Blog #7

This weeks topic focuses on New Media Art, a book authored by Mark Tribe. It is an in depth look at the history of what is known as new media, which is an umbrella term under which all digital art, computer graphics, and computer animation fall into. The book outlines the history and early definition of the art form from how it was developed to how it exists today. The beginnings of New Media art begin almost as long as the computer has been in the hands of the public, but the ideas had been forming for decades before that. In the book Marcel Duchamp's Fountain is cited as an important precursor to the movement. Indeed New Media arts were truly formed out of an in the wake of the contemporary art movement of the twentieth century. The close ties between the two are seen even today predominantly in the field of graphic arts, the use of montage and text were really established and realized long before computers were a part of them. Any time an artist uses digital media to create a piece of art it falls into the category of new media, but new media arts are their own discipline independent but still branching from the contemporary art movement, the book discusses this bond as well as citing important pieces and going into the very beginning of the new media arts movement as it is today, that is, the use of computers to produce digital media.

The book is a rather fascinating look at not only the history of new media, but an intriguing look at the state of the movement today. The formation and independence of the movement are all interesting stories in an of themselves. It is very important to know the back story of ones chosen profession and the establishment of that profession is almost as interesting as the state that its in today. It is important to have a strong background in the history of new media in order to advance the state its in presently, otherwise one has no bearing on their own work or the work around them.