate a complete immersion in virtual realms. This type of installation is generally site specific, scalable, and without fixed dimensionality, meaning it can be reconfigured to accommodate different presentation spaces.^[14]

Noah Wardrip-Fruin's "Screen" (2003) is an example of digital installation art which makes use of a Cave Automatic Virtual Environment to create an interactive experience.^[15]

[edit] Subtypes

[edit] Related Organizations and Conferences

• Artmedia
• Austin Museum of Digital Art
• Computer Arts Society

[edit] See also

• Algorithmic art
• Computer art
• Computer graphics
• Electronic Art
• Generative art
• New Media Art
• Virtual art

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Dig@ran: European Festival on digital arts