At a Digital Arts in Education conference, not so long ago a few questions were posed.
The first question was: “How should we prepare ourselves for the rapidly increasing
demand for software creativity?”  This question captured my attention mainly because
of the way it was phrased. I understood that the questioner deliberately placed the word
“software” before the word “creativity” to emphasize the needs of creative people in the
highly specialized field of software art. We often formulate subcategories of art, such as
painting, graphic design, net art, software art…etc. Is it also possible to classify creativity
in a similar way? Or, does being creative simply mean being capable of going beyond the
generally perceived limitations of media and generating original and imaginative ideas
and outcomes?

The second question was:  ”How can we find balance between creativity and technology
instructions in digital arts courses?” I wish I had answers to this question. Everyone to
whom I have spoken, who is teaching digital art and design, has been seeking solutions
to this dilemma. In his paper, “Design Education in the Post Digital Age,” Professor
John Maeda from MIT clearly articulated what has evidently become a quandary for
many educators. He said, “The consensus heard in the field is that there is no time to
teach design when teaching the digital tools has become a fulltime job.”

Both of these questions represent challenges that many digital art educators are facing
today. My purpose here is to examine the nature of digital media within the context of
digital arts education. Within the context of this discussion, “digital art” is a generalized
term meant to include both fine art and applied art.

Discussion: Can Techies be Creative?

In today’s digital arts curriculum, students often learn how to be creative in art classes,
and then spend time in technical courses learning how to use computers to actualize
their concepts and ideas. Compartmentalizing creativity and technology in this way
has subordinated the role of digital technology, perhaps to the detriment of both. Digital
technology has, perhaps more often than not, been relegated to being a mere assemblage
of tools or production skills. The unfortunate result is that students whose main objective
is to produce art often learn digital technology, and even master software applications
such as Photoshop, Flash or After Effects while failing to grasp the principles that
underlie the technology they utilizing with such apparent proficiency. And perhaps
more significantly, the possibilities inherent in new technology are rarely explored
because technology is generally not being presented as an area in which creative
expression is solicited or even welcome.

Another example of the failure to capitalize on art students’ innate creativity is the way
in which Web design is being taught in colleges. Students of art and design often take
Web classes simply in order to learn to use Web design software packages such Flash,
Adobe Muse, DreamWeaver or FrontPage. The general consensus is that these students
learn art and design in their major courses, and that once they master the use of software
programs, they will have all the tools they need to become “Web Designers” or “Net Artists.”
Yet core Internet communication and media concepts, such as usability, user participation,
motion, navigation, and screen-based typography, are rarely introduced or discussed.
Without a true understanding of Web principles, these artists and designers are capable
of little beyond digitizing their analog concepts into file formats that can be put onto a
server. Given this state of affairs, it is hardly surprising that our “WebScape” resembles
a bunch of electronic brochures linked together, rather than the true virtual environment
it has the potential to become.

The current conceptual “disconnect” between technology and art in digital art education
seems to be predicated on the idea that those who specialize in technology cannot be creative
and that truly creative artists cannot and need not extend their creativity to the technological
arena. In order for the new generation of digital artists to gain a complete understanding of
the characteristics and principles of the technology they are using, and to thus become capable
of applying creativity to the technological arena, we must begin to take concrete steps to integrate
art and technology in the digital arts curriculum.

I look forward to your thoughts and comments.

 

 

Next Week Part 2: Challenges Integrating Art & Technology In The Digital Arts Curriculum.