It seems that technology can often be equated to novelty. How often do you hear someone say "oh, I'm not very good with [cell phones][computers][digital cameras, etc], I'm not very tech savy."
What does it mean to be tech savy? Or, more importantly, how do we socially define technology? In class we discussed the technology of writing. While handwriting was once a mystery to the masses, it would be far-stretched for someone today to think of handwriting a great technologic advancement. Once a technology becomes widespread and deeply embedded into the character of a culture, its connotations as a piece of technology quickly fade.
This relationship between technology and novelty illustrates a emerging dilemma in art. Whenever technology is used as tool to create art, the first reaction by critics is always "Is this really art?" As critics of digital art, we question the controlling influence of the artist, enforcing the ideal that art must be created by a skilled author. The common conception of art is something that must be done by hand; something that the artist's pencil or brush entirely defines. The authorship of an oil painting would never be brought into question. However, digital art is not granted the same leniency; we question who the artist is, the computer or the user. It takes time for the 'newness' of a technology to wear off before something truly creative and widely recognized as art to emerge and be appreciated. It is easy for everyone to recognize the artistic skill of someone who works with charcoal or graphite; we have all picked up a pencil and used it to create something. With all of the software packages and power of a computer, we cannot know what is controlled by some algorithm, what is a photoshop brush, or what was intentionally and cleverly created by a 'digital artist.' We need to understand the limitations of a particular software before we can again recognize the skill of the artist; in order for something to be art it needs to be both visually or mentally stimulating, and their needs to be a sense of wonder and awe for the skill of the artist.
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