Three years ago, Jones had never given computers a thought, either. For those unfamiliar with its workings, this milieu can appear to be something of a cult, a network of insular museums, galleries, critics, artists, and wealthy collectors. This international community doubles as a distribution system for what is often called advanced, or avant-garde, art. The art world's specialized nature turns off many outsiders and commentators. We are seeing a breakdown of the art object which reflects the fact that the field of fine art is itself breaking down.
Digital art is the apotheosis of art in the age of mechanical reproduction.
The very distinction between original and copy becomes meaningless in a digital world - there the work exists only as a copy. And yet, artists, like the rest of us, remain uncertain as to whether the new information universe is merely an impoverished shadow of some other, more corporeal reality. With nodes in Cologne, London, and New York, and a small, exclusive membership, The Thing envisions itself as a work of art. Inc. All rights reserved.