A Companion to Digital Art (Blackwell Companions to Art History)

Reflecting the dynamic creativity of its subject, this definitive guide spans the evolution, aesthetics, and practice of today's digital art, combining fresh, emerging perspectives with the nuanced insights of leading theorists.;List of figures -- Notes on contributors -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: From digital to post-digital -- evolutions of an art form -- Part 1. Aesthetics of digital art: The complex and multifarious expressions of digital art and its impact on archives and humanities; International networks of early digital arts; Art in the rear-view mirror: the media-archaeological tradition in art; Proto-media art: revisiting Japanese postwar avant-garde art; Generative art theory; Digital art at the interface of technology and feminism; The hauntology of the digital image; Participatory art: histories and experiences of display -- Part 2. Network cultures: the politics of digital art: Small abstract aesthetics; Aesthetics of the digital; Computational aesthetics; Participatory platforms and the emergence of art; Interactive art: interventions in/to process; The cultural work of public interactives -- Part 3. Network cultures: the politics of digital art: Shockwaves in the new world order of information and communication; Critical intelligence in art and digital media; The Silver Age of social media: Nettime.org and the avant-garde of the '90s; Art in the corporatized sphere: the impact of commercial social media on online artistic practice; Artistic visualization; Critical play: the productive paradox List of figures -- Notes on contributors -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: From digital to post-digital -- evolutions of an art form -- Part 1. Aesthetics of digital art: The complex and multifarious expressions of digital art and its impact on archives and humanities International networks of early digital arts Art in the rear-view mirror: the media-archaeological tradition in art Proto-media art: revisiting Japanese postwar avant-garde art Generative art theory Digital art at the interface of technology and feminism The hauntology of the digital image Participatory art: histories and experiences of display -- Part 2. Network cultures: the politics of digital art: Small abstract aesthetics Aesthetics of the digital Computational aesthetics Participatory platforms and the emergence of art Interactive art: interventions in/to process The cultural work of public interactives -- Part 3. Network cultures: the politics of digital art: Shockwaves in the new world order of information and communication Critical intelligence in art and digital media The Silver Age of social media: Nettime.org and the avant-garde of the '90s Art in the corporatized sphere: the impact of commercial social media on online artistic practice Artistic visualization Critical play: the productive paradox Part 4. Digital art and the institution: Contemporary art and new media: digital divide or hybrid discourse? One of us!: On the coupling of new media art and art institutions The digital arts in and out of the institution -- where to now? The nuts and bolts of handling digital art Trusting amateurs with our future Enabling the future, or how to survive FOREVER Exhibition histories and futures: the importance of participation and audiences. Digital art is a complex and vibrantly dynamic form whose diversity reflects the exponential growth curve in computing power. This new companion to the genre gives readers an inclusive, in-depth understanding of digital art, covering its history and evolution, aesthetics, and politics, as well as its often turbulent relationships with established institutions. The volume provides a platform for the most influential voices shaping the current discourse surrounding digital art. Their nuanced insights afford a robust and coherent appreciation of the current state of the field - and the possible paths its future development may follow. Combining the seasoned perspectives of leading international experts with fresh work by emerging scholars, the companion tackles key issues in digital art. It showcases critical and theoretical approaches from across the spectrum, taking in art-historical, philosophical, political, and gendered perspectives, among many others. The volume also covers digital art's primary practical challenges - how to present, document, and preserve pieces that could be erased forever by rapidly accelerating technological obsolescence. Up-to-date, forward-looking, and critically reflective, this authoritative new collection is informed throughout by a deep appreciation of the technical intricacies of digital art Reflecting the dynamic creativity of its subject, this definitive guide spans the evolution, aesthetics, and practice of today’s digital art, combining fresh, emerging perspectives with the nuanced insights of leading theorists.

• Showcases the critical and theoretical approaches in this fast-moving discipline
• Explores the history and evolution of digital art; its aesthetics and politics; as well as its often turbulent relationships with established institutions
• Provides a platform for the most influential voices shaping the current discourse surrounding digital art, combining fresh, emerging perspectives with the nuanced insights of leading theorists
• Tackles digital art’s primary practical challenges - how to present, document, and preserve pieces that could be erased forever by rapidly accelerating technological obsolescence
• Up-to-date, forward-looking, and critically reflective, this authoritative new collection is informed throughout by a deep appreciation of the technical intricacies of digital art

Combining the seasoned perspectives of leading international experts with fresh work by emerging scholars, the Companion tackles key issues in digital art. It showcases critical and theoretical approaches from across the spectrum, taking in art-historical, philosophical, political, and gendered perspectives, among many others. The volume also covers digital art's primary practical challenges: how to present, document, and preserve pieces that could be erased forever by rapidly accelerating technological obsolescence. Up to date, forward looking, and critically reflective, this authoritative new collection is informed throughout by a deep appreciation of the technical intricacies of digital art Christiane Paul is Associate Professor in the School of Media Studies at the New School, New York, USA, and also Adjunct Curator of New Media Arts at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Professor Paul is a noted curator who oversees the Whitney's artport web site and has for more than a decade conceived and administered the museum's new media exhibitions --Book Jacket Histories Of Digital Art -- Aesthetics Of Digital Art -- Network Cultures : The Politics Of Digital Art -- Digital Art And The Institution. Edited By Christiane Paul. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.