Art related themes have never been easy to define. They are even less so when you integrate them into the world of new technologies, the idea of art being inescapably linked to the idea of aesthetics. Previously, the study of aesthetics used to focus on the analysis of stable forms and discourses on art used to be around physical objects: sculpture, architecture, painting, etc. Nowadays so called virtual art has come into the mix...
How is virtual art defined?
The best definition given for virtual art is that it is art intended to be visible on a digital medium, i.e. via the Internet or other digital forms. This definition does not represent traditional artworks with images presented on websites but is rather categorized by a particular creation style associated with several technologies.
In reality, however, digital art has been characterised by the hybridization of technological tools. In 1960, virtual art became an art form in its own right. It includes several distinct criteria such as virtual reality, audiovisual art, augmented reality, interactive art, and generative art.
The birth of virtual environments through interactivity
An interactive environment reflects a particular setting that involves and brings together the viewer during a process of discernment and critical observation. Thus, the physical involvement of the spectators remains effective in the creation.
Indeed, an interactive environment employs sensors interpreting the morphology and gestures of the spectator, as well as all his senses.
These various factors which are drawn from the spectator are taken and analyzed to later be gathered at a creative matrix that informs and regenerates the space that surrounds it. Thus, by drawing on the environment of virtual reality or augmented reality zone, some artists use creative tools to design digital concepts that engage with complex conditions.
The methods in virtual art
Virtual art incorporates constantly evolving methods which are basically divided into software and hardware related ones. During the 1990s, some digital art enthusiasts created their own software or used some computer engineers and the resulting digital creation software sold on the market allowed the creators of virtual art to create well-made formulas for sound creation and interactive video.
Nowadays, real-time processing of graphic, video, and sound streams is possible with the help of powerful virtual creation pieces of software.