By Marilina Maraviglia
The 20th century was a turning point in our conception of art, which is mainly why contemporary artists frequently reach for new concepts, break with tradition and reject classic notions of beauty. All these factors have given birth to abstract art.
The artist no longer tries to reflect reality, but rather tries to give expression to their inner world and feelings.
The old definitions of art have become obsolete. Today, art is an evolving and global concept, open to new interpretation, too fluid to be pinned down.
I interviewed Nate Williams and Travis Lampe to explore new elements of contemporary art and to answer the question, what new elements and principles are evident in today’s art.
Nate Williams, also known as Alexander Blue, is an artist, illustrator and designer from the US. He has extensive experience in various facets of the illustration industry, and he has a wide variety of clients. His illustrations are aimed at both adults and children. He has also worked in the advertising world and in publishing, music, fashion, textiles, home decor, merchandising, posters, press and social expression.
Travis Lampe is an illustrator who currently lives and works in Chicago. He worked as an art director in advertising. After a two-year stint in Warsaw, he returned to Chicago and tried his hand in the art and illustration scene.
He enjoys making art and toys, and he has shown in fine galleries throughout the US and in Europe.
Question: How much influence does new media have on your work? What is your relationship to digital art? Do you consider yourself a traditional artist?
Jonathan Ball: It has a lot of influence. I think because of my knowledge of programming, it influences my work. I think in terms of modular parts and variables.
Travis Lampe: I’m a traditional artist—I work in acrylic—but I wouldn’t be able to operate without computers. When I design toys, for example, I use computers to scan and create vector art from my original paintings.
I don’t create digital art in and of itself, though. Purely digital work can be beautiful, but for me there is value in having a tangible and unique product, as opposed to a set of data.
No doubt, though, I’ve been influenced in my traditional art by being exposed to ideas that I’ve discovered on the Internet. It’s a great place to find old-timey cartoons, for example.
Question: Travis, if the purpose of art was once to create beauty and to imitate nature, today the concept has evolved dynamically and is constantly changing. In your opinion, how has the Internet and new ways of communicating influenced the development of visual arts, its conceptual premises and its physical execution?
Travis Lampe: The Internet most influences the development of art simply by exposing more people to more art. Unfortunately, a lot of it is really, really crappy, as you would expect. Anyone with a ballpoint pen and digital camera can post their art for the world to see. And that’s okay.
I think the cream just naturally rises to the top. Ideas are still what’s important, far more so than technical skill, and the Internet hasn’t changed that at all. I’ve seen a lot of ballpoint pen art that I really like.
As far as physical execution goes, it’s evolved the way it always has: as soon as a new medium arrives, there’s a scramble to use it in new and creative ways. I don’t know that the Internet has affected the physical execution of art so much as computers themselves have. It’s just made it easier to disseminate.
More communication is great for PR and in that way is a great help to artists. And more communication should equal more ideas bouncing around, which ideally should result in better conceptual thinking.
But most of the “communication” is fluff. And I think there’s a threshold beyond which the constant connectedness ceases to be helpful.
Artists need some disconnected time for the creative ideas to coalesce. Successful artists are the ones who are disciplined and able to balance all of this, I guess.
Question: Would you say that art and the new, social Web have a connection? Are social media a viable way to improve artistic communities?
Jonathan Ball: Of course. Art has a connection to anything in our environment that influences its creators. As far as social media goes, I think being able to communicate better is always an improvement.
Travis Lampe: Social media is great for sharing results; it’s allowed me to connect with and see the work of other artists who I admire on a constant basis. And it makes working long hours in a basement a bit less of a lonely enterprise when you can show the world what you’ve done the moment you’ve finished. On the other hand, social media are a constant distraction. When I want to get work done, I disconnect. So I love it and hate it equally.
The Art of Richard Romero 