The pursuit of new media art design

The high and new technology we are talking about today is in fact a relative concept that every era has its own high technology. Neolithic stone is a high and new technology for Paleolithic; bronze ware is a high and new technology for stone tools; coal iron is a high and new technology for the past; industrialization is a high and new technology for its former era; and information technology, Formerly any historical era, it is a high and new technology. Therefore, the so-called high-tech is the technology that has continuously been discovered and invented by mankind in development, and is superior and more practical than ever.

(a) Has new media art matured in Europe and America?

In the 1960s, the information revolution enabled personal computers to become the main form of computers, mastered the artists of portable photography and video equipment, and began to use this media for artistic expression. New media art began. In the early 1970s, many popular television stations in Europe and America set up experimental television programs to try to accept experimental works of art in the public television network and provide experimental sites that combine new technologies with artistic trends of thought. These experimental television centers provided artists with the latest equipment and opportunities for cooperation with technicians. They directly contributed to many refreshing electronic visuals, created the first generation of video art masters, and stimulated the creative use of new technologies. In 1973, video artist NAN JUN PAIK worked with engineer Abby to develop a synchro-video mixer. Today, this has become one of the basic functions of television editing. In the late 1970s, the American Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, etc., reduced their funding for experimental programs on popular television, and instead directly funded artists. The National Arts Fund also began to sponsor non-profit media art centers. These media centres provide a more democratic approach than television stations and are also more accessible to new digital technologies. Video works created by these centres are less often broadcast on television networks than museums and galleries. Therefore, the artist began to consider the combination of electronic media and the traditional visual arts space, which contributed to the maturity of the video device.

Since the 1980s, the video art has taken the limelight at various international art exhibitions. It uses the powerful power of new technologies and the sensitivity, comprehensiveness, interactivity, and strong sense of presence that traditional media cannot compete against in international art. The exhibition was frequently exhibited and became the main artistic medium alongside the art on the stand and the installation art. After the 1990s, the world's major art galleries not only held special video exhibitions, but also set up video departments or set up video recording plans. Art institutions around the world regularly hold video festivals to promote the dissemination and exchange of new media art. In recent years, due to the maturation of personal computers, many works have appeared in the form of interactive multimedia discs. The Bonn Video Festival in 1998 specifically set prizes for multimedia works, and internet works are also booming.

Today, the new media art has developed into a family of single-frequency video works, video installations, multimedia CDs, and online art. Various trainings, services and research institutions are also provided. Training centers such as EDA in Europe, research institutions such as the Pierre Charfé International Film and Television Creation Center in France, LUX CENTER in the UK, and ZKM in Germany. There are also many semi-profit production centers that are open to artists at a level below commercial prices. For the funding of new media art, a large number of cultural funds from high-tech companies, such as the Berlin video festival funded by Apple Computer, the Hamburg video festival funded by Siemens, and the technical part of the Cassell document exhibition sponsored by IBM and SONY. The support for new media art has enhanced the company’s cultural image, demonstrated the artistic charm and potential of the new media, and formed a virtuous circle between the new media art and the new technology.

With the support of the media industry and related government agencies, a number of media art utopias have been established, the most well-known of which are the "ZKM" (CENTER FOR ART AND MEDIA) in KARLSTUHE, Germany, and Linz, Austria. "AEC" (ARS ELECTRonICA CENTER) and "ICC" (INTERCOMMUNICATION CENTER) of Tokyo, Japan, are intended to promote the dialogue between contemporary art and science. ZKM was established in 1990 and officially began operation in October 1997. It is the only museum in the world that has the theme of INTERACTIVE ART. Its purpose is to create a large laboratory and media city combining arts and technology, a "new Bauhaus" that will set off a new visual movement. ZKM is a typical German-style enterprise management method. Under the concept of HEINRICH KLOTZ, a large-scale enterprise such as Siemens sponsor and founding director, he hopes to continue the concept of the Bauhaus era and continue to be an art combined with industry. Hall to confirm the so-called "second modern" concept. The idea of ​​ZKM's establishment was due to the idea of ​​a local politician, Lothartra SPAETH. He hoped to set up a research and development institution for arts and media technology, especially visual images and music news, and chose the former architect of the National Museum of Architecture in Frankfurt. As the moderator and curator. The museum mainly develops media collection, collection, display and promotion of German science and culture. Since 1992, it has held the "MULTIMEDIALE" multimedia art biennale to showcase its media art collections, internationally renowned media artists and center artist works.

From the development of new media art in Europe and the United States, we can clearly see that the creation of this art form has been closely linked with commercial interests from the outset. Therefore, it is more than displaying art but displaying new technologies. Products, visits to this new media art exhibition give people a feeling more like visiting a trade fair.

( b) how to prepare

It is human nature to be refreshed. Creating new technologies and using new technologies are inevitable for the progress of human society. Under the dual impact of China's IT industry and new media art in Europe and the United States, China's new media art started off in a state of near-worst.

New media art is not only unfamiliar to the Chinese public, but also to Chinese artists who do not fully understand and agree. However, just like the occurrence and development of everything in the world, new media art does not enter the world until you fully understand and accept it. Whether you like it or not, it always breaks through your own rules. The development of new media art in China began in the late 1980s. By the mid-1990s, a number of outstanding works and mature artists began to appear. In September 1996, at the China Academy of Art gallery in Hangzhou, China hosted the first video art exhibition titled "Phenomenon and Imaging." This exhibition includes more than a dozen video installations and several video works, which are the pioneers of the first generation of video art in China. The exhibition received great repercussions at home and abroad. Local media reported it in a very large format, and the "Literature News" named this incident as the Top Ten News of Chinese Fine Arts. The exhibition was positioned by many critics as an important milestone in Chinese contemporary art.

In 1997, several personal exhibitions were formed in Beijing that were purely composed of video art, such as "Wang Gongxin Solo Exhibition", Song Dong's "Look at" Video Art Exhibition, and Qiu Zhijie's "Luo Series: Five Video Installations" solo exhibition. This signifies that Chinese new media artists have not only become the focus of the creative community, but also have begun to hit the contemporary Chinese art market in an individual way. More affected artists began to invest in video art creations, and their achievements were reflected in "97 China Video Art Exhibition." At this point, the video art has become a hot spot in the Chinese art world. The "Chinese Art Yearbook of the 1990s" has a special chapter that narrates the rise of video art. At the same time, the activity of Chinese video art has aroused the attention of the international art world. The works of Chinese new media artists have frequently appeared in important media art festivals around the world. With the development of the IT industry, editing equipment on personal computers is cheap and popular. Not only video art has been further prospered, but more artists have begun to explore interactive multimedia art and online art.

New media art in China is only ten years old. However, it is developing and growing at an astonishing speed, just like the new media, including the sound, light, electricity, and IT industries, that form the basis for it. According to Barbara Langdon, director of MOMA's video department, "The active use of video art in China is the starting point for a new circle after the Western New Media art circle is closed." Although we do not yet know how to be more accurate, Defining the new media art, no matter what kind of comments it makes, there is no need to worry about how history will reflect on the development of Chinese new media arts. The Chinese new media art is trying hard to advance with the circle that is just starting point.

(c) How should new media art be defined?

Roy Ascott, the pioneer of new media arts, said: The most distinctive qualities of the new media art are connectivity and interactivity. Understanding new media art creation requires five stages: linking, blending, interacting, transforming, and appearing. First of all, they must be linked and fully integrated into them (not just at a distance), interacting with the system and others. This will lead to the transformation of works and consciousness, and finally new images, relationships, thoughts and experiences. The new media art we generally say refers mainly to the transmission of circuits and the creation of computers. However, this silicon-based and electron-based media is currently being integrated with biological systems and concepts derived from molecular science and genomics. The most innovative new media art will be a combination of "dry" silicon crystal computer science and "wet" biology. This newly emerging new media art is known as MOIST MEDIA by Roy Ascot.

There are many forms of expression of new media arts, but there is only one common point in them. That is to say, the users interact with the work to change the image, shape and even the meaning of the work. They used different methods to trigger the transformation of the works - touch, space movement, vocalization and so on. Regardless of whether the interface between the work is a keyboard, mouse, light or sound sensor, or other more sophisticated or even invisible "boarding machine," the relationship between the viewer and the work is mainly interactive. Linkage is a barrier that transcends time and space and connects people from all over the world. In these cyberspaces, users can play various identities at any time, searching distant databases, information files, learning about exotic cultures, and creating new communities. (to be continued)