Emergence of the Computer and Art :: Technology Technological Essays

Emergence of the Computer and Art Some of the leading and by far most prolific participants involved in the production of art today have no limbs and no eyes. In fact, these participants lack blood, flesh, and other things which are necessary to the determination of a being as human; this is due to the fact that in these participants are neither humans nor beings, they are machines. One might ask how a machine could affect the artworld as a participant in the production or art, how such a machine could participate in the creation of art at all, and why no such machines existed in the past. On the first question, the answer lies in the second; if a machine is able to become a participant in the production of art then it is a natural state that the participant should have some influence upon the artworld via their product. A machine can be a participant in the production of art in the same numerous ways that a human can, for machines are entirely capable of mimicking many of the movements of man. A few machines have been participants in the production of art in the past, however a distinction must be drawn between participants and tools. Tools are used by humans to manipulate things in the world; participants may also be tools in this case, however they do enough without the direction of humans that it can be said that the machine is more like a servant or a slave than a tool. Tools need to be micromanaged by those that drive them, while participants need merely to be directed and will in time produce a product or a stage of a final product. Since the emergence of computing and other modern technologies there has been an increase in the number of tools which no longer need micromanagement and thus fit more closely the category of participant. In this paper will be discussed the blurring of lines between tool and participant by photo editing software and software that is capable of generating art. Blurring the Lines Between Tool and Participant : Photo Editing Software Supplementary Internet Source: users.drew.edu/clotito/001/photo editing 1.htm Examples of technology that enhances art can be seen in the evolution of photo editing software. With photo editing software, one can take a photo or any other digitized picture and change its qualities.