New Media in Late 20th-Century Art

Twentieth-century art has often been characterized as a sweeping break from the tradition of painting. All the major art movements, from Cubism and Dada to Performance and Installation, were initiated as reactions to the centuries-old tradition of representing the world visually in recognizable ways. New definitions of art and the countless ways in which art can be made and experienced now place the artist firmly at the center of the artistic enterprise. This intelligent survey traces the history of new media in art and includes discussions of video art, digital art, and media and performance by artists such as Nam June Paik, Vito Acconci, Marina Abramowic, Pipilotti Rist, and Bill Viola. Initiated by advances and inventions outside the world of art, technology-based art (which encompasses a wide range of practices from photography to film to video to virtual reality) has directed artists into areas once dominated by engineers and technicians.