THE NEW MEDIA

The digital age technically began in 1946 when the first crude digital computer was created using vacuum tubes and electric relays. Its initial uses were those of complex calculations, and processing and reproducing large amounts of data. The first computer art began to appear in the early 1960’s. A. Michael Noll was a research scientist at Bell Laboratories and is credited as one of the first digital artists. His early computer generated art consisted of primitive lines and geometric shapes (Rush, p. 172). Throughout the 1960’s and early 1970’s computer art slowly began to get attention from the artistic community and the computer began to be seen as a legitimate artistic tool. By the mid 1970’s well known artists such as Andy Warhol, Jennifer Bartlett and Keith Haring had used the computer in some fashion to enhance their artistic creations (Rush, p. 179).

Computers and software continued to improve throughout the decade. The advent of the personal computer in the 1980’s brought the digital revolution (and digital art) into homes and small studios worldwide. As the demand for personal computers increased so did the demand for high quality, user-friendly software. Digital technology exploded during this period of time and by the early 1990’s the digital arts, now known as the “New Media”, had come to the forefront of popularity. Within the last decade digital technologies are replacing analog technology in almost every aspect of our lives. Music, movies, animation and nearly all forms of entertainment are using some form of digital technology. All new communication technologies use the digital format, and of course it is digital technologies that made the internet possible. In 2007 digital television will replace analog as the standard broadcasting format in the United States.

Some of the greatest examples of the new media have evolved from the film industry. The Andromeda Strain (1971) and Westworld (1973) were two of the first major productions to use computer graphics. In 1977 the trench run scene in Star Wars was the first extensive use of computer generated 3D graphics. By 1982 movies Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan and Tron were both making extensive use of computer graphics. Digital animation on the big screen continued to advance throughout the 1980,s. The first fully 3D animation short Luxo Jr., released by Pixar in 1986, and in 1988 Disney Studios used computer animation to give lifelike shading and depth to the animated characters in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Terminator 2: Judgment Day gave us the first lifelike computer generated character in 1991 and digital special effects were exploding in popularity. Throughout the decade movies such as Forrest Gump, Casper, Dragon Heart, Toy Story, Space Jam, The Matrix and others demonstrated the rapid technological advancements of this art form. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001) debuted the first photorealistic computer generated character (Dirks). In 2003 the effect of computer graphics on the entertainment industry were made blatantly apparent. Disney announced that it will no longer use the hand drawn animation techniques that made them the king of animation for the last sixty years. Disney now uses only computer generated 3D animation. The new media is quickly replacing the old in many forms of entertainment and communication.

During the same period of time other digital technologies matured. The first video games were considered quaint electronic oddities. Yet entire industries grew around this technology. Within a few years video arcades were in shopping ceenters around the world. Within a decade the quaint games had developed into elaborate virtual worlds that engulfed the user in 3D graphics and high speed action. The development of the compact disk changed the wy we recorded, stored and played digital files. The music industry was transformed almost overnight as digital sound technology quickly made analog recordings obsolete.

By definition anything that is new is “.., not existing before, newly discovered. Lately devised.” (Webster’s, p. 252). The term New Media implies that this type of media is distinctly unique and separate from anything before it. There are many differances between the new media and the old. Howerver, they also have many similarities. The New Media contains two primary characteristics that make it distinctly unique and different from the “old media”.

First, as noted above, the old media is analog and the new media is digital. The sole purpose analog media is to record or reproduce some form of information that is fed into it. This includes most forms of information reproduction including radio, television, photography, motion pictures and audio recordings such as tapes and records. These analog forms of information reproduction do allow for some forms of modification such as voice-overs in movies, simple film animation and sound manipulation such as sound mixing. Yet these modifications must be done at the original point of creation. Once a work is produced it becomes basically unchangeable.

Digital media is a dyanmic medium that is capable of producing original creations that are beyond the capabilities of analog media. The digital media offers many creative oppertunities that is outside the scope of analog art forms. Digital media can be used for original artistic creation, or it can take an analog creation and reproduce it as a digital electronic code. This ability allows the digital artist to manipulate a digital reproduction of an existing piece by manipulating the code. Through the use of computer hardware and software the artist can significantly alter any image, video or sound that the computer can record. Digital media offers the artist the ability to create without the need for the input of information from an external source. Whereas film or television can only reproduce animation or physical action, and radio and sound recording devices require the need for external sound, computers can create images, movement without input of the same. This sets digital art apart from all other forms of media. Digital tools allow the visual and audio artist the ability to create instead of simply record and reproduce. 

By comparison, the old media is static. Once images are created and recorded they become a static element. They can only be reproduced in the manner of their original creation. In contrast to this, the new media is dynamic. In its digital form the new media is fluid, flexible and easy to change or modify. An image that is painted on canvas or a photograph that is captured on film are both static images. Yet if they are scanned into a computer and recorded in digital format they become dynamic and easily workable. This allows the artist the ability to alter almost any aspect of any image that he can digitize. Any single image, video or sound can be altered and improved to serve many purposes or to fulfill various aesthetic goals. This allows the artist flexibility and expanded creativity not available with any form of old media.

Finally, the new media is dynamic from the aspect of the end user. It has the potential to be interactive in utilization. The flexability of digital technologies allows the user ever increasing possibilities to interact with many forms of media. The intricacy of human-computer interaction gets continually more complex as technologies advance, giving the artist continually evolving outlets for creativity and artistic expression.

The Digital Evolution

Understanding the Web as Media.

Examples of New Media Art from Purdue University.