Post #206261 by hanford_lemoore on Sat, Jan 7, 2006 3:17 PM

On 2006-01-07 10:44, Tiki-bot wrote:
Hey Humu, I'd be curious what Hanford would call the images produced by his "Artage" software.

Art.

I think digital art (the kind you find in an art gallery) falls into two major categories: Art that is obviously digital, and art that is no-so-obviously digital. Obvious digital art is stuff like 3d rendering, or pixelated, or digital installations, etc. That kind of art tends to be appreciated less because it's less traditional not just in production but also in presentation; it's not trying to be traditional. This is common with many types of fringe art, not just digital. Found Art is an example, performance art is another. It's art, but is accepted less than, say, oil paintings.

Art that is not-so-obviously digital tends to get clustered into the "faking it" or "taking shortcuts" categories, and when people discover they've been duped they often are left with a bad taste in their mouth. Much in the same way that a lot of people rejected sampling when they first discovered that -- gasp! -- the drums in the hit song they've been listening to in their tape deck was just a recorded loop of digital percussion! I think this is human nature, people don't like to be tricked, and they tend to not want to believe that computers can replicate something that is so organic.

In the end I think it's extremely rare to have a great piece of art produced by a person who's not talented, whether a computer is used or not. We all know that if you're a shitty storyteller when you use a typewriter, you'll be a shitty storyteller when you use a word processor. Technical aspects improve when using a computer but your talent doesn't. whether it's writing or art.

Now, to answer Foamy's question:

Composition and overall quality aside, when I see computer-art in a gallery I tend to think less of it than I do a real painting or even a reproduction of a real painting. I don't know why, especially considering I'm mostly a digital artist myself. I still admire great digital art, though. It's just a higher standard I'm holding it to, so I see less great digital art than I do traditional.