Description
In general usage, Media, which is the plural of medium, refers to forms of mass communication, such as newspapers, magazines, television, radio and the Internet. In the arts, media refers to the materials, methodologies, mechanisms, technologies or devices by which an artwork is realised, a substance through which an effect is transmitted. Traditional or old media include Painting and Sculpture. The specific materials used, such as paint, charcoal or marble, can also be referred to as media. ‘New’ is a relative term in that something is new when it is first created, discovered or used, and its status as ‘new’ diminishes both over time and as it is replaced by something newer. In Contemporary Art, New Media refers to a range of materials and technologies developed relatively recently and utilised in the creation, presentation and disemmination of New Media Art. These new media are drawn from a range of sources both within the arts and the wider field of communications, entertainment and information technologies. Informed by the rapid pace of technological development,
New Media Art is a constantly changing category encompassing Film, Video, Photography, Lens-Based Media, Digital Technology, Audio Technology, Computer, Web 2.0 technologies, Video Games and STEAM based learning.
Innovative artists have always been interested in new media and materials. During the Renaissance, artists’ practice was transformed by the use of the new medium of Oil Paint which provided artists with greater flexibility and versatility than Tempera. The introduction of the Camera Obscura contributed to new developments in perspective, and Printmaking radicalised the notion of the unique or one-off artwork, establishing an early precedent for mass media communication.
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