Art Within the Digital Age

Elissa Baxter wrote an article entitles “Pocket Gallery” for the Green Guide that discussed the possibilities that new technologies have upon the art world. The article explored different applications that mobile phones have within the art world, including animated video, photography and the creation of music. The way that modern mobile technologies are constructed can include a quite sophisticated camera and, in the case of the iPhone, the addition of applications that allow the phone to become a musical instrument.
I became interested in the use of a mobile phone as a tool within the art making process when I heard an album that was innitially recorded on a mobile. The album was called “one minute songs and sounds” and is available for free download at www.apocketfullofstones.com/onesandzeros. On the album, every song was only about one minute in length. The length of the songs were determined be the fact that the phone would only allow that length of recording at one time. The recordings were made while on holidays overseas. The very portable nature of the mobile phone allows the creation of digital art to happen anywhere with a certain amount of ease.
A question that needs to be asked is; is the creation of digital art becoming more accessible to the general public? If so, is there going to be a large influx of digital art made with mobile technology appearing on the Internet?
I would argue that the general public may use the features on their mobile phones for happy snaps and fun, but, it is only those that are artistically inclined that will utilise the new technologies for artistic purposes. It is the way that art is created that is evolving within the modern age and the Internet allows for an effective delivery method. This is another example of a technology being
On a side note you should check out an Austrian music group that is mentioned in the Baxter article called iBand. iBand use their modern mobile phones as instruments. You can see a video of them on Youtube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwoPgnvpPQg . The band consists of a drums, guitar and keyboards, all synthesised through applications that were downloaded onto their iPhones.