Digital Art

World of Art

by Christiane Paul

“Paul does an impressive job of compressing the activity of a huge field, in which there are no obvious heroes and no single aesthetic line.” ― Publishers Weekly Digital technology has revolutionized the way we produce and experience art today. Not only have traditional forms of art such as printing, painting, photography, and sculpture been transformed by digital techniques and media, but the emergence of entirely new forms such as internet and software art, digital installation, and virtual reality has forever changed the way we define art.

Christiane Paul surveys the developments in digital art from its appearance in the 1980s to the present day and looks ahead to what the future may hold. She discusses the key artists and works in the genre, drawing a distinction between work that uses digital practices as tools to produce traditional forms and work that uses them to create new kinds of art. She explores the broader themes and questions raised by these artworks such as viewer interaction, artificial life and intelligence, political and social activism, networks and telepresence, and issues surrounding the collection, presentation, and preservation of digital art.

This third, expanded edition of the popular resource investigates key areas of digital art practice that have gained prominence in recent years, including interactive public installation, augmented and mixed reality, social networking, and file-sharing technologies. 338 illustrations, 270 in color

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Technology, Art History, Design, Reference

272 pages, Paperback

First published July 28, 2003

Reviews

[Vendela Gambill · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately a disappointing read. Tackled with the intention of uncovering the intricate narrative of progression of digital art over the years. However this book presented those cases in an extremely vague and choppy manner. There seemed to be no continuation or silver thread through the book which would make this an interesting read. Instead just a continuous presentation of various art works without any attempt to develop an argument.

I cannot recommend this book to inspire anyone who is interested in Digital art. She includes a few unheard of art pieces, and many historical (sometimes outdated) works, but fails to achieve a sense of belonging of these works in the context of our CURRENT digital art climate. When tackling a subject that is still in its major stages of growth and development, cataloguing without greater insight (beyond squeemishly vague and understated sub-titles/sub-headers), it is expected to present some sort of richness that can inspire the reader to have a view as to where this field may develop in coming years. Instead the read was convoluted and poorly structured. But it was an attempt.

PS. !!! One point I failed to mention -- pg 222 is the work of my university tutor Usman Haque which was exciting to see :D

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Required reading for a digital arts class. Reading about digital interactive art is about as fun as it sounds.

[Kos · Rating 2 out of 5]

Suffers from really dry explanations of art pieces, the one thing it has going for it is that the work listed is pretty obscure and interesting

[Behrooz Parhami · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this richly-illustrated 224-page book, art curator Christiane Paul reviews the ways in which digital technologies have transformed art, both as tools for artists and as artistic media.

At the end of an introductory chapter, which is followed by three numbered chapters on “Digital Technologies as Tools,” “Digital Technologies as a Medium,” and “Themes in Digital Art,” we read: “Whether digital art will find a permanent home in museums and art institutions or exist in different contexts—supported and presented by a growing number of art-and-technology centers and research-and-development labs—remains to be seen …”

Given that the book was published more than two decades ago, the critical position of digital art in virtually all domains (graphics, sculpture, music, and filmmaking, to cite some examples) has been demonstrated beyond any doubt. Significant advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have been key contributors to changes in the digital art scene, In fact, today’s key question may be whether art that does not use digital assists or digital media will continue to be viable.

After the initial excitement over purely algorithmic art production, it now seems that a human-in-the-loop approach is critical for maintaining the authenticity and emotional resonance of works of art. I won’t rule out, however, the possibility that further advances in AI may allow us to add emotional complexity to algorithmic perfection, without direct human intervention.

[Karinn ✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this for a course in school as an extra to prepare myself for the exam.

I have some difficulties with the overall writing style of these kinds of books. The subject is really interesting but it's told in so many (in my opinion useless repetitive) details...

Overall nice subject, to many words.

[Oleg · Rating 4 out of 5]

good history introduction, the book seems to be outdated in case of last edition from 2017, most of the examples today seem not so significant, digital art consepts and technology emerging more and more every year

[Chyeerio]

I read this for an Art class, and it was relatively interesting. I had no idea how inventive artists were in incorporating technology into exhibits or projects. I'm sure with the rise of AI art, there will be some new and fun ways for artists to express themselves.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of photos and descriptions of digital art, categorized by mediums and themes. Learned about some interesting projects I hadn't heard of, early digital art projects that were really visually and technically advanced.

[Hayley]

really good works listed but WISH there had been more of a description of the general scene, debates within the field and the like. nonetheless worth skimming through to get a sense of what artists have done if you’re interested in digital art

[Line · Rating 1 out of 5]

The only good thing about this book so far is the fact that half the pages are just filled with photos which makes this a faster read... I'm glad my professor explains this in class cuz wth is this?? 🙄😮‍💨

[Maksim Karpitski · Rating 1 out of 5]

Since digital art itself is so fractured it's no big surprise that this books comes short of any unifying idea but it also lacks structure and indexing to be a decent introduction into the topic.

[Sanjay Pasari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Digital technology takes art and craft to a next level through Digital art and make artistic approach more effective and come out the art so beautifully portrayed.

[aurora · Rating 2 out of 5]

did not finish. writing was sooo dull. will keep as reference book.

[colau · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pesado pero bien.
Tampoco me importaba mucho pero hemos aprendido para el examen.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good survey.

[Radz · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing book, i recommend to all those who a are interested in Digital art, Contemporary art history,& Computer history! I learnt alot so far!

[Francisco Tapiador · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read to keep up to date on modern art.

[Egor xS · Rating 2 out of 5]

This in other respects a robust introduction to the topic tackles too expansive an array of artworks to be thorough

[Arvida Byström · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great overview of digital art through its brief history