Post-Digital Aesthetics: New Media in Modern Culture

 

 

The term ‘culture’ shares different meanings. Raymond Williams, a Welsh literary critic talks about culture as being “one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language” (Williams, 1977, p. 76). According to the Cambridge English Dictionary (2013), culture is “the way of life, especially the general customs and beliefs, of a particular group of people at a particular time”. It is a collective code of concepts, acts and achievements of people belonging to a specific group. It is an experience of “shared meanings or shared conceptual maps” (Du Gay, 1997). Culture is also associated with the arts; it is a system of communication, in which an artistic medium is used as a method of communication. This essay will examine how new media ties into modern culture, and will explore examples of using new media as an artistic expression.

 

Cultural expression is associated with a division into ‘high’ and ‘low’ arts, which is defined by a social class based system. Throughout history, the upper-classes have been affiliated with ‘high’ arts such as opera or ballet, yet movements such as hip-hop are generally considered as ‘low’ arts. However, recent social shifts, including globalisation and capitalism, have resulted in the border between ‘high’ and ‘low’ art becoming less defined. Moreover, the definition of art itself has changed with modern times. The Oxford Dictionary (1989) defines ‘art’ as “the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture”. Traditionally, art was represented through a limited number of mediums, but with globalisation, the internet and social media among other things, art can be almost anything. Modern dictionaries, such as Collins Dictionary (2014), suggest an alternative term for ‘art’: “the creation of works of beauty or other special significance” or “aesthetic merit of conception or execution”. Modern descriptions of art are defined in broad, unlimited terms. It is social progress that has facilitated this change from traditional to modern culture.

 

   Sam Morris (2009) states that ‘modern culture’ indicates the period starting from the Renaissance, during which the rise in scientific development, influenced collective thought. The term is also used to refer to ongoing advances in society, including ideas, innovations and beliefs. In regards to the arts, ‘modern culture’ represents a creative practice, in which past traditions have been thrown aside in the spirit of experimentation (Gombrich, 1958).

 

Lev Manovich (2006) defines new media as the creation and distribution of artworks with use of a computer. Therefore, any technology or computer based media is considered ‘new’. Manovich emphasises that digital distribution is synonymous with new media, for instance, “photographs that are put on a CD-ROM and require a computer to be viewed are considered new media; the same photographs printed in a book are not.” Types of new media include sound and image, interactive installations, virtual reality, computer art, game design and digital animation. The new media object is often produced with the use of algorithms and codes. For example, by using specific algorithms, it is now possible to automatically improve the sound of a recording, to add brightness to a photo or to stabilise a video; new media and its parameters are essentially programmable.

 

Since the early 20th century, traditional art has been challenged by avant-garde artists such as Marcel Duchamp. Towards the later half of the century, conceptual art became internationally accepted. Between the 1940s and 1950s, Jackson Pollock introduced a new radical approach to painting. After Pollock’s ‘abstract expressionism’, artists started exploring other creative mediums such as performance art. During World War II, consumerism notably influenced Western culture, and as a result, the ‘Pop Art’ movement appeared with iconic artists such as Andy Warhol. In the 1960s and 1970s, the ‘minimalism’ movement led into a new era of postmodernism. Around the same time, a famous sound artist John Cage, began exploring conceptual art further. His revolutionary theories and concepts explore sonic art beyond music. He introduced sound as a new medium and expanded on conceptual ideas introduced by Duchamp. Installation art was also discovered by artists in 1970s. Artists started working with multiple medias, calling the new experimental method ‘intermedia’. By the end of the 20th century, technological progress had provided many new forms of media, such as digital art, video art and video games.    

 

Technological advancements in modern culture allow greater access to creative expression. Shared knowledge across the internet such as online forums, promotes independent learning without a need for specialist tutors. “These developments made pop and contemporary art a vital part of the changing faces of DIY culture that has become intensively mediated and saturated with new products and genres” (Wallis, 2002, p. 5). New technologies direct evolving art movements, which allow for experimentation.

 

“It is undeniable that the intangible space of the internet has propelled the most significant cultural shift of the 21st century thus far. The manner in which individuals populate, surf, negotiate, and share the contents of the web’s endless stream of information has radically changed over the last decade” (Kholeif, 2014, p. 11).

 

The current rate at which original art can be created has increased exponentially; many people have access to shared knowledge and software. Although, people are beginning to notice there is a problem occurring with this ever-growing amount of data. It crucially affects the ability to focus on useful, reliable information. Despite its drawbacks, the internet has become an integral part of modern artistic culture. “After all, the internet seems like the ideal place for artists. It is a nimble, malleable, and responsive sphere that enables a degree of autonomy, which most artists crave, but are often unable to achieve due to the hierarchal nature of the art world and its institutions” (Kholeif, 2014, p. 12). The gap between artists and institutions is now closing thanks to the internet, allowing artists to be independent in their practice. Presently, art can even be created without the artist realising it i.e. Youtube. Technological advances provide artists with new ways to work in combination with improving ways to share work and express themselves . The instantaneousness of creation, production and publication has altered the perception of what defines art in modern culture.

 

‘The Infinite Mix’ exhibition is a collection of contemporary audio-visual artworks. It is an example of new media challenging cultural traditions. Ralph Rugoff (2016, p. 3), the gallery director, notes that “in all of these works, the interplay between image and sound compromises a crucial dimension”. He mentions they are structured musically, rather than as traditional linear narratives. They explore new opportunities for how film can engage the audience in reformulating poetics, as well as the politics of recent cultural history. Sonic narratives explore the audience's experience in a new, experimental way. With numerous technological advances, artists are now in evermore control over their practices, allowing them to explore the experiences and ambiences that can be created by use of new media. Contemporary artists showcased in ‘The Infinite Mix’, challenge the norm by introducing audio-visual approaches such as dual-screen films, 3D and holographic illusions. Rugoff (2016) also states that these mediums address the audience on multiple levels simultaneously, and sometimes function much like sculpture, altering spatial experience in compelling ways. Despite the tools available to contemporary artists, some express their work using lo-fi media. For instance, “Bom Bom’s Dream”, part of ‘The Infinite Mix’, frequently uses lo-fi effects, and mimics visual aesthetics seen in early music videos. Jeremy Deller (2016, p. 154) the director, comments that the lo-fi aesthetics of the film “will hopefully, in context, look good, and look funny”. These visual aesthetics have recently appeared with the rapid development of digital arts.

 

According to Omar Kholeif (2014, p. 21), “the New Aesthetic is a term coined by James Bridle, used to refer to the increasing appearance of the visual language of digital technology and the internet in the physical world, and the blending of virtual and physical”. Bruce Sterling (2012) describes it as “a native product of modern network culture. It was born digital, on the Internet”. It is a global and often subjective concept. It is partially defined by its aesthetics or ‘the way it looks’, however, it is not concerned by being visually pleasing, it is employed by the politics of technology. Although, ‘The New Aesthetics’ the many can be seemingly incoherent and meaningless as a movement, however, it explores the inner workings of the modern network and culture in some depth. This contemporary movement is predominantly visual, and initially appeared as a counter-culture to graphic design. A major aspect of ‘The New Aesthetics’ language is its imperfection and incompleteness. It is often associated with deconstructive art genres such as glitch art, seapunk and webpunk. Technology is often used to perfect the production of an artwork; yet, deconstructive aesthetics have developed as a natural response to ‘polished’ digital art. In the era of perfect commercialised production, unlike previously, people can find ‘errors’ appealing.

 

In conclusion, new media influences many different aspects of modern culture. The diversity and creative opportunities of post-digital media allow contemporary artists to experiment and create new experiences. Technology and science represent a challenge to conventional notions of art and culture. Modern culture is synonymous with technology. It is technology that gives artists the tools to allow them to apply their concepts in new experimental ways; this is the very definition of new media and how it relates to modern culture. New media assists the evolution of modern culture and has become integral to the contemporary arts. It is the “shared meanings or shared conceptual maps”, (Du Gay, 1997) in combination with post-digital media that create the visionary artwork we see today.

 

 

Bibliography:

 

Du Gay, P. (1997) Production of Culture/ Cultures of Production. London: Sage/The Open University

 

Gombrich, E.H. (1958) The Story Of Art. London: Phaidon

 

Hassan, R., Thomas J. (2006) The New Media Theory Reader. Berkshire: Open University Press

 

Kholeif, O. (2014) You are Here - Art After the Internet. London: SPACE

 

Lovejoy, M. (1997) Postmodern Currents: Art and Artists in the Age of Electronic Media. 2nd Edition. New Jersey: Simon & Schuster

 

Manovich, L. (2001) The Language of New Media. Cambridge: MIT Press

 

McIntosh, C. (2013) Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

 

Morris, S. (2009) Angst and Affirmation in Modern Culture. Available at: https://philosophynow.org/issues/75/Angst_and_Affirmation_in_Modern_Culture (Accessed: 1st December 2016)

 

Rugoff, R. (2016) The Infinite Mix: Contemporary Sound and Image. London: Hayward Publishing

 

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Sinclair, J. (2014) Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged. 12th Edition. London: HarperCollins Publishers

 

Sterling, B. (2012) As Essay on the New Aesthetics. Available at: https://www.wired.com/2012/04/an-essay-on-the-new-aesthetic/ (Accessed: 1st December 2016)

 

Wallis, S. (2002) Remix: Contemporary Art and Pop. London: Tate Publishing

 

Williams, R. (1977) Marxism and Literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press.