1st Edition

A Philosophy of Computer Art

By Dominic Lopes Copyright 2010
    160 Pages
    by Routledge

    160 Pages
    by Routledge

    What is computer art? Do the concepts we usually employ to talk about art, such as ‘meaning’, ‘form’ or ‘expression’ apply to computer art?  

    A Philosophy of Computer Art is the first book to explore these questions. Dominic Lopes argues that computer art challenges some of the basic tenets of traditional ways of thinking about and making art and that to understand computer art we need to place particular emphasis on terms such as ‘interactivity’ and ‘user’.

    Drawing on a wealth of examples he also explains how the roles of the computer artist and computer art user distinguishes them from makers and spectators of traditional art forms and argues that computer art allows us to understand better the role of technology as an art medium.

    1. The machine in the ghost  2. A computer art form  3. Live wires: computing interaction  4. Work to rule  5. Artist to audience  6. Computer art poetics  7. Atari to art  Envoi: a new Laocoön.  Notes.  Bibliography.  Index

    Biography

    Dominic McIver Lopes is Associate Dean in the Faculty of Arts and Distinguished University Scholar and Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia. He is the author of two books on the philosophy of art, and editor (with Berys Gaut) of The Routledge Companion to Aesthetics.

    'Every art student enrolled in a Digital 101 course should read this book. Summing Up: Essential. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers.' - CHOICE

    Winner of the American Society for Aesthetics Outstanding Monograph Prize, 2010

    ‘In this groundbreaking book, Dominic McIver Lopes offers a rigorously argued, tightly formulated and highly original account of computer art. Rich in examples and brimming with insights, it will provide everyone interested in computer art with a deeper understanding and appreciation of this fascinating art form.’ - Berys Gaut, University of St. Andrews, UK

    ‘This book argues that computers provide a new medium for art, rather than simply being a new vehicle for displaying art. This raises a host of intriguing questions, forcing us to think again about what we thought we knew about art. Lopes is the ideal guide; being one of our leading philosophers of art, and also completely at home in the world of computing. This is a very good book which considers genuinely interesting issues in an accessible and enlightening way.’ – Derek Matravers, The Open University, UK