The Freedom (or lack thereof) of Computer Art

  • Mario Verdicchio (Speaker)

    Activity: Talk or presentationOral presentation

    Description

    This work aims to challenge one of the strongholds of computer art, that is, the common opinion that it has radically changed the way art is made and distributed and it has allowed artists to step outside the conventional context of galleries and museums. Digital artworks are often put in contrast with their traditional counterparts, such as painting and sculpture, because of their digital nature, which leads to parameterisation, dematerialisation, ease of reproduction, and speed of distribution over digital networks. I argue that the apparent freedom granted by these facets of computer art is not a pure gain, but it comes with a high cost indeed in terms of freedom. The new constraints are given not only by a reliance on physical tools like in traditional art, only with computers and networks instead of paintbrushes and chisels, but also in terms of social, political and economic agreements that the instruments of computer art need in order to be built and function properly.
    Period5 Oct 2017
    Event title4th International Conference on the History and Philosophy of Computing
    Event typeConference
    Conference number4
    LocationBrno, Czech RepublicShow on map
    Degree of RecognitionInternational

    Keywords

    • Computer Art
    • Ethics
    • Sociotechnical Systems
    • Political Art