Making art in a digital/cyber culture: exploring the dialectic between the manual creator and the digital self

摘要

Traditional forms of art making practice have become more complex in this culture that increasingly relies on, and is fascinated by, computer technology and the Internet. The web has facilitated an incredible, often overwhelming amount of information that is multidimensional and multi-contextual, offering artists global connections. A new dialectic however, is emerging as artists approach their work from positions of both manual creators and digital selves. The dialectic raises issues and questions such as: How does the hands-on engagement with artists' materials interchange with digital manipulation capabilities facilitated by a computer mouse? What do the artists have to say about an art practice that straddles real and virtual contexts? Using conversations with six visual artists of varying age and career levels, this paper begins to explore how digital technologies and cyberspace are affecting hand-made art processes, while highlighting the artists' perceptions of how these new contexts are enveloping their practices. Issues of researching ideas on the web, integrating digital processes with hand drawn images and the seduction of digital manipulation programs and computer capabilities frame the artists' conversations.