If they can’t get a grant, let’s give them a bun!

As digital technologies take an increasingly significant place in our lives, digital art finds itself caught in a paradox imposed by the pressures of industry and public policies. Artists are increasingly expected to become "content creators" to feed platforms and exploit specific technologies, such as virtual reality or artificial intelligence. But doesn't turning artists into tech creatives bound to standardized tools risk stifling their creativity and reducing art to mere digitized content production?

It is precisely by transgressing norms, repurposing tools, and challenging predefined formats that artists create new horizons and open new doors to collective imagination. The richness of digital art lies in its very ability to subvert mainstream technologies and offer alternatives to what we believe is possible with contemporary tools. By imposing technologies in the name of innovation, are we not reducing creators to mere operators, sacrificing originality on the altar of productivity and profitability?

Published in the Being Adelin Schweitzer newsletter, 20 November 2024.
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