What Is Art?
What is art? An industry colleague recently defined art as the "keystone of humanity". Where does art come from? Art is part of the human condition and artists fulfill that condition in society through their understanding of colour, design, composition, line, subject and their capability to elicit a response in the viewer/listener. Art encompasses a number of modalities from painting to sculpture to dance. Great artists are those who have inherent talent and then hone that talent through constant working in their medium. Art is about craft. Art is not about the production method.
Is digital art a legitimate form of art replication? Over the last decade, the climate has been changing, becoming more hospitable to digital art as questions of durability, originality and number of prints are answered to the satisfaction of the collecting community including curators, dealers, collectors and other artists. Collectors collect art, not process.
In 1991, virtually no art galleries would show artwork if it had any digital component to it, dismissing the work because it was not “traditional” art. This has changed and most of the leading galleries and museums have used ink jet technology for creating originals, multiple originals, or reproductions.
Well known Artists who have embraced Jet Technology
- Robert Raushenberg
- Jim Dine
- David Hockney
- Andrew and Jamie Wyeth
- David Shepperd
Artists are known for pushing the envelope. Art is a process of creation based on understanding the relationship among color, subject, line and medium. The way it is created is secondary to the process of creation. Whether art is printed with a brush, chipped out with a hammer, shot with a camera, or printed with a computer printer is secondary to the creation of the image. The role of the artist is to push the boundaries of art. Art is meant to challenge, expand and push the boundaries.
Is digital art “art”? Yes. And artists will continue to further push the boundaries of art by moving the images beyond paper and canvas onto fabrics, floors, and walls with digital printing. Today art can become part of our environment and the clothing we wear. Technology will continue to develop and we cannot judge the integrity by the tools used in the creation process.