Decoding Art in the Digital Era

Technology has long shaped the way artists make and audiences experience art. Today, artificial intelligence, immersive environments, blockchain-based systems, and other digital tools are expanding the possibilities of artistic expression. At the same time, they are challenging familiar ideas around authorship, originality, ownership, participation, and what an artwork can be.

Decoding Art in the Digital Era is a five-part series exploring this rapidly evolving landscape through the voices of artists, collectors, curators, and leading thinkers. From the early pioneers of computer and generative art to artists collaborating with artificial intelligence and creating responsive, participatory environments, the series traces how technology has transformed art over the past six decades – and where it may lead next.

Featuring Beeple, Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst, Christiane Paul, Manfred Mohr, Sougwen Chung, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Shumon Basar, Basma Al Sulaiman, Chris Lyons, Noah Horowitz, Matthew Newton, Carola Weise, and others, the series examines not only how digital art is made, but how it is understood, collected, preserved, and experienced.

Episode 1

Decoding Art in the Digital Era | What is Art in the Digital Era?

Digital art did not begin with NFTs, artificial intelligence, or even the internet. Artists have been experimenting with computers and code since the 1960s, extending a much longer history of using new technologies to make and think about art. Today, those practices encompass everything from generative systems and artificial intelligence to immersive environments and decentralized networks.

Episode 1 of Decoding Art in the Digital Era, ‘What is Art in the Digital Era?’, traces this evolution, positioning digital art within a much longer history of artists adopting and responding to new technologies. Looking across six decades of experimentation, the episode shows how digital tools have challenged established ideas of what art can be, while reflecting a culture in which technology increasingly shapes how we communicate, create, and experience the world.

Featuring Beeple, Manfred Mohr, Christiane Paul, Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst, Sougwen Chung, Sofia Garcia, Shumon Basar, Matthew Newton, and Carola Weise, the episode draws connections between earlier technological shifts in art history and the changes taking place today. Together, their perspectives suggest that the distinction between ‘digital art’ and art itself is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain – and may eventually disappear altogether.

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The Art Market Check by Melanie Gerlis

Explore our latest editorial series with art market specialist and writer Melanie Gerlis – art market columnist Financial Times, and editor at large The Art Newspaper. Focusing on various aspects of the art market, her articles provide additional insights throughout the year’s arts calendar.

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