Technology and Creativity
The emergence of the "Techno-Artist"
by Bill Sweetman, September 1994
The rapid evolution of audio-visual technology has seen the demise
of some of our most closely held principles. What, for example,
constitutes an "original" work of art in our age of
digital media, where every "copy" is an exact replica
of the original? And what are we to make of photography, long
believed to document "reality"?
With the incredible -- and seamless -- manipulative capabilities
of today's technology, we have seen how the camera can lie. (Perhaps,
in the same way that photography freed painting from the confines
of representation, digital technology will allow photography to
chart an exciting new course.)
For many decades, producing a film or television show required
the collaboration of a large team of highly skilled artists and
technicians. This led to a division of labour, along with boundaries
(some of them arbitrary and counterproductive) dividing "artist"
from "technician." But now, the walls are crumbling.
Sooner than you may realize, the "collaboration" will
take place inside computers, which make no distinction between
whether the user is an artist or a technician. Using a computer
paint program, for instance, doesn't magically turn someone into
a painter. It does, however, allow them to explore a powerful
artistic realm that they may not have access to normally.
It is through this process of discovery that many "technicians"
have become gifted artists as well. At the same time, artists
who have embraced new technology have often discovered (to their
delight) that they've become technicians too.
Thanks to the advent of powerful yet easy-to-use technology, we
are seeing the emergence of an exciting new type of media worker:
the "techno-artist."
New technology will also have a major impact on the current work
force involved in the production of film and television. Sets,
to use but one example, will still need to be designed, built,
and dressed, but all of this can now happen inside a computer;
the real thing may not need to be constructed.
Production designers and art directors should be able to make
the transition (or translation) with ease. Carpenters, painters,
and set dressers, however, will need to develop new skill sets
in order to remain in demand.
We've finally reached the stage where anything that can be imagined
can be realized by digital technology, at least in the two-dimensional
worlds of film and TV. Sure, this is great news, except that the
hardware has developed faster than the "software" in
our heads. (If only upgrading creative skills was as easy as inserting
a floppy disk!)
Strive to unleash your imagination from the constraints imposed
by older, analog technology. New technologies require new ways
of thinking. Don't get caught up worrying if or how your vision
can be realized -- just concentrate on the vision itself.
At the same time, learn as much as you can about new technology.
It doesn't have to be a formal process; try just hanging out with
some computer graphic or digital video fanatics. They (and the
technology) are not the enemy -- stubbornness is.
Bill Sweetman is MultiMediator's Founder.
(This article originally appeared in Playback.)
