Ian Vu

VSAR 405
10/23/14
Midterm : New Media History Paper
Since the beginning of time, art and technology have been intertwined in a struggle of
advancement. This struggle affects the artist who is working with the technology in order to
create artwork which has a direct effect on the culture of art, whether in cyberspace or preserved
in a museum. As technology improves over time, there is a change in peoples perspectives of art
and its availability. The public view isnt the only one that changes, but also the artists. Media
has played justifiably the largest role of influencing the public to changes and advancements of
art.
Starting from around the mid 19
th
century, a process of picture development or
photography known as the daguerreotype apparatus was invented (Manovich, pg 1). The
popularity of daguerreotypes gave rise to the demand for picture taking and new portraits.
Popularity rises and falls with each new phenomenon, but the daguerreotype was just the
beginning to an era of media. Around the same time that the daguerreotype was invented, a
computer known as the Analytical Engine was being designed (Manovich, pg 2). These early
computers allowed texts, images and audio to be perceived by millions of people at a time,
allowing society to function more cohesively. These computers enhanced the possibilities of the
already existing media, storing and processing data from photography, film and printing allowed
for saving records (Manovich, pg 2).
A prime example of using a camera to create data is Vertovs Dataset in the movie: Man
with a Movie Camera which illustrates the story of the everyday citizen in Russia. In this silent
documentary, Vertov and his camera man stroll around Russia and create a story by linking
events to the next with their camera (Vertov, pg 2). They draw your attention by using many
techniques such as double exposures, fast and slow motion, freeze and frame cutting, split
screens, angles and multiple range shots. This is due to the high mobility and functionality of the
camera with the users imagination working hand in hand. The author discusses how when
photographs are brought together in either a magazine or newsreel, the location and scale is
discarded allowing for a universal equality of things (Vertov, pg 8). The same concept is also
involved in the computer which brings these photographs to a single screen. Seen as a realistic
representation of possibly a different reality, one of the cyborg. With different realities, there are
essentially multiple views of seeing the world which is seen through art. This can be seen by
simply taking the perspectives of the people involved. The film is its own perspective, the
camera man filming within the film has his own perspective and the people in the film have their
own perspective. This is one way to see how cinematic uses gives people an opinion but
changing technologies alter those perspectives.
Over many decades, cameras improved the clarity and distances that pictures could be
taken from, computers became faster and could store more memory. Moving forward into the
20
th
century film all previous technologies are merged and become computable as data in
computers (Manovich, pg 3). This gave rise to modern computing functions such as graphics and
moving images. Like every process, there are sets of principles, in the case of media, this
includes: Discrete representation on different scales, numerical representation and automation
(Manovich, pg 4). With the creation of the internet, information of all types whether it be for
media or other things, was flowing into the internet by basically anyone with access to it.
Software was then being created to act as filters to this endless flow of information. With each
invention, another complementary one is created to improve the previous one. What happens
when we mix art and technology as one entity, we get media art.
Art has been created throughout the history of human beings, we are now in the age
where art is becoming new media art. Media art is art with the introduction of technology. Art
has been preserved and collected within museums and art galleries, but as technology improves,
so does the nature and structure of these organizations that incorporate these arts. Technology
tends to make communication among people easier to perceive what they see, in the case of art,
they get a better understanding and familiarity of art. Some institutions involve the public to
interact during a demonstration for some artworks (Paul, pg 13). This is another way to get
public awareness. But just the awareness of there being an art institution in the area is an
improvement of technology which that person or group may have seen on a commercial. New
media art isnt just about getting people to see the art, but also how to document artworks into
our history. As methods and processes change in the art world on how to set up exhibitions and
presentations, so does the criteria for recording this art (Paul, pg 14). Art is about preserving it in
its finest condition which cant always be stored in a museum or gallery. Art is meant to be well
known around the world, which in the digital age, can be done easily and readily. This does
cause a problem for museums because if the works of art can be seen from any computer or
digital device, then the need for the exhibit in which the work of art is being held has less value
to both the museum and consumer.
The electronic era and postmodernism in relation to art has had many influences and has
been influenced by its predecessors. During postmodernism, information is everything and
television gave the public consciousness of images of all types. During this era, there was the
assumption that reality is not reflected within text, besides text itself meaning that reality is
arbitrary, relative and subjective to each and every person (Lovejoy, pg 73). This is the same as
peoples interpretations of art, there is not just one way of looking at it. This is the view of how
Dada saw things, the result could be manipulated into whatever was saw fit at the time. Dadas
influences spread greatly in Europe which gave rise to many interesting forms of art. Arts that
involved movement using new technologies such as computers with lasers and scanners,
environments with light/audio control.
With great art, comes the concept of dematerialization which gives art the role of pure
information (Lovejoy, pg 73). This is when the importance of art goes beyond the ability of
touch and sight. This was due to the electronic era where technological advances greatly
improved the computer allowing for cheaper computers. Computers which would use digital
imaging and potentially give easier accessibility to computer users. Film and photography
changed into a billion-dollar industry overnight essentially (Lovejoy, pg 73). This also made
images almost all dematerialized within the databases of any computer because the need to touch
and feel are completely gone (Lovejoy, 73). Many of the new technologies during this era
contributed to a change in peoples assumptions and attitudes on not only art, but just about
every topic.
With technology changing and art adapting to those changes. It becomes more difficult
for artists to stand out in new media. So artists try to use different combinations of techniques
with their art to attract that public attention. This may include using surveys, reviews and
published material in order to do so.
Works Cited

Lovejoy, Margot. Digital Currents: Art in the Electronic Age. Routledge Press, 2004. 36-61.
Web. 23 Oct. 2014. http://lisahutton.net/reading/TheMachineAgeAndModernism.pdf
Lovejoy, Margot. Digital Currents: Art in the Electronic Age. Routledge Press, 2004. 36-61.
Web. 23 Oct. 2014.
http://lisahutton.net/reading/TheElectronicEraAndPostmodernism.pdf
Manovich, Lev. How Media Became New, 1-8. Web. 23 Oct. 2014.
http://lisahutton.net/reading/new_media_users_guide.pdf
Paul, Christiane, Thames, Hudson. Digital Arts N.p.: n.p., 2008. 7-25. Web. 23 Oct. 2014.
<http://lisahutton.net/reading/Digital%20Art_ChristianePaul.pdf>.
Vertov, Dziga. Prologue: Vertovs Dataset. Web. 23 Oct. 2014. 1-23
http://lisahutton.net/reading/VertovDataset.pdf