Art has evolved in a digital world. Information is fast and easier to obtain, allowing for more accessibility to visual media. In the past, you would have to go to a museum or a gallery to view artwork. Through the reproduction of art, from the invention of printmaking to photography and film, it has become more easily distributed to people who wouldn’t have time and means to see artwork often displayed far from where they live. The focus has shifted from the bourgeoisie to the common people, allowing mass visual communication. Then, the shift to the digital age expanded this dramatically further—the worldwide connection to instant information allowed instant visual media access. Art can be made digitally and viewed digitally, which reinvents how art is viewed and understood. Now, with the creation of AI, art further confronts conventional art norms in terms of how we view and comprehend these digital art forms.
The rise of AI-generated
art is alarming for artists. The question is whether it is still art if a
computer program creates the art form under the direction of the prompter,
though. While a computer program creates the art form, the human element still
directs the creation. Marshall McLuhan’s theory of “the medium is the message”
reinforces AI art. AI art is a controversial topic, with arguments over the
authenticity and validity of the created content. McLuhan argues that content isn’t
the focus but the medium from which it is derived. AI is a tool that the artist
uses to share a visual message. A static reality becomes alive when information
is input to create a directed image within parameters. AI was created by humans
who also created computers and harnessed power or electricity. A history of
human action, creativity, and experience is put into creating the medium. Using
McLuhan’s argument that the medium is the message, the creation of AI-generated
art relates to the creation of computers and the digital age. AI breaks
traditions of how conventional art is viewed and created. McLuhan states, “the
message” of any medium or technology is the change of scale or pace or pattern
that it introduces into human affairs,” which correlates with AI art at the
speed it has affected human society (1964, p.1). Regardless of the viewer's
feelings about AI art, it is still a medium that reflects a message.
Walter
Benjamin’s theory of the” aura” argues that reproduction causes an art form to
lose some of its “essence,” the element of time and space. Benjamin argues that
art can only be truly appreciated in an intimate setting with one or a few
people. Even the act of showing the artwork in a museum or gallery begins to diminish
the mysticism of the art form. Mechanical reproduction, from printmaking to
film and photography, further diminishes the artwork's aura, making it a common
object. This is incredibly limiting for most of the world, with many people
living in rural areas far from big cities where museums and galleries are
mostly situated. Without reproduction, only a select few, probably rich, would
have access to artwork. Reproduction may diminish the 4th-dimensional aspect of
art, but it allows it to enter the viewer’s personal situation wherever and
whenever the viewer chooses.
Marshall
McLuhan’s theory, “The medium is the message,” argues that the medium, not the
content, is the focus of the art form. The transition from the Industrial
Revolution to the digital age fundamentally changed how art is made and viewed.
Regardless of what is created, the medium used in the creation is the most
important aspect. It is a universal way of viewing art that allows viewers to
view it regardless of gender and socio-political status. It is an extension of
the creator.
Jean Baudrillard's
“Simulacra and Simulation” examines how signs and symbols can transform reality.
He argues that our current society has replaced genuine experiences with
simulations. Simulacra refers to copies or representations that become more
real than the reality they imitate while losing connection to the original
reality (Baudrillard, 1983, p.7). Focusing on the symbols or signs in the
artwork shows how it affects our perception of reality through a blending of
the medium and content. Baudrillard viewed pop art as the start of simulation
in art, focusing on symbols and the end of the representational form.
Baudrillard stated, “ Art can become a reproducing machine ( Andy Warhol) without
ceasing to be art, since the machine is only a sign” ( 1983, p.116).
Reference
Baudrillard, J. (1983). Simulations. Semiotexte. https://urup.or.id/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Foreign-Agents-Series-Jean-Baudrillard-Simulations-Semiotexte-1983.pdf
McLuhan, M. (1964). The Medium is the Message. From Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man.
No comments:
Post a Comment