The Age of Digital Entertainment
The Age of Digital Entertainment
Hello everyone reading this weeks blog, I decided to focus on the impacts of digital entertainment and its impact on Post Modern artworks that I will be showcasing below. The rise of digital entertainment transformed not only how people consume media but how artists can create, critique and communicate. In the Post Modern era, art seems to be a reflection of our world surrounded by screens and internet culture, video games, and social media.
Electronic Superhighway
By: Nam June Paik
Created in 1995 by Nam June Paik, the Electronic Superhighway is a powerful reflection of how digital technology reshapes perception and identity in postmodern media art. The work consists of 336 televisions, 50 DVD players, 3,750 feet of cable, and 575 feet neon tubing that outlines the glowing map of the United States. If you look up a video clips of the art piece, each state has personal video clips designed for each state highlighting the artists belief connection society. The piece visualizes the overwhelming influence of screens and moving images in daily life. Paik work explores the connections and overwhelms of modern society and is known as the father of video art.
Visually, the artwork is striking and grabs all viewers attention and is the reason I chose to write about the digital entertainment in port modern art to begin with. The neon lights intensity of modern digital networks. Each video monitors generates a sense of information overload and how it demands our attention. I also feel that there is a strange tension between overstimulation and nostalgia as there are so many familiar symbols including state shapes, iconic media footage The color in the vibrant tubing that outlines each state grabs the attention. The video monitors displaying shifting images and footage seems to be a reflection of how quickly digital entertainment changes and moves through our lives. The last art element would be the lines forming the shape and contain the imaginary from going to far and to focus on the inside.
Super Mario Clouds
By: Cory Arcangel
In Super Mario Clouds, digital artist Arcangel hacked the familiar artifact of childhood entertainment, the original Super Mario Bros. video game cartridge to strip it down to a minimalist meditation. Arcangel removed all the characters, music, and other gameplay elements which left only the clouds drifting across a blue sky. This work was displayed as a video installation. I feel this visual art challenges how we consume and retain digital entertainment. Arcangel transforms a widely known and loved game into a conceptual artwork. I think it could be agreed that viewers are forced to remember the emotion and cultural weight of video games. The post modern area has been driven by rapid technology turnover inviting the reflection on how digital experiences are created, discharged and reinterpreted.
The colors are simple, being blue as the background and white clouds creating a dreamlike effect compared to noisy and fast paced typical video games are. The clouds are blocky and pixelated pointing to early digital aesthetics. And the movement is very subtle and a slow drifts of memory in digital culture to think about why it is so familiar to us. The artwork is projected on a wall or on a screen in a gallery space which seems to isolate the game visuals from their usual interactive content. The work was very nostalgic to me but also in an empty way. Seeing just the clouds and having to tap into why it is so familiar to me was a fun concept. The quiet form it is in now with the clouds was once apart of a vibrant game taking it back to how social media shapes memory and how much meaning is tied to interactive content.
33 Questions Per Minute
Rafael Lozano Hemmer
The emotion effect of this piece is a mixture of discomfort, intrigue, and overstimulation. Hemmer created 33 Questions Per Minute in 2000, which is a digital installation that bombards viewers with an overwhelming stream of computer generated questions displayed across synchronized LCD screens. The questions appear at the rate of 33 per minute which is just blow the average reading speed of most people. The artwork seems like a great response to the digital era's relentless flood of information and fragmented attention. In the age of digital entertainment and the internet, people are constantly inundated with messages, headlines, and notifications from everything in between which also come with a request of an emotional tie or intellectual response. I think this work is great visual and in a pure form of just questions. Digital culture floods our consciousness with input faster then we can process.
The artwork is composed of text so relying on language and the visual rhythm. The screen are flashing black letters which also mimics online feeds and news tickers. There is a constant repetition and rhythm of the questions that are generated and almost hypnotic affect. Pieces like these have been found in darkened gallery wall spaces and emitting synchronized flashes of questions. There is the urge of what viewers can keep up with in this content that causes a strain just as scrolling through social media as there is an endless digital content at our fingertips.
The Innocent Eye Test
By: Mark Tansey
Mark Tansey's The Innocent Eye Test, 1981, presents a ironic scene of a cow standing before a painting of a cow while a group of men observe its reaction. At first glace I thought it was somewhat humorous as one guy even has a mop waiting to clean up after the cow, but underneath the sharp lines is a representation of how we as humans also interact with images in this media saturated age. There is the use of sharp lines, realistic texture and muted contrast to imitate photographic realism and blurring the line between observation and manipulation. The cow is the center of the scene, surrounded by observers which is such a good connection to how we live on a screen daily. The picture is us as passive consumers constantly analyzed and targeted. I find the painting relative to my life, because I am on my phone or other electronics and for what really? It also changes the way I see things or feel about myself looking at other peoples lives that seem perfect and truly connected to what is being represented. Since this painting was created in 1980 just when digital technology began really impacting those who used it really seems to have been a projection or prediction to how we all are now with our increased media intake.
Goodbye D
By: David Salle
David Salle's Goodbye D, done in 1982, presents a collage-like composition that captures fragmented nature of visual culture in the digital era. Salle was noticed in this generation as an artist who shared a renewed interest in narrative, myth, figure, and often provoked controversy. The painting features overlapping images with figures and abstract forms arranged without a clear narrative it seems like. The chaotic visual style mimics the experience of channel surfing, scrolling through social media or how we are bombarded with pop-ups and digital ads. There is the use of lines loosely to separate scenes, colors to contrast emotionless figures against the washed out backdrops and space that seems to be intentionally disjoined the way of traditional composition. Emotionally for me I can see the connection to how social media or television works. How we are seeing words and images and eventually it all just slides together and only remembering bits and pieces. There is also the feeling of confusion and overstimulation with some detachment that comes with social media overload. I think David Salle did a good depiction of anticipation in the rise of digital multitasking and cohesive meaning in an entertainment driven culture.
Tan Tan Bo Puking
By: Takashi Murakami
This painting was a little bit out of my comfort zone on something that I would like, but when picking a final painting to talk about in my post modern blog about the digital age but I guess that is the point of this class, to look at other peoples point of view on topics. Takashi Murakami's chaotic painting, done in 2002, embodies the overstimulation of the digital age. There is a great use of all colors and pop imagery that is somewhat overwhelming any viewers senses but mimicking the endless scroll of digital entertainment. There is different placements of monstrous figures and smiling icons in a very crowded composition that seems to be somewhat addictive and hyperactive by how many pop up everywhere you look through the painting. Emotionally for me this painting seems more disturbing, but all so real in the addiction world. Since this was created in the addictions of incoming feed that we are consuming all the time is makes sense for the content. Murakami's work aligns perfectly in the consumerism and culture shaped digital age. Also the fact that this painting was sold for $15.2 million is pretty insane to me and must mean something in the art and culture world.
References:
Paik, Nam June. “Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii.” Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006, https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/electronic-superhighway-continental-us-alaska-hawaii-71478.
Arcangel, Cory. “Cory Arcangel: Super Mario Clouds.” Cory Arcangel | Super Mario Clouds | Whitney Museum of American Art, 2009, https://whitney.org/collection/works/20588.
Ridge. “33 Questions per Minute.” Hemmer, 2016, https://www.lozano-hemmer.com/33_questions_per_minute.php.
Farrel. “Goodbye D. (Primary Title).” VMFA, 2001, https://vmfa.museum/piction/6027262-8147961/.
Smith, Peter. “Takashi Murakami | Tan Tan Bo Puking - a.k.a. Gero Tan (2002) | Artsy.” Artsy , 2017, www.artsy.net/artwork/takashi-murakami-tan-tan-bo-puking-aka-gero-tan.
Your post does such a great job of capturing the influences of digital entertainment not only in art but also in our lives. It is hard to admit that our dependency on and use of digital content is an addiction. We get so wrapped up in other people’s lives that we tend to forget to live our own. I enjoyed how you elaborated on each element of every piece and what they represent. Each piece you selected explores a different aspect of our relationship with the digital world. 33 Questions Per Minute captures that bombardment of information we face every time we look at a screen. I know I find myself scrolling mindlessly as a form of escapism, but ultimately, I find myself worse off than I was before I picked up my phone. There is a sense of hypnosis, and it feels even worse when you are aware but Just. Can’t. Stop. While at an exhibition in Edinburgh, Scotland, I saw iPad Baby (2025) by Madeleine Marg. She uses this installation to focus on how technology has changed childhood play. It was incredibly moving, and it made me wonder how future generations will be negatively impacted by our digital addictions. This post was a source of some much-needed self-reflection. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI never would have thought that I'd end up enjoying an art piece from the Fluxus movement! When I say this, I don't mean that the Fluxus movement had unappealing pieces, but I'm often not interested in installation pieces, but Nam June Paik's "Electronic Superhighway" is so interesting to look at. I love the LED lights around the TVs; they almost look noisy, similar to how a highway would look and sound. I love how you picked pieces that reflected the age of digital entertainment nicely. The emotions that were described in the pieces were nostalgic and somewhat uncomfortable, especially Arcangel’s piece. It's also interesting how Nam June Paik also had a few musical compositions. My favorite from his compositions is "Duet Paik/Takis" (1979), it's soft, then it has sudden noises, and every time it scares me, it makes me giggle. Thank you for sharing, I don’t think I would have experienced his music if I hadn’t seen this post!
ReplyDeleteThe boom of the advancement of technology happened so fast and left a permanent mark on history. It was truly so wild to grow up and watch so much new tech being created every year. Over time, we definitely have developed a dependance on technology, and the social media involvement has become a real problem. It's so interesting to see art from these growing time that represents an issue that has only snowballed into something more. When I see these kinds of art that depicts the grasp social media and technology can have, I tend to feel a sense of sadness because we will never be able to go back in time with technology, only foreword. These works of art make me wonder how technology will continue to evolve and how it will affect the generations to come.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate that you selected artwork that you describe as “out of your comfort zone”. I think it’s human nature to gravitate towards art or really anything that you find appealing. Personally, I struggle with relating to digital entertainment as art, but I was intrigued with a couple of your pieces. The Electronic Superhighway is quite intricate and complicated. The was a lot of research and design required to create each state. I like that the viewer can see Alaska and Hawaii to the left of the contiguous United States!
ReplyDeleteI also found the 33 Questions Per Minute interesting. I run in the morning on a treadmill and watch the news. I’m always reading the ticker at the bottom of the screen. It’s an interesting concept for a piece of art. It’s certainly relatable to people like me.
I do have one suggestion for your blog. It would be much easier to read without the text highlighted in the darker color. I think dark text on a light background is the easiest format for the reader.