Generative Topic

While discussing our personal projects in class last week we compared the different ways in which we each interpreted the perameters of the topic.  Although all of our projects were very different in style and medium The major similarity that we came across is that we all chose to work in traditional medium.  This seemed to be an interesting finding since the work being completed was designed to meet the standards of a class on "new media."  With this thought in mind, we began to dissect this phenomenon and ask ourselves a few questions as a group.  First of all, what kept us from moving in to the world of new media?  What makes us afraid to work in a more digital or technical way with our artwork when we use it for so many other parts of our life (ex. communication, networking, information processing etc.) Are there any overlaps between old & new media?  When does new media turn in to old media?

Art is an ever-evolving movement, with new mediums and techniques always on the horizon.  I think that this new way of working is just another new era in the art-making world that will eventually turn in to just another genre.  The new media era of work is remeniscient of some of the big changes that happened during the the Fluxus, Dada, and Neo-Dada movements.  Each of these movements were new at the time, and something looked at with a skeptical eyes.  Each were something new and different, conveying radical ideas in a way that is unfamiliar.  The biggest similarity between these older genres and today's new media to me is the way in which they aim to involve the audience.  These older genres all aimed to give the audience a sort of exeperience.  Instead of having the audience merely view the work, they wanted the audience to take away something unique.  I think that new media art work in many ways is similar to this.  Much of new media art is based giving the work the ability to reach a wide variety of people in an easily accessible way.  This far-reaching style, experiential and interactive by nature, creates a sense of community amongst those viewing and participating.   In many ways, new media artwork demands the attention and participation of it's viewers.  Even if we, as a group, are not new media artists, we are participating in the new media era by viewing the work and living in the society that we do, so driven by technology.  

http://www.artnotart.com/fluxus

http://the-artists.org/artist/yoko_ono.html