New Media Art Market: Post-Internet Art
Introduction- New media
New media art, artistic works that are using digital technology as an essential part of the creative process, this includes tech art, internet art, and various forms of art that are not being produced through the traditional painting or sculpting mediums. The concern of medium is a key element when differentiating with traditional visual art, practices include but not limited to virtual art, performance to installation.
Today, artists can rightfully be credited as being the first generation that grew up using the internet. With the proper use of technology, any artist can be self-represented and well promoted. This re-shapes the interaction between art consumer, creators, and agents in the new media art world. Although technology acts as a main distinction when identifying the genre new media art, it is important for us to keep in mind that it is not just about the celebration of technology, it is also to discover technology as a platform for creation and consumption. Essentially, it is the matter of recognizing digital technology as a tool and a medium in this context. “Like other art forms before it, new media art has shifted the focus from object to process: as an inher ently time-based, dynamic, interactive, collaborative, customizable, and variable art form, new media art resists “objectification” and challenges traditional notions of the art object. “[1] (Paul, 2008)
On curating new media art, Christiane Paul argues that this art form exists in multiple contexts and shares a bond with our information driven society, and by that he is discussing in the context of our network structures, and collaborative models which is the main drive of cultural production that shapes today’s cultural climate. In addition to being an interaction, new media has the prowess to transmit social and political content without any struggles.
To be precise in defining new media art, it is imperative to understand the type of genre it is. New media art genre involves artworks that are created to explore the idea of physical and virual spaces, the technological and conceptual territory associated with this form of art is constantly being tailored; the art world is attracted to this for the exact reason and its process of evolution has became one of new media art’s assets.
Widewalls, an art magazine heavily invested into urban and contemporary art, defines new media as being “any content available on-de mand through the internet, accessible on any digital device, usually containing interactive user feedback and creative participation”.[2] A prevalent characteristic that is associated with new media is the presence of a dialog or initiation of an interaction platform.
One of the major reasons behind the rise of new media in the art industry is the creation of space for new contemporary artists to express themselves without the limitation of time, space, or acceptance of intitutions . It is only natural for such market to grow due to the booming development of technology of our time. Creations that are categorised as new media can incorporate the traditional forms of art, such as painting and sculpturing which is different from net art in the sense that net art comes as a form of digital artwork that is created and promoted through internet; other terms related to net art includes, “Art and technology”, “computer art”, “system art”, and many more.
Due to these notable characteristics of new media, it becomes even more difficult to formulate a simple definition. Moreover, researchers such as Rinehart and Ippolito are still searching for evidence based proof which sets new media apart from other earlier avant garde art movements such as contemporary art, conceptual art, and how it should be preserved and distributed . Jon Ippolito, artist, educator, new media scholar, and former curator at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, investigates that collaborations and variable ownerships are part of the nature in the world of new media art curation, it has to multiply and mutate in order to survive, this proves problematic works of art transition from one venue to next, due to the changes in personnel, equipment, and scale.[3]
lPost-Internet Art
In this new era of art consumption, a visual stimulant no longer suffices as a physical presentation of art. Even physical intimacy is competing for our attention with intimacy with our screens; newspaper reports on yesterday’s news no longer satisfy our cravings for new information online. The new era of arts no longer can confine itself to physical boundaries. Due to these discrepancies, it becomes somewhat difficult to define Post-Internet art as most of the academics only define it in a broader manner. However, to further disseminate the meaning, it becomes fundamental to comprehend the following extract ;
[1] Paul, C. (2008). New media in the white cube and beyond. Berkeley: University of California Press.
[2]
[2] Lorenzo Pereira, 2011. WHY IS IT SO DIFFICULT TO DEFINE NEW MEDIA ART?http://www.widewalls.ch/new-media-art-definition/ Accessed 02 August 2016
[3] Paul, C. (2008). New media in the white cube and beyond. Berkeley: University of California Press