Conquering The Digital Frontier
Digital
media has leapt from the outskirts of art in the early
days, to almost mainstream. Designer speaks with three
digital artists, Martin Constable, Kai Lam and Woo Tien
Wei, in this forum that seeks to discover what digital
artists are up against these days.
Designer:
Tell us
what projects you’re currently working on right
now.
Martin
Constable:
Currently I am in the middle of an artist in residency
program at Kastria Gameworks. They are a new games
production company based in Singapore and are in the
middle of implementing a version of Lonewolf, a game
first designed as a gamesbook by Joe Dever. I am new to
the vivid world of games and am having a lot of fun
exploring it. The work from this residency will be
shown early next year.
Woo Tien Wei:
I just finished a project, Airport of Airports with the
experimental collaborative platform, Server Foundation
which was shown in an exhibition in Shenzhen. I am
collaborating with Bruce Quek and Simon Petre to
publish an ongoing series of podcast/vodcast called The
Wire: Cultural Podcast of the 21st Century. Also, I am
collaborating with another artist Dennis Tan and a few
people on a café project called FOOD #03 which is
produced and hosted by Post- Museum. Briefly, it is
creating a social space for people to come together
where potentially make more things happen.
Kai Lam:
My medium
of art practice is primarily performance art,
installation art, video art and sound art. Since 1999,
I have taken an interest in sound-based installation
and performance, have staged a number of projects with
sound as a medium. The main idea in sound art for me is
its quality in a non-visual, because through one’s
auditory senses, one can visualise colours and images
by the textures and of sounds. I use the digital medium
a lot in my sound productions because it is a very
economical method and I am able to make mistakes and
correct it to the final outcome I want. In my video
works, I am producing videos based on my performative
ideas. I have been training, breeding and videoing
Siamese Fighting Fishes (Betta Splendens) as an
extension of my performance art practice. In this work,
I am interested in the anthro-zoological aspects of the
project, and this has led me to make field research,
interviews, and producing the results in digital
format. I find this project can be made best in digital
medium because the idea can be transported via the
digital medium and it can bring out issues and concerns
that normally the public audience do not encounter in
their daily life. It is also an exploration for me in
terms of flat-screen video format, how it is being
presented and perceived as well as challenging its
function in the urbanised society.
D:
What is
digital art to you?
MC:
The biggest
candy store in the world. Infinite play and limitless
fun all at the touch of a button.
WTW:
Digital art
refers to artworks which come out of the digital
culture brought about by computing and IT technologies.
I was exposed to digital art in 2000 when I was doing a
residency exhibition in Munich, Germany. At that time,
I was really interested in the art system and observing
institutions. Through a lot of discussion with artists
in the exhibition, I found that there were a lot of
interesting ideas which came out from media
culture...It was also the peak of the dotcom era and
there was so much hype about the internet and
everything. I was interested in information culture and
how that changed the way we looked at the world. That
is how I started.
KL:
Just like how art can function like a social tool,
digital media is one of the many technological tools
that can help push the artists’ idea and cater to the
specific needs of the artist’s line of production. This
tool is not ultimately the best, because I always
believe it is the person behind the tool that makes its
function related to its environment. But of course I
still acknowledge that the content and presentation of
the artform is fundamentally based on the technology
used.
D:
The
best tool for thought – experiments is...?
MC:
Google image search.
WTW:
There is no absolute best tool. It is what works best
and is effective at a specific moment in time.
KL:
Not be afraid of failure and knowing what we are after
and using what is suitable to generate the production
to the effect one aspires to.
D:
Does
the anonymity of working in a “virtual environment”
give you the daring of a rebel?
MC:
All
virtuals offer the possibility of constructing a bigger
and better version of yourself. This is not a new idea.
Rock stars and serial killers have for years known
about the awesome power of the persona.
WTW:
It is common to work in a ‘virtual environment’ these
days so art just reflects that. My work requires me to
take responsibility for my actions so I don’t usually
go anonymous. I just adopt handles and suppose those
handles constitute my online / virtual personality.
KL:
I am quite skeptical about the “virtual environment” in
the sense that it is not a 100% solution for human
communication yet. Now, half the world is not even
getting access to the computerised “virtual
environment”. No doubt, it has an important function in
this global digital age: it helps us to disseminate
information faster than before, communicate more
economically and serves certain infrastructural
purposes for everyday work, but it is only limited to
the privileged people who are able to afford it. So the
question is, what happens to the other half of the
world while more and more information super highways
are built?
D:
What
are the aspects of being a digital artist that
you would rather not face?
MC:
Endlessly learning new software.
WTW:
It is common to work in a ‘virtual environment’ these
days so art just reflects that. My work requires me to
take responsibility for my actions so I don’t usually
go anonymous. I just adopt handles and suppose those
handles constitute my online / virtual personality.
KL:
I am quite skeptical about the “virtual environment” in
the sense that it is not a 100% solution for human
communication yet. Now, half the world is not even
getting access to the computerised “virtual
environment”. No doubt, it has an important function in
this global digital age: it helps us to disseminate
information faster than before, communicate more
economically and serves certain infrastructural
purposes for everyday work, but it is only limited to
the privileged people who are able to afford it. So the
question is, what happens to the other half of the
world while more and more information super highways
are built?
D:
What
are the characteristics of digital art are not found in
other media?
MC:
Infinite and effortless mutability.
WTW:
There are many characterisitcs of digital art –
notfound in ‘old school’ thinking about art. Namely,
the modernidea of the artist as genius and in it all
the problems that came along with that. Digital art
creates a critique of that system. Especially the form
of digital art which I am involved in – often engages
in a collaborative process where I work with a team to
develop the project. I am always keen to show that it
takes many collaborators to make a project and it is
not just me alone. So that is very different from the
‘old school’ idea of art - where the artist works alone
in a studio and is solely responsible and privileged
for the creation of his artwork.
KL:
The digital
medium is great in that I can use it to make certain
works very quickly, compared to making art with the
traditional methods. The best characteristics of this
medium is that I can cut, copy, paste, delete,
undelete, as well as do and undo based on whichever
command buttons I go for. This has helped me a lot in
visualising the effects I want in my art production
before I make the final decision to execute the artwork
in my desired result.
D:
True
creativity is …
MC:
Going out
of fashion. Many artists these days seem to measure
there success by how well there art holds up against
other art. Where have all the rebels gone?
WTW:
In the age
of knowledge work, creativity is a valuable asset and
in that sense, your question ¬ as it implies that there
is ‘false’ and ‘true’ creativity.
KL:
Knowing
what kind of technology serves what sort of execution
in the best way.
D:
Digital
art has yet to gain the acceptance and regard reserved
for “serious” artforms such as sculpture, painting and
drawing. Your views?
MC:
Outsider
status is a good place for the next big thing to start
off from.
WTW:
I feel that
it is not important to look at mediums in this
question. Rather, we should look at how artworks fit in
its time, e.g. Bronze sculpture was made possible due
to the technology developed in the bronze age etc. But
I feel that Digital art – reflects the development of
Information technology, computing etc. So the tool is
developed – therefore artists use the tools. That is on
one level. The other level which interests me more is
when the artworks begin to be self-referential towards
the state of technology – the state of things which is
part of society. For example, my work is electronic or
digital but it is a way to look at the culture of
information brought about the development of internet
and IT.
KL:
I think
Digital Arts has in fact been gaining acceptance in the
art world since the 1980s, with early video arts, sound
and experimental music, installation works etc. Just
look at Arts Electronica and ZKM in Germany, and you
will see that digital artforms is on par with
traditional art forms like painting and sculptures.
There are even digital arts biennale these days in
different countries along with traditional art
biennales.
D:
What do
you feel about the impact the computer and the Internet
have had on art and society? Do you feel you are
defining the future?
MC:
All major
new technologies have their effect on the way that we
think. I am convinced that the socially leveling effect
of photography was one of the major influences behind
the development of communism. The Internet’s influence
is slowly changing the established social mechanisms
and many of the old ways of doing things are in there
death throes. All change is painful and there have been
many losses on the way. However, handled well, it
offers some wonderful possibilities. Personally, I only
wish that I had discovered it all sooner.
WTW:
I feel that the computer and the Internet age have
brought us to an extension in terms of human
communication. Many societies that are closed from the
outside world had gained much interest from the outside
world through this technology. The point here is how we
use this technology to its full extent to make
communications more viable and how it can serve the
human cause better. In a way, it also brings the world
closer as a whole as well as giving an opportunity to
societies that are normally apart from each other.
KL:
Computers
and the Internet changed the world. I believe that art
have the potential to change the way we see the world
and challenge the status quo. I tend to lean and
gravitate towards ideas of utopia so your proposition
of me/art defining the future is a seductive one. So it
is not necessarily true that I am defining the future
but it is important to feel that way. This is the
symptom of the time I guess.
D:
What
are the biggest challenges facing digital artists today
and in the future and how would you personally tackle
them?
MC:
Digital art
is still a young medium. It has a long way to go before
both it and the people using it have matured to any
truly effective level. As a medium it struggles to find
an effective place within the gallery space (its
natural home is still within the computer monitor). It
might be argued that new sorts of gallery spaces are a
possible solution but from what I have seen of such
things so far (second life et al) I am not holding out
much hope. I believe that only new technologies can
successfully deal with this. Also, artists (especially
digital artists) have for years been drifting away from
the idea of the ‘mastered authorship’. Much art seems
consequently to have been designed by one person and
implemented by another. This leads to a sadly two
dimensional relationship between an artwork and the
ideas that drive it. Only effective teaching can deal
with this.
WTW:
I wouldn’t
know where to begin.
KL:
I feel
digital artists here are too caught up with the
technological aspects of our artwork and thus by being
over concerned about how the technology can function in
our production, we are alienating our own ideas and
ultimately the digital art form. This is not to say
that the latest technology is stifling with creative
productions, but if we are not too pre-occupied by it,
we can actually look more into ourselves and expand and
share the technology based on our personal experiences,
because different persons have different needs in the
utilisation of technological tools. The function of
technological tool is what we know as acquired
knowledge, but the more important aspect here is the
intention in putting this function to use via
technological tools. I will still use digital
technology because it plays a part in my art practice
and I will also try to discern more clearly what is the
function I need in terms of using such technology, and
how it can help me to produce my artworks to the
results I want.