Technological Development in the Art World

 Technological  development is something that is celebrated as well as feared. We are always updating and progressing as a society, creating new things as well as replacing old things. In the art world, technological advancement is rather overlooked. 

There are thousands of new media artists in our world today, but I feel the old fine art tradition seems to turn their nose at the idea of "new media". I feel the difficulty for them is accepting new media as something new, rather then something that is replacing the old. Personally I love working with my hands and I love using the physicality of paint, markers, and charcoal. But I appreciate the ideas and complexity that are roused by new media artwork. 

Brian Knep, the artist that just visited our class, is a new media artist with little to no fine arts background. His ideas are taking art to the next level, taking art further by creating art that changes because of us rather then the opposite. It is his ideas that propel him forward as a brilliant artist. 

In 1928, Leon Theremin created the "theremin" an electronic musical instrument. Metal antennas were controlled by the hands which in turn controlled radio frequencies and volume which were then amplified through a loud speaker. 

This was the start of the electronic music age, leading to synthesizers, etc. Soon, music could easily be made with no musical instruments at all. This is what I find parallel to the visual arts world. Now we can make art with computers and technology rather then our hands. 

We can, but we don't have to. I think that is a crucial thing to remember. Electronic music is its own category. It is something new, rather then something to replace the old. Blending these ideas and techniques is what is going to progress us to higher levels of art understanding. 

Brian Knep- A Reflection

After hearing artist Brian Knep speak about his artwork and philosophy, I have begun to contemplate further into the ideas of new media. 

Brian Knep's art piece, "The Healing Pool" is a large rectangular projection onto the floor. The Image is a moving, growing, organic web that when disrupted by a humans touch is torn apart and then mended back together forming a scar. To me it is similar to human flesh; when torn it heals back together, but will be forever changed and "scarred". When I first viewed this piece it was intriguing. It seemed that for the piece to be whole a persons participation was required. 

After hearing Brian Knep speak about this piece, he stressed that the piece is whole and content just the way it is. Humans are actually disturbing what is actually already whole. It is more about the regeneration of this artwork and how it can heal itself over and over again as it is effected by different people. 

This brings up several points. Brian Knep has created an artwork that does not need to be viewed or interacted with to simply 'be'. This goes against what many people would consider art. Art has always been viewed, been touched, been interacted with, etc. He has created an artistic being, something that can exist on its own. "New media" has helped make this possible. His computer software becomes the "brain" telling the artwork how to mend itself, where it is being torn, where it needs to scar, etc. He has used new media to redefine artwork so that not only are we reacting to it, but it is reacting to us. 

Another aspect of his work that I really enjoy is that much of his work is based on the natural phenomena of emergent behavior. He described this as when geese flock together, they do this according to a set of rules, but not a set structure. Their rules include, fly this close to your neighbor, but not too close, and this far to the left, etc. What this does is create spontaneous, natural patterns. He uses this idea in his Healing series work. He writes certain "rules" into his computer program that will produce his art piece. What fascinates me is that most of the time he does not know how it will exactly turn out. No one as anyway of knowing. There is enough degree of spontaneity and change within the rules, so that the art piece will never look the same. 

This idea of emergent behavior is incredibly interesting to me because I am working with patterns in my own artwork. I am working with creating patterns with the human body and working with illusions of positive and negative shapes. I want to see how I can play with "emergent behavior" in my own artwork. If I could create a 2-d work from the same idea, using set rules that govern what comes next, I could probably end up with something quite interesting. 

Brian Knep

Brian Knep

1. In your "E-series" you explain how these set of works explore the illusions that drive us. What type of illusions are you referring to in each of these 4 pieces?

2. In E-series, the childlike drawings give humor to these pieces. How do you think it would change the piece if you used symbols or more "inorganic" forms?

Artist Research. Notes

James Woodfill

Sound, Sculpture and light

Installation artist

Assemblage and found objects: important to artist work because of the continuing theme of recycling and reuse. 

Kinetic Sculptures: art that contains moving parts or depends on motion for its effect

http://jameswoodfill.com/index.html

Rehab 2007 Kansas City

Set of structures play with idea of architectural "correctness" and our idea of it in an urban experience. 

New mixed with old, change, decay

Rehabilitation-  In an urban society, in the art installation, and the artist's materials

Uses discarded materials-recycles

Rehab mirrors our environment and how we respond to it

Review: Organizing Chaos By Alice Thorson

http://jameswoodfill.com/information/reviews/rehab_review.pdf

"Complexity and heterogeneity" 

"Brooding Suspension"

Tone Spools 2002

Review: Excerpt from Awakenings by Kate Hackman

http://jameswoodfill.com/information/reviews/tone%20spools.pdf

"Beauty in clarity"

Essential nature of a garden hose- coiled around axel

Recreates this idea within the art piece

Size of a human- "Human Surrogate" 

Tension, possibility of collapse

Harmony 2002 Kansas City

10 rotating amplifiers, each with a tone generating card on back, 

Sounds created a "chord" which shifted and changed as people walked through the gallery. 

Also changing- light and shadow

Review: Radio Active by Jesse McGraw

http://jameswoodfill.com/information/reviews/harmony.pdf

"Overwhelming drone, immense weight"

Social interaction with people "faltered"

Sucked people in and also drove them away

Single step in any direction and everything changed