Art Revs Technology, Technology Redefines Art
Imagination or art precedes invention and, that invention prompts new ways to create and define art.
There were two articles that sparked my interest in the new work times this week. The first article was written by Edward Rothstein entitled Techie’s Cyber Odyssey: Magic in Bolts and bits. He talked about Vista, the new capabilities it will have and the pursuit of Microsoft to eliminate the P.C. all together by creating something will that break the bonds of the tiny box we sit ourselves in front of and rely on, for everything from purchasing Christmas gifts to typing papers about news we get off the internet. The incredible visual capabilities Vista has will lead to an even greater medium for creating art. Adobe photo shop and programs like it will become the new tools artists will employ for creating their work. Hopefully it will not replace current practice but expand and broaden the horizons of art. This article represents the idea of technology prompting art in a functional way, using the technology to make the art.
When we look at the work that emerged form the Fluxus movement especially the work of Nam June Paik, we see another perspective for employing technology to create art. Not in the functionality of the technology but the technology as an object to be incorporated into or become the subject of the work. Take for example the Magnet TV. Paik created a work of art by manipulating or destroying the technology. The same goes for Integral Piano. Both show modern technologies rediscovering art through manipulation and destruction.
The cycle is almost complete all that remains is the art preceding invention. In the article "If Leonardo Had Made Toys", written by Michel Marriot showcases this perspecyive. The Article details new toys, some that have already been released and some that are still on the bench. The article talks about Leonardo’s vision of a flying machine whose inspiration came mainly from birds and a toy that realizes the reproduction of a bird in flight. The mechanism that makes the toy fly is an emulation of the way in which a bird flaps its wings and makes flight possible. Of course we have planes and have had that technology for some time now. No doubt Leonardo’s inspiration is evident there but it has taken 500 years for technology to catch up with the imagination of a man visualizing a machine that actually flies using the mechanics of a bird's wings.
Leonardo was an artist and a scientist. He truly bridged the gap between art and technology. Art and imagination prompt the creation of technology. Technology enables us to discover new ways to make art which will then lead to new technology and more art and so on so forth, leaving art the Alpha and Omega. A cycle beginning with the conception of an idea, the realization or invention of that idea and the manipulation of the invention to either functionally employ or physically subject the use of the technology for art. Then using that art to conceptualize something new whether it be an idea or an invention.
This idea really connects with the philosophy of Fluxus. In the manifesto written by George Maciunas, who originated the term Fluxus, Fluxus is defined as “an act of flow, a continuous moving on or passing by, as of a continuing succession of changes”.
Connecting this idea with mine makes for something fun to wrap your barin around.