Artwork as Expression of a Message
One can say art saves human perception accordingly. A semiotician and philosopher Umberto Eco (1990, p. 166) writes, “Art is created by imagination, which organizes its own vision, giving to life a harmonious whole. If there exist any rules or preexisting structures (because of tradition, language, culture in general), imagination destroys them and rebuilds them with a kind of nonanalyzable impulse. The creation has a new, original, harmonious form like that of a living being.” Phases of visual problem solving may go through looking, seeing, imaging, and conveying our solution. In similar terms we can see nonverbal communication through art as creating a picture, conveying a message, and receiving the message by viewers, which involves articulation and exchanging codes along with social interactions. In further text we will examine the three phases of such creative process.
An artist may choose to create an artwork by looking from a distance at a wall-size image projection from a computer, tablet, or a smart phone, having electronic tools placed conveniently by the hand or using a touch screen visual display that can detect the presence and location of artist’s finger or hand within the display area. Thus, there is enough distance for a good examination of the artwork and the effects of applying particular changes in a program. Artists can just see brilliant colors from a distance when they create electronic art. New media take on a growing number of varied forms, mostly digital, often interactive, networked, linked, open-ended and just open to reorganization by its users. For example, there is 2D digital and analog art, 3D digital art and design, time-based art, sound art, animation from traditional frame by frame animation to 3D computer animation, bio-inspired art, the virtual reality art, art using location-based technologies such as augmented reality, GPS-based and mobile applications, alternate reality games, and games as an art form.
The same may apply to the web-based art, visualization, and simulation. The net art combines elements of programming, electronic writing, digital imaging, animation, virtual environments, streaming performances, and it creates a shared social networking space. It has happened once at an art exhibition that a personal e-mail checked by someone on a computer used for a web-based art project accidentally replaced the projection on the ceiling so all viewers could examine it. Thus, for a short moment it became a piece of art.