Abstract

Since the mid-1990s, new media art has become an important force for economic and cultural development internationally, establishing its own institutions, such as the ZKM, Ars Electronica Center, ICC, Eyebeam, and Laboral. Collaborative, transdisciplinary research at the intersections of art, science, and technology also has gained esteem and institutional support, as demonstrated by the Artists in Labs program (Switzerland) and the proliferation of interdisciplinary Ph.D. programs around the world. During the same period, mainstream contemporary art experienced dramatic growth in its market and popularity, propelled by economic prosperity and the propagation of international museums, art fairs and exhibitions from the Tate Modern to Art Basel Miami to the Shanghai Biennial. This dynamic environment has nurtured tremendous creativity and invention by artists, curators, theorists and pedagogues operating in both domains. Yet rarely does the mainstream artworld converge with the new media artworld. As a result, their discourses have become increasingly divergent.

• Edward Shanken (US/NL) writes and teaches about the entwinement of art, science, and technology with a focus on interdisciplinary practices involving new media. He edited Telematic Embrace: Visionary Theories of Art, Technology and Consciousness (California, 2003) and authored Art and Electronic Media (Phaidon, 2009).

Full text (PDF) p.  106-108