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The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction
In any age, change occurs through a process of imitating the old while foreshadowing the new. Horseless carriages were first imitations of horse-drawn carriages sans horses and plus a combustion engine, and it was through such imitation that automobiles developed. Such imitation creates anxiety, however, as accepted norms are violated. The new horseless carriage makes noise and frightens the real horses who share the street. Instead of a watering trough, a gas station is needed. Dusty roads perfect for a shoed hoof must give way to asphalt and concrete. Livery stables go out of business and parking lots become essential to successful business endeavors. In our current age, the introduction of digital tools has created a tension between the visual language that came before and a new interactive digital language that is not yet familiar. In this chaotic moment digital anxiety is prevalent, and language for making distinctions about digital experience is imprecise with definitions often broad rather than narrow. One result is that the term digital art is often confused and used interchangeably with its pre-digital counterparts. In this paper, I intend to provide a cultural and aesthetic analysis of the ways in which the valuation of traditional art informs and constrains the valuation of digital art, thereby unduly influencing the very ways in which we name art digital. For the purpose of this analysis, I am defining traditional art as work in a medium that does not use mechanical reproduction, art that exists in a particular time and place as a sole and "authentic" object. Medium here, then, serves as a primary descriptor of what is "traditional" as opposed to a historical discussion and evaluation of particular works of art. Using this definition, traditional art media primarily include painting, drawing, and sculpture. Crafts, such as ceramics, fibers, glass, and metal-smithing, fall into this category only in the 20th century as exhibition of fine arts included object--produced for such exhibition by contemporary visual artists--that were once considered primarily functional or related to ritualistic use. |