Having just taken part in a local produce fair, I can’t quite get over the idea that digital stuff sits rather oddly in this.
The complex of buildings in which this was held was the same one that my studio (where I make electro-acoustic music, sonic art, audio installations etc, for fun and profit) is in. Don’t get me wrong there was a very warm reception and the people organising the event are brilliant, but I just feel a few years out of step.
Somehow no one bats an eyelid when someone plays guitar and sings folk songs, in amongst the: muddy potatoes, clothes for £3 rail, and the locally sourced perfume; but something that relies on a computer….
The brilliant thing about a lot of the digital revolution is that the work ‘can be done anywhere’, the problem with artistic stuff is that not only does it inevitably come form some sort of terroir (for want of any better way of putting it!) but that physical, cultural or social, but it also needs to retain some element of that to make sense. In addition, participating in events often relies on interaction between people and the event, even if that is only collectively sitting in silence, or all performing/contributing. The easiest and simplest way to do this is in physical real life.
So my question to you is how much can and should the digital arts be thought of as a local product, or not?
Ed Wright's Blog 