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ABOUT DIGITAL ART

Digital Art is a form of art, that is increasingly gaining importance in the Contemporary Art Landscape; in line with digital evolution in our society.

Newly graduated artists, both in the visual arts and in other art disciplines, often opt for new media to give shape to their thoughts.

Digital art exploits the digital, often current, tools that are available in the social environment, by ridiculing them, and shows a different side of the story.

While much of humanity gloats about new gadgets, apps and games, digital art shows us the consequences of digitization on all aspects of social life. It often portrays the uncertainty of the society – thanks to the strait-jacket of systems. This can be represented by rat race, in which we can eat others or be eaten by them. We all know the benefits of technology – it has enabled us to communicate during Covid-19 lockdowns, for instance. Still we have almost no choice but to participate: is there really anyone who still parks without an app that requires registration? Who is still able to move anonymously through the increasingly invasive shopping streets?

Digital art makes us stop for a moment in that maelstrom of ‘progress’. It confronts us with the compelling digitization, constant changes in our global environment and our adaptability to these. It also teaches us how we can relate to them.

The world of digital art is often a research platform and an art lab, where artists and scientists work together. Artists often dive into an unknown world to experiment new methods, thoughts and concepts. Reflecting while producing and exploring new solutions to world problems are part of the digital art circuit.

 

image credit – app going to a nursing home

 

Art historians tend to search for an irrefutable definition to draw up a so-called “Cannon for digital art”, which is a sensitive issue.

No consensus has yet been reached as to what exactly ‘Digital Art” is. DDAMA prefers not to definitively pronounce what it is, and leaves the door open to interpretation and imagination. We would like the latest developments and discussions to be accessible to our visitors and community.

As there is no consensus on the definition of “Digital Art”, DDAMA is a developing museum devoted to digital art, without focusing on a fixed definition.

In our view, the charm of digital art is that this form represents the ultimate democratization of art. The work of professionals and laymen can mix and redefine the existing definition: The definition of art is again turned upside down by digital art. Every generation of artists discusses new definitions of art before finding their own definitions. That is an interesting process to which DDAMA would like to introduce its visitors and followers. What do you consider as “Digital Art”? Would you like to reflect on it together?

All of this is not to say that DDAMA does not have criteria about what it wants in-house, when it comes to digital art.

The art-related criteria of the choices that DDAMA makes about art include:

  •  Everything painted with a brush, is not always interesting art, everything that is made with a computer is not digital art within the interests of DDAMA. It is the job of DDAMA to find in the offer of digital art the art-historical content and make interesting choices.
  • DDAMA is also interested in the artworks whose subject is a particular digital development.
  • Digital photography, video or films are only interesting for DDAMA if they have been manipulated in a unique way.
  • The use of an interesting digital technique in itself is not necessarily always an interesting digital artwork. Digital art must yield visually interesting  images. Naturally, that also applies to digital art by disciplines other than visual arts. Fashion, music, design, it must also have unique visual qualities.
  • Digital art can be very attractive, and can possess interactive qualities. However, it should not be solely entertainment purposes. In a museum playful elements are allowed and included in an exhibition route. But digital art must have a special substantive layer.
  • Recently many museums have switched to telling the story in the form of an experience. Digital art is ideally suited for this, as well as displaying digital art digitally, on the artists’ pages of our site.
  • Digital art, which sympathyzes with the principle of “sharing”, is sympathetic to DDAMA, if quality is involved.