Digital art

Computers have changed how artists make work and how audiences encounter it. Older practices such as printmaking, painting, photography and sculpture now routinely draw on digital processes, while newer genres like net art, software art, digital installation and virtual reality have won a firm place in the art world. Christiane Paul traces this history from the first digital experiments of the 1980s up to the present, and considers where the field may head. She separates artists who simply use digital tools to make conventional objects from those who treat the digital as a medium in its own right. Along the way she examines recurring concerns such as audience participation, artificial life and intelligence, activism, networked communication and telepresence. She also addresses the practical problems of collecting, displaying and conserving digital work. This revised and expanded edition gives attention to recent developments, including mobile and site-specific media, social networks and online virtual worlds such as Second Life.