Postmedia Perspective
《The Postmedia Perspective》by Domenico Quaranta at Rhizome
Nam June Paik is known as a pioneer of media art not least because he was among the first artists using the then new mediums such as television and video in their art. Those mediums became ‘not new’ any longer, and contemporary artists today are using a yet another new medium such as the Internet and computers. Given that these mediums have become no longer new again, would the term ‘new media art’ be still valid and viable? In 2006, Peter Weibel, director of ZKM, in the exhibition (Centro Cultural Conde Duque, Madrid) notes that: “postmedia art is the art that comes after the affirmation of the media; and given that the impact of the media is universal and computers can now simulate all other media, all contemporary art is postmedia.” In 2010, art critic and curator Domenico Quaranta published a book in Italian (Postmediabooks), saying that “the label “New Media Art” does not identify an art genre or an art movement, and cannot be viewed – as it usually is – as a simple medium-based definition. On the contrary, a work of art – whether based on technology or not – is usually classed as New Media Art when it is produced, exhibited and discussed in a specific “art world,” the world of New Media Art.” You can read the final chapter of this book in English in the posting by Quaranta at the above site.
Postmedia Perspective
