New
technology is constantly developing, growing and providing innovative means of
conceptualizing and creating art. In this Information Age, common media
including film, video, audio, installation, performance, texts and computers
are practiced by the collaborative artists and are collected as a broad range
of practices under the term Digital Art. British artists Jon Thomson and Alison
Craighead express their concepts on human foibles and society through digital
media that features text as well as making use of all manners of interactive
features that require the involvement of the viewer. These London-based artists
are known for working with multiple media such as video, sound, installations
and online art using communication systems and technology in their creative
practice.
Artists
are the foremost to reflect on the culture and technology of their respective
times. They have been adopting and adapting the use of technology to express
their concepts prior to the 1980s. The Digital
Revolution was officially ignited in the 1990s.[1]
During this period, the emergence of the World Wide Web and the increased
availability of personal computers led to a new form of expression with a global
platform for exchange and communities of interest. Technology’s constant
progress with enhancement, speed, and affordability is the driving force behind
the computer revolution.
Consequently, it has seeped into the entire culture
and currently provides fast access to information. This is an invaluable avenue
that artists can utilize to take their message to the public, mass produce, mass-
circulate and distribute their concepts.
Thomson and Craighead are fascinated by the breakdown of the boundaries
of the global communication networks and its transformative effect on the
individuals to perceive and comprehend the world around us.[2]
Thomson and Craighead’s Attributed Text (1997) was created in the earlier years of the web
featuring text. It expounds the use of text with hypertext links which were
supported by web browsers. It consists
of the paragraph,“All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author of this text.”[3] Each underlined word has a link to parallel
information ranging from all facets of society.
For example, “All” links to European Ice Age and the threat of global warming
while the other words link to news relating to murder, conflict and a guide to making
any woman your platonic friend.
In
Attributed Text, reading is an
integral part of the interactivity. No single word has one exact interpretation
and the meanings change with time and
the context. Thomson and Craighead investigated that text with a poststructuralist
and postmodernist frame can reveal that language has internal contradictions and hidden ideologies. [4] According
to the postmodernists and poststructuralists there are many truths and many
realities because different readers have their own worldviews and biased
interpretations. Thomson and Craighead use text to stimulate commentary about
real-world issues and explore language as a tool of authority and power. The
combination of bold visual graphics and text allows these artists to challenge
the ideas on specific issues and instigate critiques of society and human
foibles.
Subsequently,
Triggerhappy (1998) is a gallery
installation and online art that features the French philosopher Michael
Foucault’s “What is an author?” (1969). It is similar to the early and popular
arcade game from 1978, Space Invaders. The opposition aliens are replaced with
quotes taken from Foucault’s essay. Thomson and Craighead referenced a
game-like structure that combines a peculiar quest for information with a
classic shooter game. The audience of Triggerhappy
becomes part of the art and the concept. The reader’s focus on the text is constantly
distracted by the flashiness of the game and destroying the “What is an
author?” text before it destroys the player. Postmodernist and poststructuralist theorists have
shared and recognised with Foucault’s belief on the importance of controlling
language. The control of what is put
into words and who has the authority to speak publicly is an important means of
gaining and wielding power. Also, the players are either in the role of
attacking or defending themselves from the “What is an author” text which ultimately
depends on the individual. The destruction of Foucault’s text has a powerful impact
on the user that can relate to the censorship of the public and media and can
also provide a sense of empowerment. Triggerhappy
explores the affiliation between the author, audience and hypertext and gestures
towards the electronic culture in which we coexist and interrelate. Thomson and
Craighead employ an underlying sense of humor and irony as the user
participates in the work. The game also
reflects on the scarcity of attention and the aesthetics of the narcissism of
games and entertainment. In addition to using text to make statements about
real-world issues, the artists have explored how language in culture is used to
assert authority and power.
Conclusively,
artists who incorporate words in a work of art often have a purpose beyond
provoking an aesthetic and superficial reaction. Artists have employed text
with the aim of examining the truth or authority of public issues. Thomson and
Craighead’s combined strategy of language and interactivity helps to highlight
the social, environmental and political issues and to ensure a strong impact is
made on the viewers. The user’s
involvement with a work which features the interplay between the context and the
production meaning of the viewer is part of the art-making process. Thomson and
Craighead are using the computer and the internet as a mechanism for their realization
of ideas rather than a medium in itself. Internet art has become diverse and
complex but it is still in the early stage of development and is a growing art
form in the contemporary art world.
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Bibliography
1. Cason, Nancy F. “Interactive
Multimedia: An Alternative Context for Studying Works of Art.” Studies in
Art Education 39, no. 4 (July 1, 1998): 336–349.
2. London, Barbara. “Digital Art Takes
Shape at MoMA.” Leonardo 34, no. 2 (January 1, 2001): 95–99.
3. Paul, Christiane. Digital art.
London; New York: Thames & Hudson, 2008.
4. Robertson, Jean, and Craig McDaniel. Themes
of contemporary art : visual art after 1980. New York: Oxford University
Press, 2010.
5. Rush, Michael. New Media in Art.
London; New York: Thames & Hudson, 2005.
6. Tamblyn, Christine. “Computer Art as
Conceptual Art.” Art Journal 49, no. 3 (October 1, 1990): 253–256.
7. Thomson and Craighead. “Installation.” Accessed
October 2, 2012. http://www.thomson-craighead.net.
8. Thomson and Craighead. “Online Artwork.” Accessed
October 2, 2012. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/slade/slide/docs/webworkbcom.html.
9.
Vague
Terrain. “Thomson and Craighead Interviewed by Martin John Callanan.” Accessed
October 5, 2012. http://www.vagueterrain.net/journal08/thomson-craighead/01
10. Weil, Benjamin. “Art in Digital Times:
From Technology to Instrument.” Leonardo 35, no. 5 (January 1, 2002):
523–537.
11. Wong, Chee-Onn, Keechul Jung, and
Joonsung Yoon. “Interactive Art: The Art That Communicates.” Leonardo
42, no. 2 (January 1, 2009): 180–181.
[1]
Paul, Christiane.
Digital art. London; New York: Thames & Hudson, 2008, 7.
[2]
Vague Terrain.
“Thomson and Craighead Interviewed by Martin John Callanan.” Accessed October
5, 2012. http://www.vagueterrain.net/journal08/thomson-craighead/01
[3]
Thomson and
Craighead. “Online Artwork.” Accessed October 2, 2012.
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/slade/slide/docs/webworkbcom.html.
[4]
Robertson, Jean,
and Craig McDaniel. Themes of contemporary art : visual art after 1980.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2010, 24.
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