Digital Art: Chapters 1 & 2

As art has been drawn into the realm of technology, the formal conventions associated with traditional forms of art have been challenged as well as the relationship between the artist and the viewer. Chapter 1 of Christine Paul's Digital Art deals with this criticism and states that this new medium in which art is presented is both a product of historical influences as well as new technologies. Paul deals with the issue of the severed relationship between artist and viewer by stating that the artist simply conveys their point and emotions in a more indirect way. However, the viewer still can obtain the emotional and aesthetic components present in the piece just as in viewing a painting.

In chapter 2, Paul suggests that technology is serving as a new basis for art and innovation. The most common mode of digitizing art comes with the aide of the computer which produces pictures and other media via binary code. Paul continues by talking about installations which serve as big, digital representations for the viewer allowing for greater connectivity between the viewer and the piece of art. It is this same relationship that Paul defends in chapter one. Simply stated, the formal constructs of the artist viewer relationship have been supplanted by technology and innovation.