Personal Reading Blog #2

https://medium.thirdwaveberlin.com/the-new-aesthetic-77c5fb163d4e

The new aesthetic:

In an increasingly digitized world, our ways of seeing and understanding the environment around us have undergone profound transformation. The advent of new technologies has ushered a fresh perspective on aesthetics creating what is referred to in the video as the new aesthetic. The new aesthetic embraces the digital age, pixilation, glitch aesthetics, and various ways of visualizing and interacting with the world providing us with unique and innovative means of exploring our reality.

I am interested in the mentioning of pixelization and low-resolution aesthetic. The new aesthetic is intimately tied to the pixilation in low-resolution settings that have emerged from the digital way of seeing. This aesthetic takes digital artifact such as images and videos and elevate them into an art form. The pixelization aesthetics are no longer seen as flaws but rather as captivating features that give a glimpse into the digital world. As an artist, I have learned to appreciate and exploit the beauty found in imperfections and I am interested in creating a unique visual language that harnesses disruption and fractured imagery.

Disruptive patterns and digital for everybody is interesting to me. Disruptive patterns are essential ideas for the new aesthetic. These patterns represent a break from traditional linear models of thinking and making reflecting a chaotic and dynamic nature of the digital world. Ideas revolving around disruptions challenge our perceptions and push us to question established norms and notions of order in control. The new aesthetic invites me as an artist to embrace these disruptions as a source of inspiration and innovation.

The new aesthetic doesn’t exist in isolation and has been intergrated into various art forms by both combining traditional and digital art forms. For example, in the video, there are oil paintings that are inspired by data moshing videos or landscape paintings based on off of Google Earth views that provide captivating blends of the analog and the digital. This fusion of traditional and digital aesthetics not only enriches the art world but also invites us to consider the possibilities of merging these seemingly disparate worlds.

Although the video was made several years back pre popular generative AI, I believe the advent of facial recognition software and AI technologies add an extra layer to the new aesthetic. These technologies bring a new dimension to the way we perceive ourselves and others. The process of image creation differs significantly from image viewing in digital photography. The development and printing of images have given way to instant digital representations, altering our perception of time space, and identity.

I think that AI’s role in shaping our ways of seeing is intriguing as machines gain the ability to recognize and interpret visual information they become active participants in our visual culture. The boundaries between human and machine ways of saying blur and lead to questions about the coexistence and collaboration between humans and artificial intelligence. As machines in their systems are increasingly integrated into our everyday lives we find ourselves seeking ways to prove our humanity and distinguish ourselves from machines. The concept of captcha machines designed to distinguish humans from robots highlights this quest for recognition and identity. The recapture system which requires users to solve puzzles to prove the humidity reflects the evolving relationship between technology and humans.

The new aesthetic represents a dynamic and evolving exploration of the interplay between new technologies and ways of seeing. It invites us to embrace disruptions and imperfections in the fusion of digital and traditional while also challenging us to navigate the changing landscapes of identity and humanity in the digital age. The new aesthetic offers a captivating lens through which we can view the world ultimately expanding our understanding of both art and technology.