Art in the Twenty-First Century

I am wondering, what place will be taken by art in the 21st century? In what directions will future art go especially the visual arts which doesn't use modern technologies, or uses it (photographic projection, computer generated images, etcetera) only in limited ways so that its footprint is not reflected in the final product. Technological developments, computers and inventions of computer-generated graphics, have raised pretty important questions: At what phase of its development is the visual arts in now, and what is its future? What will the relationship between the digital arts and traditional arts become, and how will they affect each other? These are things that I am interested in; I often think about particular issues and share my thoughts here on this blog.

Let's start with a little art history. Developments in art history have always closely followed footsteps of political, social and technological development. Thus the ideas of Humanism in Europe and the beginning of the Protestant Reformation in North Europe, served as a trigger for depicting scenes of people's everyday life in works of fine art. This in fact had not previously been encountered; instead art topics were only of saints and monarchs. Here for example in the painting: The Peasant Wedding by Peter Bruegel, which depicts ordinary Netherlander peasants, simple people. Have you ever seen a painting like this before the 16^th century? No, you couldn't. It didn't exist before but then became a reflection of ideas of Humanism and Reformation. Those new ideas made ordinary mortals an object of interest.

The second example concerns the impact of technological innovation on fine art. The invention of photography in the 19th century and the rapid development of it raised a question: What was the purpose of traditional painting and especially realistic painting which tried to replicate nature as much as possible? This topic prompted a different style of development in art that does not reflect natural reality, but its artistic interpretation of it. Impressionism, Expressionism, Cubism, and so on emerged. At that time society didn't accept this new art easily, because it was accustomed to traditional art. The Impressionists for example were heavily criticized for their works, which by the way was not yet called Impressionism - when they first time dared to show at the Paris Salon.  

Of course the political and social development of humanity and its technological progress has not stopped with the above examples, but the development continues on a daily basis and affects our lives and our art.

Talking about history, historically an artist used to be kind of a hybrid between a philosopher and craftsman.  He/she needed to think like a philosopher and a scientist, simultaneously he/she needed to have both a highly trained eye and hand in order to execute the particular craft. Future tendencies in the craftsman part of art will initiate a loss of importance, since the craft will increasingly be taken over by computer technologies.  But the philosophical and mental part will matter more and more.

Thus, in the spirit of innovation and creativity, I am working on my art with excitement awaiting news about developments in 21st century art. 

                                                                                                                   
Written by Mirza Davitaia  http://www.mirza-art.com/
Edited by Nicole Borgenicht