DIGITAL MOSAICS: The Esthetics of Cyberspace - Hardcover

Holtzman, Steven

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0684832070 ISBN 13: 9780684832074

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 1997

Synopsis

Explores the dramatic difference between traditional media, such as books, theater, and film, and the recent development of cyberspace, which appears to shape not only how we communicate but increasingly the way we think. 20,000 first printing.

About this title

Review

While we are constantly reminded that the digital medium is like none other, Steven Holtzman wants us to realize that we're not yet aware of just how different it is. The areas of uniqueness and its deeper capabilities as a means of artistic expression are just beginning to be explored. Holtzman takes us on a tour of some of the most exciting of these explorations. Moving back and forth among technical issues, artistic visions, and artistic technique, he pushes the door just a bit wider to reveal glimpses of new possibilities. While what's being done is exciting, the real wonder, Digital Mosaics shows, lies in the knowledge that today's artistic innovations pave the way for unexpected visions tomorrow.

From the Publisher

As the internet and digital media become increasingly familiar presences in our daily lives, our encounters with the digital world become more frequent -- we get news on-line, we shop and book travel on the Web, we play games on our CD-ROMs. Yet we still haven't fully realized the potential of digital media to take us beyond what traditional media -- such as newspapers, books, TV, or film -- have to offer. It is precisely because the digital medium is so radically different, says Steven Holtzman, that it will influence not only the way we communicate, but also the way we think and create.

Through the work of artists and designers on the cutting edge of technology, Digital Mosaics explores the possibilities of digital expression: gravity-defying sculptures that can exist in cypberspace, a newspaper that communicates at a glance the relationships among various news stories, an interactive opera in which members of the audience become members of the audience become part of the performance. Holtzman also shows us how computer pioneers are now able to produce works of astonishing complexity and intelligence, dynamic worlds full of creatures that grow and evolve, music that perpetuates itself, and beautiful fractal images that rival nature's masterpieces.

Holtzman examines the unique qualities of these on-line experiences. Digital art is infinitely reproducible (there is no "original"), and yet is ephemeral. The digital experience is interactive, not passive, and this will change the way we look at and experience digital worlds. The traditional boundary between the audience and the artist will become only more blurred. And while the digital world links individuals to a global community, it is also a place in which individual expression will flourish as never before. The computer, says Holtzman, does not replace books, painting, photography, film, or theater. It is a new medium that will give rise to entirely new forms of creative expression.

Insightful, thought-provoking, and illustrated throughout, Digital Mosaics is the thoughtful traveler's guide to the digital worlds of our future.

Edition details

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0684832070
• ISBN 13: 9780684832074
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208