Friday 11th December 2015
When most people think of computer graphics, it's probable that the first thing that leaps to mind is movie special effects. The term CG has become a staple of movie discussions everywhere, and whether it's mentioned with disdain or approval, it cannot be denied that they are here to stay. They find their way into everything from TV shows to commercials to the latest blockbuster movie releases, and they are constantly being refined into a greater and more accurate representation of life (or, as is more often the case, fantasy). What was once easily dismissed as tawdry can now inspire terror, albeit sometimes a terror of the loss of traditional cinematography.
The disdain isn't really limited to the movie world, however. As the prevalence of CG increases exponentially, the artists behind the movie magic are constantly looking for other ways to hone their skillsets, often looking beyond the directly commercial into the world of art for art's sake. Often, these projects arouse the ire of the more conventional art world, as they rarely contain the sort of deep social messages that are found in much of modern conceptual art. But is that really all there is to art?
A quick stop over at cgsociety.org shows a truly staggering amount of work produced by a vibrant community, everything from commercial projects to conceptual pieces that can truly only be described as art. This is just one of hundreds of such communities scattered across the web, constantly growing and attracting new members at a rate comparable to more traditional artistic disciplines.
Digital artists have long faced an uphill battle to be accepted by the rest of the art world, as the obviously digital nature of their work makes it difficult - if not impossible - to monetize and calculate their value in a traditional way. There is no way to make a piece of digital art truly unique, as it can be copied perfectly down to the last bit without damaging the original in any way. How do you price something like that at an auction house? How could you guarantee the piece's uniqueness? This is a familiar problem for digital photographers, but as the scope of what is considered art continues to expand, we're likely to see even more of this. Just wait until augmented and virtual reality really begins to take off!
Posted on December 11th 2015 on 04:27pm
