As an author published in the wide, wonderful world of electronic books, I often reflect upon how much technology has influenced art. From computer graphics to putting up music videos on YouTube, I would argue that for the most part, technology has been a driving force behind making art more accessible to its audience and thus is beneficial.
These days I am more apt to read books on my computer than acquire paperback books; I find that I am running out of shelf space and running out of space for shelves. Admittedly, a certain degree of environmentalism plays a part; no trees are chopped down to produce an ebook.
Technology, I think, is allowing art to evolve and express itself in different venues. While some may think that picking up a paintbrush is superior to anything created in Photoshop, I believe that each is a valid artist medium.
What do you feel about technology's influence on art? Do you find it to be mostly good, mostly bad, or are you mixed?
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How technology can help artistic endeavor:
-Allow unprecedented public access to works once restricted.
-Artists can get instant feedback from those who are interested.
-An artist can get noticed where he/she might not have been before.
-New Media formats create new ideas and experiences.
-Old media formats potentially revived.
How technology can potentially harm artistic endeavor:
-Make artists without new media or technology skills unable to compete or promote themselves effectively (obviously, something that might be remedied with time)
-More opportunities for copying, sampling and outright theft.
-Higher quantity, but not necessarily quality, of work.
-The technology "takes over" the art.
So...Is a photoshop or illustrator painting of less value than an actual canvas painting? Difficult to say, but the computer can often correct mistakes or allow tricks and shortcuts. The real painter has no such luxury.
You just hit upon a hot button there: theft and pirating of art. One of my books was found recently on an ebook list on a file sharing website along with various other authors, and right now legal action is underway to shut down the owner of the site.
The problem is getting them at the root. Just asking them to remove the files isn't enough; they'll just put them back up eventually or on another hosting service provider. What needs to happen is to have these people's IPs blacklisted and start also attacking the hosting provider.
Some people think, "Well, these authors make tons of money and own a million yachts" when in actuality we don't. I won't even break even with my finances for a very, very long time. Most artists are in a similar position. You're robbing them of their livelihood, and stealing from the companies that support them.
This is a huge issue that became big with mp3s and now ebooks are the next target. There needs to be more done to protect the artists' work in the electronic world.
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