Technology and art were once considered on two different ends of a spectrum. However, contemporary artists are marrying technology with expression to enhance their artistic vision.
Digital
Perhaps one of the most available methods to artists is to use digital media or manipulation techniques to fabricate or enliven a piece. Entire artworks can be created using a digital software program, or physical paintings can be scanned in and then enhanced. This can be an invaluable way to add precision, shadows, textures, and other elements to a creation that would not be possible otherwise.
Digital programs can also provide an invaluable way to test different color schemes and arrangements before making a physical product. This saves the artist a great amount of time, effort, and money on supplies by being able to conceptualize an idea before creating it in the physical world. Artists like Petra Cortright and Pipilotti Rist are just a few who have used digital media to convey their ideas to the world.
Multimedia
Taking advantage of technology with art does not have to be limited to a 2D experience. Drones, robotics, lights, sound, animation, and virtual reality are all within the wheelhouse of what tech can offer to those wanting to create a multidimensional expression. Gretchen Andrew has become one of the pioneers of using virtual reality for artistic expression and museums and galleries are seeing more installments of VR programs than ever. Virtual reality allows the viewer to become engaged with the exhibit in a way not possible through other means.
An artist collective in London called Umbrellium used lasers and smoke to create “Assemblance”. Users experiencing the piece were encouraged to make light structures and shapes on the floor using their bodies, either individually or collectively. Design collective Minimaforms created a piece called “Petting Zoo” where users interacted with responsive plastic tubes. The tubes could act shy, bored, even affectionate. Artists Julian Adenauer and Michael Haas showed how the creative process is ongoing with their piece “The Vertwalker” which featured a small robot who perpetually repainted over its own work.
3D Printing
Much like a multimedia installment, 3D printing has given artists a new medium to create tactile pieces. By using a computer program themselves or working with a third party, like a 3D printing design service in California, artists like Ioan Florea and Morehshin Allahyari have used 3D printing to bring their ideas to life.
So whether it entails expressing an idea through multimedia, digitally enhancing a traditional painting, or working with a 3D printing design service in California, there are many exciting and invaluable ways technology is allowing artists to create.
