The argument for digital art

A couple weeks ago I made my way downtown for Ithaca’s Gallery Night. While I was there I went into Sunny Days of Ithaca where a gallery space was being held for a local artist. Her art was all digital and while talking to her she made some really interesting and excellent points about digital vs. traditional art — something I think is often discussed and debated in the art world.

In a previous blog I talked about the accessibility of art and how expensive materials and professional classes can be. This was mainly referring to what we call “traditional art” which is your physical painting and drawing. These art forms have been regarded as “traditional” because it’s what the old masters practiced. But we’re not in that age anymore. We have a multitude of technology available at our fingertips — why should our art not evolve to that level?

Some of local Ithaca artist Rachel Fierman's digital work displayed at Sunny Days of Ithaca. Source: Caitlin Holtzman/Ithaca Week

Personally, I’ve experienced the disdain that is thrown toward digital art. In that same blog where I talked about my experiences in the art world I did not mention my actual studio experiences. During high school when it came time to pick a medium for a project, digital art was almost never allowed. There were a couple of students who wanted to pursue this avenue of art but we shut down because our teacher did not see this form of art as valid or as something that could be done for a grade. I never really understood this since students creating art digitally were still working just as hard as a student who was drawing — both mediums are difficult in their own ways.

Talking to this artist at Gallery Night really opened my eyes even further to the idea of digital art. To be completely honest, when I was younger I was definitely one of those people who did not see the validity in digital art. However, I’ve grown out of that and my chat helped further my understanding of digital art being just as valid as “traditional art.”

Art is all about being creative and finding new ways to create and display things and ideas. Who are we to discredit someone’s form of artistic expression just because we do not understand that kind of art?