Themes in Digital Art

In chapter 3 of Digital Art, Christiane Paul talks about various themes present in digital art. She begins with the topic of Artificial Life in which computer systems are used to reproduce living organisms and their behaviors. Closely connected is the theme of Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) and intelligent Agents. The former refers to fully autonomous computer software that can think for itself. The latter refers to software programs that filter and customize information on behalf of a user. The difference between intelligent agents and traditional software is their ability to be semi-autonomous and adaptive. Paul continues with a discussion on teleprocessing, Telematics, and Telerobotics. Telepresence is being present in a distant location such as an Internet chat room. Telematics is simply the combination of computers and telecommunications. Telerobotics is where a robotic component is controlled by a person over the internet. The theme of Body and Identity describes how people function in virtual/online as well as networked physical space. Next, Paul talks about Databases, Data Visualization, and Mapping. Digital art exhibiting this theme uses sets of data to create information spaces which manifest as anything from a 3D world of a game to a visual interface of a library catalogue. Other themes implement the use of hypertext (linked segments of text) and hypermedia (linked media segments) to create a piece of art. Paul then discusses gaming and its effect on digital art. The trend of using pieces of games to create art is fairly new but has become increasingly popular as the gaming is a multi-billion dollar industry. Finally, Paul talks about Tactical media, Activism, and Hacktivism. Activism uses digital technologies as tactical media to "critically examine the authoritarian culture including new technologies as it manifests itself through the use of media." Sometimes activism takes the form of hacktivism in which data is accessed and reformatted for creative purposes.

As cloning becomes a prevalent issue and possibility in our society, could it be considered a form of art producing breathing sculptures?