MODERN ART INSIGHT
Modern Art Feature Article
ART IN THE THIRD MILLENNIUM
ZEN AND DIGITAL IMPRESSIONISM
by John Powell, Ph.D.
Brancusi's originality in reducing natural forms to their ultimate – almost abstract – simplicity had profound effects on the course of 20th century sculpture. (source: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists)
Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957) was an inspiration to Henry Moore, among others. Great, original approaches to true art can cross artistic media with ease, as the cross-fertilization of abstract sculpture, painting, and photography demonstrates. Today's frontier in artistic media is found in the technological art of the digital age. I refer here not to performances or installations or online presentations, which are ephemeral, but to rendered art objects which come close in appearance to fine art photography. Instead of film and chemical exposure as media, specialized software is manipulated by a skilled and competent creative artist to transform a known object into a new, experiential world insight. Dan Traynor of Scottsdale, Arizona is a prime example of the young artists riding the crest of the wave of digital impressionism. His early dedication to sculpture brought him under the extended influence of Brancusi. Subsequent training in modern graphic arts disciplined him in the use of advanced technologies. Fascination with the study of Zen and its influence on perspectives of the modern world eventually gained him an authentic artistic voice. Beginning with stark images of the natural world, Traynor applies the Zen concepts of harmony and balance to reduce an image to its essence. A meditative, creative process utilizing highly sophisticated and demanding hardware and software accomplish this blurring of the line between element and atmosphere. The results are self-evident. These works in luscious color create in a viewer a harmonic convergence of simplicity, balance and insight. Who says modern technology reduces our world to a cold, lifeless abstraction?
As Art Director for Summit Records, a Tempe based jazz and classical label, Dan Traynor has created digital images for over 300 CD covers for composers, jazz greats, university bands and Grammy Award winners. Other projects include art direction and design of numerous publications, including the ArtBook of the New West.
MODERN ARTS INSIGHT
Article from Art of the New West
THE DIGITAL MEDIUM
by Dan Traynor
The approach to how we create and view art are continually being challenged and enhanced by the ongoing advancement of technology and the increased power of the tools at our disposal. This is reflected in the progression of approaches to what art is, how it is created and received and the role it plays. The digital environment has had a liberating effect on every aspect of communication in our society, especially on expression of the artistic vision.
The term art is used to define the pursuit or study of any intellectual activity. It is always associated with the process of critical thought. In the creative arts, this process of critical thought is the basis for the creation of new concepts. Art is created with the intent to convey a thought or emotion - a truth - with no qualifying of the method of conveyance or the mode of reception. Anything that is intentionally created with this notion as its underlying motivation becomes a form of art that we can incorporate into our lives and use to add definition to who we are and what we are about. Through art, we strengthen our identity and define our personal experience.
The focus of my artistic effort is to explore the abstract notion of atmosphere. Color and value become the method of enhancing the movement through the image in addition to the use of line and form, creating an energetic pulse of light and energy. Abstraction of form opens the image to interpretation and begins the process that Leonardo DaVinci pioneered in Sfumato* - a blurring of lines and boundaries. This experience, also referred to as confusion endurance, allows the viewer to become at ease with and embrace the unknown. The result is a personal free association with the image, absent of predetermined results. Ultimately, to the individual viewer gains the authority to decide what the work represents to them and the experience of feeling that it offers.
In the creation of digital work, the idea that the computer creates the art is a misconception. The computer is simply a tool that can be used to expand the concept of the canvas and brush that we use to create. As Pablo Picasso said "Computers are useless, they can only give you answers."** The question must still be asked that takes us down the path of critical thought and leads to new and compelling results.
* How to Think Like Leonardo DaVinci by Michael J. Gelb. Delacorte Press, New York, NY, 1998.
** The Little Zen Companion by David Schiller. Workman Publishing, New York, NY, 1994.