Austin Museum of Digital Art - Defining Digital Art

Defining Digital Art

AMODA defines Digital Art as art that uses digital technology in one of three ways: product, process or subject.

Art that uses digital technology as the product can be considered digital art. This includes categories like "web art" or "demo art." This is the most recognized definition of digital art.

Art that uses digital technology in the process of creation can also be considered digital art. The drawings of Harold Cohen's AARON are digital art because a computer program was used to generate the works, even though the final product is ink on paper. Computer graphics on film, digital music, and the Cyberopera are all good examples of digital art as process.

Finally, art that references digital art as its subject can also be considered digital art. A series of oil paintings showing a man connected to an online chat room could be categorized as digital art, even though digital technology was never used in the creation or display of the work.

The central theme for all three approaches is: art that could not have been created without digital technology. All three address different facets of digital art, from presentation to technique to sociology, all of which are important to the history of art.