David Trout
Artist
Statement
As an artist I am confronted by the enormous changes taking place
in art. The world is opening up in ways never imagined. In 1946, a mere sixty
years ago, ENIAC, the worlds first digital computer came into being. In 1964,
a proposal for the internet was suggested by the cold war think tank RAND Corporation.
The first digital art was produced in 1968 by Douglas Engelbart, consisting of
a bitmap image.
As we undergo this technological revolution or hypermedia (a
term coined by Theodor Nelson) a media culture absorbed by the digital, we are
ultimately confronted not just with change but the immense expansive
capabilities to communicate. Digital art is but a small part of this growing
hypermedia culture. Global culture is impacted on, the way we think,
communicate and live our lives.
So what of digital art? First, there are the stereotypes of what
it is. The view that it is a sterile image locked into the bitmap block format
or that it isnt really art, because art needs to be made by hand, or requires
some technical skill. Culturally, we carry the idea that great art takes time
to make, and somehow although we love the idea of technology making life easier
and faster, it fights against our values when we come to our notions of art. If
we get beyond the stereotypes of digital art, we find a potential that is
essential to the notion of artistic creativity. Artists trained is traditional
methods discover the digital process is able to enhance and expand the way one
works.
There is also a misconception that digital art is somehow cold
and detached lacking in the sensuality one associates with paint. Artists find
that its possible to develop strong emotional content in the work and one is
able to develop a sense of emotional satisfaction, even if at a more cerebral
level, as with other forms of traditional art.
There is also greater flexibility in changing compositional
concerns at the latter stages of the artwork. With traditional work as one
progresses one tends to tighten up, whereas with the digital image, even at
the last stages there is great flexibility for change and this I suggest allows
for greater creative dialogue.
As an artist interested in innovative
approaches to the creation of art I have over several years engaged with
digital technology as a way of producing painting.
Trained as a painter I have wanted to
maintain my painting practice especially with its focus on colour and abstraction.
I have also wanted to find ways of incorporating the digital processes Ive
discovered.
The work I now produce is printed on digital
canvas and stretched. I then resolve the painting surface through traditional
painting processes. In recent years my art practice has broadened to encompass both painting and photography as
areas of interest. Thematically, my work continues to explore memory and cross
cultural references.