DIGITAL ART & MAGIC MOMENTS
Shanghai eARTS Festival 2007 - Ars Electronica Exhibition
In the Indo-European family of languages the words for magic and for
machine have a common etymological ancestor: “magh-“ which meant “to
be able, have power” which is also the base for might. It is an intriguing
idea, to think of artists as the magicians of the machines, the ones
who are able to master the machines and have power over them. An idea
that also refers to a role of artists that goes beyond the mere creation
of beautiful expressions. A role that puts artists right in the middle
of the current social and cultural challenges which have been brought
up by the rapid and massive invasion of digital technologies in our
daily live.
Digital artists are creators as well as engineers of experiences; by
employing the new means of digital technologies, they give us a look
behind the backdrop of our modern information society, they provide
new and alternative ideas that are not only based on the rational and
economical approach of technology but on the demands and desires of
humans.
