Art Viewing and New Technology: Manufacturing the Screen Image

Abstract

This exegesis outlines the procedures, processes and methodology used in developing a significant body of studio work that investigates the dominance of the screen-image in contemporary art and culture. Following the established modes of practice-based research, the outcomes can be seen in two phases: the work developed and exhibited during the candidature, and the culminating submission exhibition. All the outputs resulted from intensive studio practice, although without using the studio as a hermetic environment, but rather as the base for practice attuned to the feedback loop of constant interaction and review of the most recent developments in exhibition practice and technique. All of the works discussed in the exegesis and developed towards the final submission demonstrate the progressive interrogation of the production of a screen-image from primitive forms such as the camera obscure through to the high-definition digital television image. A clear evolution is evident in the forms and strategies for dealing with the relationship between the screen and the machinations and industry that is behind bringing the image to fruition. The final submission exhibition brings these processes to a point of conclusion, if not resolution, where the material production experience and knowledge of the limits of the technology combine to demonstrate a new understanding of the impact of digitally generated screen-images and the role of the image in the age of new technology...