How does technology mediate the artist's experience?

Technology has broadened the artist's possibilities immensely. Artists now have many more tools to use when creating art. Computers and technology have led the way to new art forms such as multimedia. Technology has not only opened the door to new tools and art forms but also an entire new way of making art public. The internet has allowed artists to create websites, blogs, etc in order to get their art out there. Because of technology, the art world itself has expanded and more and more people have become aware of art itself.

While technology has changed and expanded the artists experience, it has not caused an extinction in traditional art. Plenty of artists still use traditional tools such as charcoal, paint, brushes, pencils, and paper. This is different from other aspects of life that technology has drastically changed such as education and business. Technology has caused the use of typewriters, paper, etc to become almost extinct.

Thus, for the artist, technology has simply opened new doors and helped to expand the art world without eliminating any of its components.

a ZOO - the lines between us

the changes that we face. or don't face.

looking glass.

literal worlds apart.
trying to make clear.

lines define.

human playgrounds...

of dividers

trying to philosophize.

destroying to create

boundaries and communication. human necessities.

who watches who?

we all need more room to live.........................................breaking through the barriers

refusing to let guard down, refusing to answer the door.

or refusing to knock.

misunderstanding.

...a zoo.

Integration of the Arts, Overture, Multimedia

Do you agree with Allan Kaprow's statement "The line between art and life should be kept as fluid, and perhaps as indistinct, as possible" ("Untitled Guidelines for Happenings")?

Yes, I agree with Kaprow. Art and life are intertwined, they are a part of each other. In attempting to keep this mindset as a creator, one is able to fully get in touch with their creative spirit and, most importantly, human expression. This view of art and life is what made artists such as Allan Kaprow, Dick Higgins, and Nam June Paik able to create new genres of art which blurred the separation of audience and works of art. These genres made the audience a key part of the art. If artists refused to allow life become art and vice versa then these new genres would never have come about.

Situational Tour location - National Zoo

Webster's New World Dictionary gives the following definition for a zoo:

zoo (zoological garden) n. 1 a place where wild animals are kept for public showing 2 [Slang] a place of confusion, disorder, etc.

The National Zoo in Washington, DC is a perfect place for artistic interpretation. Firstly it is a place for people to go to view animals which are kept in cages or behind bars, thus the security aspect of the project. Also, while zoos are in a number of locations across the globe, many animal rights activists and others consider them inhumane in the belief that no animal should be kept in a cage, which is the ritualistic ideological aspect of a zoo. The obvious authoritarian aspect of a zoo is the dominance of people over animals. While humans are technically animals, we do not consider ourselves in relation to the animals that are kept in zoos. I will explore all of these aspects of the National Zoo for my situational tour. I will also keep in mind the slang definition of a zoo while exploring it.

How has multimedia changed the art world?

Advanced technology has not only changed the scientific, political, educational, and business worlds, but also the art world. With the recent rise of multimedia art, artists now have many more tools to use to create and express. While some artists may have fully committed themselves to digital multimedia mediums, not all have moved away from the traditional paint, pencil, charcoal, and paper. Instead of blasting these ancient techniques and mediums to the past, multimedia has simply expanded the art world, as well as modern views of art. Because of the art created using technology people have begun to see that art is not simply paintings, drawings, and sculptures. Art is everywhere, is anything and everything.

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