Painting the Digital River: How an Artist Learned to Love the Computer

Description

This book is about art, written from an artist's point of view. It is also about computers, written from the perspective of a painter who uses them. It is a literate and witty attempt to make sense of the introduction of computer tools into the creation of art, to understand the issues and the fuss, to appreciate the people inolved and the work they do, and to know the promise of the new media, as well as the risks. It is written for a general audience, and should appeal equally to traditional art departments as well as computer graphics departments. 

 

List of Illustrations xiii
Preface xv
Acknowledgments xxi

Chapter 1: The Mud of the River 1
Dipping into the Digital River 1

Through the Studio Window 4

Charts 9

Pre and Post 11

Good-Bye Futurism 18

Floating 22

Chapter 2: A Bend in the River 25
Beginners 25

Learning How to Move 27

Another Admirable Invention 30

The Road to Extinction? 32

Blinking, Thinking 33

Too Quiet 37

Being on Both Sides 44

Chapter 3: Big Pixels, Small Minds 49
Strange Country 49

Public and Private Views 51

Small Minds 56

Hooked on Pixels 63

Hotel Pixel 69

Ghosts 74

Separate Streams 77

Crossing Points 81

Chapter 4: Gone Fishing 91
The Art of Art 91

Tools, Models, and Minds 98

The Patient Painter 103

The Amphibian 111

Machines and Intellects 118

Blurred Vision 121

Tricks of the Eye 125

Chapter 5: Slack Water 135
Gold Standard 135

Bricks and Definitions 140

Indecisive Taste 148

Special Knowledge 152

Prints and Originals 160

Better Boxes 166

Doing Without the Explanation 171

Chapter 6: Letting the Paint Know About Art 177
Demos and Egos 177

Not Judging the User 182

Reinventing the Palette 186

Novelty Paint 193

How Painters Think 199

Testing the Art as Art 204

Thinking Paint Program 206

Zen Paint 211

Chapter 7: Strange Plants 213
New Planet 213

Departure-Lounge Moments 216

Postcard from a Researcher 220

Carpets and Algorithms 226

Medieval Digital 233

Matter and Spirit 240

Mathematical Flowers 248

Random Flowers 254

Eco Artists 257

Chapter 8: The Silver Thread 269
Choosing the Course 269

Matching the Best 272

Drawing Redefined 278

From Prince to Peer 282

Choosing a Colour 288

Nature Speaks 292

Complex Waters 296

Notes 301
Index 307