Electronic Media Effects, Essay Example

Art is not a static construction.  Instead, it evolves over time and in response to the needs, desires, and imaginings of culture and society.  As Keith Martin-Smith states in his essay “On the Future of Art and Art Criticism, “Like just about everything else, art evolves and changes through time, building upon the success, insights, mistakes, and innovations of what came before” (Martin-Smith).  New developments in technology and communication have made the production, distribution, and witnessing of art a much different endeavour then it might have been in earlier decades.

The greatest contribution made by electronic media is, perhaps, the sheer access that this medium provides.  It acts, in a sense, as one large art gallery in which images of all types and forms are presented, often without context or attribution.  Websites such as FFFFound (www.ffffound.com) allow users to upload images that they find interesting.  Some of these include personal art that was created through digital media as well as more traditional forms.  Some of these also involve other people’s work that has been digitally altered.  This is perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of current trends in modern art forms–discovering where the boundary is between creator and audience.