Reflection

There are Structuralists and Designers have a constant struggle to define new media.  Computers are not simple objects that can only be used for one task.  Computers have evolved into ways of storing information and pictures to being able to find a leading news story in a matter of seconds.  The computer is not transparent it is very much filled with new information.  Digital art relies on the computer to be able to create fascinating fun pieces of art.  Digital art also can make a computer and a system effective for the design of a computer and of the internet.  

When the first computer was invented it was not yet considered to be a medium.  Through out the years the computer has been around it has slowly progressed to being a very important medium or "a growing set of media forms." The computer and internet has not yet over powered different media's like television, film, newspapers, and magazines.  Because the computer has not been able to completely control these other media's the internet and computer has to be updated and changed to keep the viewer interesting.  Rarely is a web page the same for more than a week.  It must constantly be updated and ever changing.  They have started using "interaction design," like Text Rain, as a means to draw the viewer in.  Text Rain is able to play with the viewer and create words and phrases.  The computer has become a window for anyone willing to look through. 

Because society changes the art and technology also change.  During the Twentieth Century art began to change and so did everything else.  Artists began to change normal shapes into abstract pieces of art.  Typography was also changed during that time but Jan Tschichold believed that typography should become more clear.  Clarity started shinning through.  The art piece, Wooden Mirror, brings clarity.  It is able to reflect the person standing in front of it even though it is made of wood and there is a camera behind it capturing the image in front.  The computer is able to create images of something completely no existent and create something beautiful.  It is also able to re-create a kettle.  The computer can reflect something but also become a window.  Why else are the screens that pop up called windows?  The computer has also been able to put different forms of media onto it.  Media like TV and film even books are becoming popular on the computer. 

Like the Wooden Mirror, Nosce Te Ipsum is a mirror but this mirror pulls back the layers of the person standing in front of the scrim.  Nosce Te Ipsum means know yourself.  In Hans Holbein's portrait The Ambassadors, given to Henry VIII, shows two noble men standing but on the bottom of the picture there is an anamorphic figure of a skull.  This skull is not clear unless looked at at a specific angle.  This painting and Nosce Te Ipsum both show the reality of yourself and the world.  No matter what time period art is a media that shows the reality and history of the world.  Society as I have previously stated is always changing and evolving.  Art has always changed and evolved.  The computer will always evolve and so will digital art.