Artist Statement
Sarah Flores
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Question/Issue
How different are the arts and technology? On the surface, these two fields may seem stark in their differences but if we take a closer look at these fields and where they overlap, we can find that they are similar in more ways than one! Both require problem solving skills, creativity, critical thinking, and adaptation. Together, art and technology can coexist in a beautiful way, producing amazing and harmonious results.
Technology and art are constantly evolving in society. There are always new innovations and art movements emerging/being created. These advancements have led artists and scientists/programmers/engineers to work together to create a lot of the technologies that we use today. Art uses technological innovations to explore new mediums and forms of creating. These innovations include: photography, screen printing, 3D printing, digital, interactive, installation, and animation (Thomas & Souter, 2020). But technology also needs and uses art to function! For example, game design, web development, product design, virtual reality, and augmented reality all need the help of artists to produce the working tools we use and explore every day.
History
Artist Statement
Distinction
As a computer science major, I have constantly searched for and explored ways of integrating my areas of interest and passion. In my exploration, I first found out about computer generated and algorithmic art. These art forms solely use code and algorithms to create digital works of art. Although I was very interested in this idea, I wanted to make something that would let me create with my hands while incorporating programming. On twitter, I stumbled across Jarom Vogel's "Art and Code" piece created in 2019. In this piece, he explored parallax illustration through digital art layers and HTML/javascript. In my project, I drew from Jarom Vogel’s layer manipulation and code to create my own parallax illustrations! By learning how to incorporate art and code, I was able to grow in appreciation for each of these fields and what they are capable of.
Approach
Before beginning my project, I drew inspirations from the creative processes of various digital artists including Meyoco, Argodeon, Koyamori, Mienar, and Leaphere. I also spent a lot of time learning to use the software Procreate and become comfortable drawing on my iPad. I watched various YouTube videos during my process and learned from Jarom Vogel’s Intro to Procreate and Skill Share class! I also spent a lot of time sketching and coming up with concepts of what I wanted the theme of my art to be. I decided to incorporate technological elements in my final pieces to emphasize how art and technology are present in our everyday lives!
In order to learn how to code a parallax, I viewed Jarom Vogel’s skill share on Art & Code. I used the app Coda for the iPad to code in HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript.
Approach
Audience & Impact
Through my work, I want to show the huge role that art plays in technological advancements and how both fields are equally important to society. I especially want to offer a different point of view, to audience members who may not believe that art and technology/STEM can fit together in practice or in education. After completing this project, I have grown as an artist by trying something new and outside of the scope of art that I normally do or have done in the past. I have learned that the creative process is extremely important for every piece, no matter how complex or simple it is. Creativity is something that is so beneficial in education and everyday applications and everyone should practice it!
Evans, Thomas and Anna Souter. “The Rise of Technology in Art.” BareConductive, https://www.bareconductive.com/news/the-rise-of-technology-in-art/, Accessed 25 April 2020.
Vogel, Jarom. Art and Code. 2019, Procreate for iPad, https://jaromvogel.com/illustration.
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Tech of the Future Sale vector created by Macrovector. ttps://www.freepik.com/vectors/sale
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References
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Harold Burgess and Heather-Erin Bremenstuhl for their constant support throughout the process of my project and time as an Arts Scholar!