What is new media?

New Media…What the hell is new media?

At the start of this class I just thought that it was the internet and things that you find in internet land, it partially is that. Now I think that new media also entails innovation in art. Such as street art, installations, and using technology in new ways. The most shocking thing about art is when you see something totally new and unseen. We seek innovation in art for the same reason Robert Mapplethorpe the photographer was successful. We the audience needs something new.

I often think of today’s artists (with an admittedly biased view) in a kind of split manner. I tend to split them up in 2 groups, the people that stick old test forms of art, and then the experimenters and inventors. The inventors are in the field of new media.

There are a few artists that would definitely fit my new definition of new media.  There is a dance group called Palindrome that blends technology and dance together. Their use of sensors, monitors, and cameras to link light and sound the dancer movement is brilliant and new.  The connection between dancer and technology means that the audience sees things that they haven’t seen before. That is exactly what an audience craves.

The artists Christo and Jean-Claude are a couple who have spent their live creating installation pieces. They were the ones who placed umbrellas all over Japan and California. They put the gates all over central park in New York City. They are probably the most famous installation artists out there. In many interview they say that there is no deeper meaning to their art they simply want to create a beautiful sight. What they do is New Media.

New Media isn’t simply playing with new gadget and making giant sculptures. It is innovation in the artistic community.