March 18th 2011

What Is Digital Art?

I thought it was interesting when I Googled Rhizome for my first week of Digital Art class, that Wikipedia came up with this definition:
“In botany, a rhizome (from Greek: ῥίζωμα, rhizoma, "root-stalk") is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes may also be referred to as creeping rootstalks, or rootstocks.”
(Wikipedia, 2010)

This statement has led me to consider the effects that the new digital age has on art. We must appreciate that the internet’s tentacles are reaching further and wider than ever before, thus enabling people to access an enormous amount of information and stimulation. Today, art can be widely accessed by the public and also affordably published by artists.

However, I was disappointed when I visited Rhizome and I was asked to pay $25 to view an artwork. I have searched the available artworks and I wanted to share the collaborative artwork of artists Jean Delouvroy and Hans Verhaegen, Deus Digitalis, 2009. http://www.hansup.be/deus-digitalis/


This audiovisual installation combines light patterns moving to sound. I found the display charming and musically mathematical. The artists explain:
“The screen is filled with dancing human figures. In a style that reminds us of early ’80 computer games. These are symmetrically arranged in groups of 25 people in different colours. The colours are simply the default colours you can find in almost any graphical program. These do very well in simulating the "typical" gothic colours of glass windows.” (Verhaegen, 2009)

I chose to share this artwork because I like the use of pattern and colour to create the composition. It reminds me of the pop art style of the post modernism movement.