NEW MEDIA & ART

Visual Art in the 21st Century

by Paul Birkeland-Green on April 7th 1999

It was proposed that there had been a great shift in the art market in particular the historical shift of the art patron. Before, art was decided through the buyers; indirectly they dictated what should or shouldn't be produced, a process which had progressed since the middle ages. At present this choice appears to be made by the artist, who chooses what work to produce. It would appear that the shift from public art to personal art has been a slow gradual process. It was noted that Paul Valerie's definition of what art was in a social context was now largely redundant.

The meeting discussed particularly the power of picture making since the late 1950s, the patronage of buyers and galleries which were so apparent between the wars had strong competition from other mass media devices. At our point in history in the late 20th century the Internet is a new media which could well shape style, motif and context of what will become contemporary fine art.

Galleries no longer have the final say in presentation and promotion of artists, artists can go anywhere and show their work globally 24 hours a day 365 days a year via the world wide web.

This new medium gives problems in quantifying the `quality' of artistic craftsmanship. It was suggested that 19th and to some extent 20th century painting could be qualified or itemised by a set of established criteria; contemporary conceptual art which we now enjoy adheres less rigidly to this criteria; perhaps we have to return to judging by our emotions more than laid down grades of draughtsmanship. It could be said that, in one sense art is the distillation of the essence of the human experience. And with the ever increasing technologies which can enhance the viewers' experience it could well be possible that our emotional responses may well be used as metaphors.

This is of course nothing new William Turner had tied himself to the mast of a ship in the storm just to experience a storm, something he felt more important than just observing it. His oil painting that expressed that experience had to do so through the limitations of that medium, how much more he could have said with today's technology.

Carol Baker