Impacts of Changing Technology and New Materials on Artistic Practice through History.
Introduction
The culture of any society secrets the kind arts and autistics done within its boundaries. Now, the interchangeable relationship the society’s arts and cultural value must perpetually rise upwards and never decline. With the current propagations of fairs, museums, and biennales, and the absolute amount of work being done currently for shows and sale, it is evident that the entire world art has potentially changed over the last forty years or more. But, what has been the most vital shifts in the artistic works and its environment with the changing technology and new materials?
Consequently, contemporary arts has been substantively impacted by the rapid developments of technology and the peculiar progressions in the introduction of modern, more robust, and solid artistic materials. Altogether, these innovations have broadened the horizons of creativity and opened new frontiers of arts in general. Also, they have reduced the time spent on the actual execution of the work of art thus leading to ease of putting more focus on contemplation, developing groundbreaking ideas, and creativity, as well as proper and sound preparation of sound work.
History and Background of Art
Donatello (c. 1386- 1466)
Donato di Niccolo di Betto Bardi was born in 1386 in Florence, Italy. He was among the first forerunners of art in Florence that also gave way to the era of Renaissance art. Specifically, he did more of the sculptures and statuettes than painting. Also, he doubled to work in the concept of perspectival illusion in the context of shallow relief. Donatello was schooled in the Martelli’s, where he got the goldsmith training and finally worked for Lorenzo Ghiberti who was a famous metal worker and sculpture’s studio. Donatello became a renowned Italian Florentine artist specializing in marvellous details in terms of sculptures and statues.
His works majorly comprised of low relief statues, usually from Bronze wood. Even though his works looked less critical, the key features of his works were the emphasis on the detailed and small art marvels. From 1409 to 1411, he was able to finish the broad seated statute of the evangelist, Saint John that was then a façade for the Florence Cathedral. This artistic work marked the beginning of the age of Gothic Mannerism that also introduced the concept of the portrayal of human expression and realism. At that time, cloth silhouetting and open hands became more realistic while construction of bust, face and shoulders were still at ideal state.
Afterwards, he constructed another evangelist sculpture, Saint Mark, by the year 1411 to 1413. Since then, he worked on many more arts including Saint George- 1417, bearded prophet and Beardless (1415), Isaac’s sacrifice (1422), the Jeremiah (1423 -1426), Habakkuk (1423-1425). Notably, he was also known for constructing a crucifix for Santa Croce, whose artworks revealed the Savior in pain and torment at the cross. These are just but a few of his artistic works. Today, most of Donatello’s artistic works are used by many artists globally. Artistic designs from his works are becoming more and more popular. Unfortunately, he passed via crisis and difficulties that prevented him from working effectively at some point in life.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598- 1694)
Bernini was born in 1598 in Naples, Italy. He proved to be the outstanding sculptor of the 17th Century as well as an architect. Bernini designed the Baroque style of sculpture to the extent to which other artists in the same specialization of art could not match him. His career development started under the training of his father, who had moved to Rome at that time and was working for the Pope. Bernini’s hard work, and diligence earned him the praise of the patronage of Pope Paul V and soon after became an established independent sculpture. His influence on this field of art was significant because of close analysis and study of the roman marbles and antique Greek in the Vatican City. Besides, he was also endowed with skills and knowledge in Renaissance painting of the early 16th Century.
Bernini early life pleased Scipione Cardinal Borghese, who was a member of the ruling papal family. He curved series of sculptures from the most dangerous single view of Anchises, Aeneas, and Ascanius Fleeing Troy (1619) to mighty frontlet in Proserpina and Pluto (1621-1622), Daphne and Apollo (1622- 1624), and David (1623- 1624). During this series, Bernini was faced with a variety of challenges as some of his portraits busted, and he was executed. Later in the year 1623 to 1644, his productivity became enormous and had significant artistic development. During this dispensation, he did many works until the year 1644. Bernini’s religious art was viewed as an art determined by his conscious efforts to conform to sacred principles.
Auguste Rodin (1840 – 1917)
Rodin was born in 1840 in Paris, France. He was criticized for being the most celebrated portraitist in the history of sculpture by his critics. Rodin did a series of sculptor such as the Gates of Hell, The Thinker and Kiss images, Honore de Balzac and Victor Hugo among others. Despite Rodin’s success, he often got into conflict with the National Art Academy, the public, the parliament, and Institute of France as people depicted different opinions over his artistic works as at that time. In the early 20th century, Rodin became famous globally as most of his works were referred to as a titan of sculpture, the modern-day Michelangelo, and incarnation of power and inspired personal skills.
In recent days, many museums have copied most of his artistic works, and in Tokyo, Paris, and Philadelphia are all dedicated to him. His contribution majorly brought back the Western Sculpture to its original strength, sumptuous, and knowledge rendered on the human body.
Constantine Brancusi (1876 – 1957)
Brancusi is renown internationally sculptor whose work blends both sophistication and simplicity paving to the modern sculpture works. He was born in the Carpathian Mountains making him inherit the traditional cultures endowed in ornate wood carving and crafts. At school, he got deep into the artistic work of woodworking in terms of reading and writing. After schooling, he did a series of sculptors and painting such as a sleeping mouse, the kiss, Prince X in the salon, Bird in the space, and many more. In his last 19 years, he added more 15 pieces that were in line with his thematic clues and principles he believed upon.
People regarded him as an artisan that emphasizes on simplified forms of geometrical modelling. He developed his themes and subjects he was using little by little as was inspired by the ancient and primitive African art. The work of Brancusi is viewed to be composed of many innovations relevant to contemporary art though accompanied by few contradictions as well. The whole idea of Brancusi’s greatness is his capability to oppositely balance and determine the balancing measure in the factors of machine-like and organic, female and male, modern and ancient, weightless and dense, and smooth and rough.
Barbara Hepworth (1903- 1975)
Barbara was born in Wakefield, Yorkshire. She studied in Lead School of art through a scholarship in the 1920 and after that, went for further studies in artistic work at the Royal College of Art, London. At her early career stages, she did a solo exhibition at Beaux Art Gallery and further moved towards developing in abstraction. In the 1950s, she grew in her work and begun to earn various awards making her be established as significant commissions for public sculptors including the British Festival in 1951 going her way. Notably, her early work emphasized on the human figure, developed via abstraction. This led to her exploring the relationship between figures and landscapes and at the same time, conveying the sense of movement and rhythm via carving.
Some of the significant works she did at her late-career stages included developing the aspect of colour exploration and the usage of string for sculpture such as the Parthmeor (1958) and the Trevalgan (1956). She also ventured in bronze arts that also increased her work scale in the 1960s. People generally viewed her as a very experienced and skilful woman that was evident in the calibre of works she received both from the public and the government. Today, her works have been borrowed heavily by the modern mathematicians, designers, and artisans in the various fields.
William Hogarth (1697 -1764)
William was born in 1697 in London, England. He became among the first most excellent English born artisans to attract the attention and admiration of many people in England. His satirical engravings, moral, and paintings, i.e. the Rake’s Progress that was eight scenes in 1733. Unfortunately, he experienced financial constraints in an attempt to build his reputation of portraitist and painter. His significant achievement was the aesthetic theories that gain more influence in the Romanic Literature compared to his painting works. Most of the improvisation he had was backed by formidable skills and knowledge that composed the traditional European art, acquired via familiarity with extensive experience of engravings.
Besides, he worked as a copper engraver, ticket making, book illustrations, and execution of trade cards. From the entire work life, he contributed to the print medium by coming up with different artworks. Apart from gratifying the massive history piece commissions, he concentrated on samples of didactic prints executed not from paintings but drawings and aimed at the unrefined public at large. This led to his success, especially in the areas where he had failed before. He combined dynamic elements of Baroque style to achieve a realism that is uncompromised and got the full skills in expressive paint handling altogether. Even though the sketches he made were at one point ignored, during the 19th Century, movement of impressionist made the sketches attract attentions.
Louise Bourgeois (1911 – 2011)
Louise was a French American artist born in 1911. She combines both the installation art and large scale sculpture, as well as printmaker and painter. In her artistic works, she explored different kinds of themes, including the body and sexuality, the family and domesticity, and death and unconscious. She connected her ideas to the events from her childhood, deciding to go the way of therapeutic strategy. Exhibition of abstract expression was a common feature in her feminist and surrealism art.
Louise was considered champion as his works dominated the world of thinking globally. She became very innovative, especially in the content of his works that were characterized to have relevant themes addressing the societal issues. Therefore, she became the father of modern art museum retrospectively when she forged the new confidence creation of monumental spiders, cells, a more comprehensive range of fabric works determined from old clothes, and evocative figures hanged with wires. Her primary art tool was coping, and she suggested that art is a guarantor of sanity.
Impacts of Digital Technology and New Materials on Arts.
The modern techniques and digital technology have had a significant influence on art drawing and printing. Initially, the artistic work of printing and drawing heavily depended on the skills and knowledge of the artists to weld the traditional art tools such as pastels and charcoal, the pencil and the bush. Through calculate and conventional steps, the arts highly controlled the colour density, the abstraction and realism of artwork, and the degree of different shades. The skills today operates with the simple aspects of video tools, mouse clicks, and digital colours that mimic the old traditional tools concerning performance, usage and welding techniques, and the desire to achieve the intended purpose.
Consequently, the aspect of human touch also impacted the arts in different ways. For example, the classical school of a painting brought substantial impacts in shaping the printing and the effects of the tools, particularly incidences where artists use their fingers in placing special touches and impact on the artwork. However, the digital technology has reduced the human artistic requirements in favour of a broader range of different instruments and tools that allow the various artists to become more accurate and creative raising the degree of expertise in the artwork. Fortunately, this art option sets a limitless work degree that enables computer-oriented artistic works to be magnificent compare the traditional products. The outcome is that the modern artwork is very distinct and different from the former painting conception.
The challenge behind the new and modern artwork is the mandatory skills and technical knowledge required to operate the massive current quantity of tools and capability. The artists are thus needed to have such powers to enable them to successfully convert his/ her creativity and fantasies through designated equipment applying the shortest and fastest strategies possible. Meaning, the artwork is presented today as a creativity strategy characterized by complexity and sophistication and accompanied by numerous techniques without which artists may not be relevant today, however, much they could be well endowed in traditional tool-making skills.
CONCLUSION
There is no doubt that contemporary and modern artists do face very complicated and complex obstacles that presents unique artwork because of the numerous new technological advancement that expands and diversifies the world of arts globally. Notably, artists find themselves in a challenging scenario than ever before. As a matter of facts, they need to stretch and exert their imagination and to think to succeed. Never the less, the increasing tension in the artwork environment has translated into the most potent force, leading to significant impacts claiming to be the key motivator that artists cling on to be encouraged to continue with creative activities unstoppably.