Week 7

The reading describes digital performance as performance where computer technologies play a key role and not just a subsidiary role. I think this is an important distinction that may need to more specifically interrogated. It’s not very clear at which point technology becomes ‘key’ enough to go from art to digital art. Furthermore, if there is a line that can be drawn between art and digital art, I’m not sure if this line is even static; I think it may be moving. Technology is advancing and everyday it pervades our daily lives more and more. The children growing up today will take more and more technology for granted. Therefore I think that it’s very possible that there are art pieces today that take advantage of some digital technology that later peoples may find difficulty appreciating, because to them, the technology that the pieces use will seem mundane because they have grown up with that technology and they take it for granted. I think this is quite relevant for digital performance art because much of this is involved with projecting or manufacturing a presence, but telepresence may become so commonplace in the future that future people may view this artwork in a very different frame. Things like video chat have already drastically changed how we view distance and video.