Electronic art

Stelarc *Parasite: Event for Invaded and Involuntary Body*, at the 1997 Ars Electronica Festival

Electronic art is a form of art that makes use of electronic media. More broadly, it refers to technology and/or electronic media. It is related to information art, new media art, video art, digital art, interactive art, internet art, and electronic music. It is considered an outgrowth of conceptual art and systems art.

Background

The term electronic art is almost synonymous to computer art and digital art.^[1] The latter two terms, and especially the term computer-generated art are mostly used for visual artworks generated by computers. However, electronic art has a much broader connotation, referring to artworks that include any type of electronic component, such as works in music, dance, architecture and performance.^[2] It is an interdisciplinary field in which artists, scientists and engineers often collaborate when creating their works. The art historian of electronic art Edward A. Shanken works to document current and past experimental art with a focus on the intersection of art, science, and technology. Other writers on the topic of electronic art include Frank Popper, Dominique Moulon, Sarah Cook, and Christiane Paul.

Electronic art often features components of interactivity.^[3] Artists make use of technologies like the Internet, computer networks, robotics, wearable technology, digital painting, wireless technology and immersive virtual reality. As the technologies used to deliver works of electronic art become obsolete, electronic art faces serious issues around the challenge to preserve artwork beyond the time of its contemporary production. Currently, research projects are underway to improve the preservation and documentation of the fragile electronic arts heritage (see DOCAM – Documentation and Conservation of the Media Arts Heritage). Digital graphics software such as Photoshop allows for the digital manipulation of analog photographs, the creation of wholly electronic images, and application of AI-enhanced generative fills.^[4]

Wearable Tech

With the advancements in lightweight microchips, wireless capabilities, sensors and motion tracking technology,^[5] new mediums in digital art and performance have become possible. Technology has the capability to augment and manipulate reality as well as audience or viewer perception. Motion tracking suits are used in creating 3D renders of animated characters for film and video games.^[6] The animation or CGI produced can be edited and adjusted before viewing, but research into real time rendering for live performance art is being streamlined through the use of artificial intelligence, automation, and programing.^[6] Live renders are similarly used in the metaverse to create more realistic avatar movement and expression.^[7] Further implications of wearable technology include audio and music production. Laurie Anderson is a performance artist who used a suit equipped with amplified tactile sensors. She used her movements to create music, as various body parts were assigned different percussive or instrumental sounds and tones when hit or moved.^[5] Similar to this musical tech is the SOMI-1 device as used in the dance performance entitled “My body is an instrument” by: Mike Tyus and Luca Renzi.^[8] This piece of technology was designed by the company Instrument of Things; the SOMI-1 is a small proprioceptive disk that tracks movement and translates it into sound. ^[9]

Art festivals that use the term "electronic art" in their name

International Symposium for Electronic Art (ISEA), organized annually since 1988, international
Ars Electronica Symposium, organized yearly since 1979 by Ars Electronica in Linz, Austria
Dutch Electronic Art Festival (DEAF), organized yearly since 1994 by V2 Institute for the Unstable Media in Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Electronic Language International Festival (FILE) organized yearly since 2000 in São Paulo, Brazil
The Prix Ars Electronica, a major yearly award for several categories of electronic art

Artists

Notable artists working in electronic art include:

References

^ Paul, Christiane 2006. Digital Art, p. 10. Thames & Hudson.
^ Paul, Christiane (2006. Digital Art, p. 132 Thames & Hudson.
^ Paul, Christiane (2006). Digital Art, pp. 8, 11. Thames & Hudson.
^ Chen, Brian. "How to Use A.I. to Edit and Generate Stunning Photos". The New York Times. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
^ ^a ^b Birringer, J. & Danjoux, M. (2009). Wearable performance, Digital Creativity, 20:1-2, 95-113, DOI: 10.1080/14626260902868095
^ ^a ^b Callesen, J. & Nilsen, K. (2004). From lab to stage: practice-based research in performance, Digital Creativity, 15:1, 32-38, DOI: 10.1076/digc.15.1.32.28157
^ Jang D., Yang D., Jang D., Choi B,. Jin T., Lee S. (2023). MOVIN: Real‐time Motion Capture using a Single LiDAR. Computer Graphics Forum. 2023;42(7):1-12. doi:10.1111/cgf.14961
^ Brown, I. (2023, October 10). “My body is an instrument” Somi-1 performance by Mike Tyus and Luca Renzi. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MSQLX71mcY
^ Instruments of Things. (2024). SOMI-1: About. https://instrumentsofthings.com/

Bibliography

Nicolas Bourriaud, Relational Aesthetics, Dijon: Les Presses du Réel, 2002, orig. 1997
Paul Brown, Charlie Gere, Nicholas Lambert, Catherine Mason (eds.), White Heat Cold Logic: British Computer Art 1960–1980, Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2006
Christine Buci-Glucksmann, "L’art à l’époque du virtuel", in Frontières esthétiques de l’art, Arts 8, Paris: L’Harmattan, 2004
Frank Popper, Art of the Electronic Age, Thames & Hudson, 1997
Joline Blais and Jon Ippolito, At the Edge of Art, Thames & Hudson, 2006
Charlie Gere, Digital Culture, Reaktion, 2002. ISBN 978-1-86189-143-3
Oliver Grau (2003). Virtual Art: From Illusion to Immersion (Leonardo Book Series). Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press/Leonardo Books. ISBN 0-262-07241-6.
Oliver Grau (Ed.): Media Art Histories, MIT Press/Leonardo Books, 2007.
Mark Hansen, New Philosophy for New Media, Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2004
Norman M. Klein, "Spaces Between: Traveling Through Bleeds, Apertures, and Wormholes Inside the Database Novel," in Third Person: Authoring and Exploring Vast Narratives, Pat Harrigan and Noah Wardip-Fruin (eds.), Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2009
Donald Kuspit "Del Atre Analogico al Arte Digital" in Arte Digital Y Videoarte, Kuspit, D. (ed.), Consorcio del Circulo de Bellas Artes, Madrid, pp. 33–34 & 3 color images
Donald Kuspit, The Matrix of Sensations, VI: Digital Artists and the New Creative Renaissance
Alan Liu, The Laws of Cool: Knowledge Work and the Culture of Information, The University of Chicago Press, pp. 331–336 & 485–486
Dominic McIver Lopes, A Philosophy of Computer Art, London: Routledge, 2009
Lev Manovich, The Language of New Media, Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press/Leonardo Books, 2001. ISBN 0-262-63255-1
Lev Manovich, Ten Key Texts on Digital Art: 1970–2000, Leonardo, Volume 35, Number 5, October 2002, pp. 567–569
Yucef Merhi, Artists' Fellowship – 2009 Digital/Electronic Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts, 2009
Robert C. Morgan Digital Hybrids, art press, Volume 255
Christiane Paul, Digital Art, Thames & Hudson
Frank Popper, From Technological to Virtual Art, The MIT Press/Leonardo Books, 2007
Frank Popper, Origins and Development of Kinetic Art, Studio Vista and New York Graphic Society, 1968
Frank Popper, Die Kinetische Kunst-Licht und Bewegung, Umweltkunst und Aktion, Dumont Schauberg, 1975
Frank Popper, Le Déclin de l'objet, Le Chêne, 1975
Dick Higgins, Intermedia, 1966. Reprinted in Donna De Salvo (ed.), Open Systems Rethinking Art c. 1970, London: Tate Publishing, 2005
Margot Lovejoy, Digital Currents: Art in the Electronic Age, Routledge, 2004
Frank Popper, Art—Action and Participation, New York University Press, 1975
Frank Popper, Origins and Development of Kinetic Art, New York Graphic Society/Studio Vista, 1968
Frank Popper, Réflexions sur l'exil, l'art et l'Europe : Entretiens avec Aline Dallier, Klincksieck, 1998
Frank Popper, Ecrire sur l'art : De l'art optique a l'art virtuel, L'Harmattan, 2007
Fred Forest, Art et Internet, Editions Cercle D'Art / Imaginaire Mode d'Emploi
Sarah J. Rogers (ed.), Body Mécanique: Artistic Explorations of Digital Realms, Columbus, Ohio, Wexner Center for the Arts, The Ohio State University, 1998* Edward A. Shanken Selected Writings on Art and Technology http://artexetra.com
Edward A. Shanken Art and Electronic Media. London: Phaidon, 2009. ISBN 978-0-7148-4782-5
Rainer Usselmann, The Dilemma of Media Art: Cybernetic Serendipity at the ICA London. Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press/Leonardo Journal, Volume 36, Number 5, October 2003, pp. 389–396
Bruce Wands, Art of the Digital Age, London: Thames & Hudson, 2006. ISBN 978-0500238172

External links

Stephen Wilson: extensive list of "information arts" links
newArteest, list of prominent digital artists
New Media Art book (wiki edition)

[1] Paul, Christiane 2006. Digital Art, p. 10. Thames & Hudson.

[2] Paul, Christiane (2006. Digital Art, p. 132 Thames & Hudson.

[3] Paul, Christiane (2006). Digital Art, pp. 8, 11. Thames & Hudson.

[4] Chen, Brian. "How to Use A.I. to Edit and Generate Stunning Photos". The New York Times. Retrieved April 5, 2024.

[Birringer-5] Birringer, J. & Danjoux, M. (2009). Wearable performance, Digital Creativity, 20:1-2, 95-113, DOI: 10.1080/14626260902868095

[Callesen-6] Callesen, J. & Nilsen, K. (2004). From lab to stage: practice-based research in performance, Digital Creativity, 15:1, 32-38, DOI: 10.1076/digc.15.1.32.28157

[7] Jang D., Yang D., Jang D., Choi B,. Jin T., Lee S. (2023). MOVIN: Real‐time Motion Capture using a Single LiDAR. Computer Graphics Forum. 2023;42(7):1-12. doi:10.1111/cgf.14961

[8] Brown, I. (2023, October 10). “My body is an instrument” Somi-1 performance by Mike Tyus and Luca Renzi. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MSQLX71mcY

[9] Instruments of Things. (2024). SOMI-1: About. https://instrumentsofthings.com/

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