Art And Electronic Media

As accessibility and understanding of electronic media grows, its use by artists becomes more widespread. Yet the art world, both critically and practically, was initially slow to accept this emergence - new technology is potentially alienating and esoteric. Edward A. Shanken gives a lucid evaluation of the subject, contextualizing it in a broader art-historical and political framework. A comprehensive survey, his essay also addresses the reaction, development and future of artistic practice in the face of new technology, and how art can 'humanize and mythologize' science. Divided into seven thematic sections, the book follows a broadly chronological approach. The seven sections of this survey include: light, space, motion, time which lays the foundations in the early twentieth century, artists introduced motion and light into their work, defying the traditional concept of art as static, lit object - the jump-off point for interactive art incorporating digital media.