After reading Beverly Jones piece the primary thesis that I see is the relationship between “specific image, object, event or environment to conceptual frame” and how these frames “exist within art and technology and are present in other forms of symbolic and material culture”(21). Meaning that in such things as games or computer graphics there is an influence or connection to art and artistic creation.
An example that Jones speaks of in the early years of computer graphics in correlation to her thesis that stuck out most to me was when she explained some of the early digitally computed images of the 1960s. She talks of how these images were usually done by engineers and technicians who were hired by the government, and that not all images served “technological research or practical purposes; some were done in ‘spare time'”(23). She then goes on to say that in using a kind of technology like computer graphics as an engineer or technicians in their spare time was a reflection of “a desire by individuals not trained in art to produce aesthetic imagery”(23). When one is to think of an imagine in aesthetic perspective it then becomes more focused in the sphere of art, rather than the functionality of technological innovations such as computer graphics.
When I think about her thesis in modern day technology the best example I can think of is 3D printing. 3D printing has been on the rise in the last couple years for the immense amount of scientific and medical advances that this new type of technology is making. I have personally seen the use of one of these printers in a science class I took this last fall here at UO. The class was a green science class focusing on the use of plastics and polymers and the kind of future we could create in using more renewable and biodegradable resources in substation from the many non-recyclable plastics that we as consumers use. 3D printing uses a type of material that could be melted down and used over and over again to create new products for consumer use. Not only can a printer like this be used in the science and medical field, where I believe it had its start, but it is making advances in the art world as well.
I read an article from the Huffington Post called “14 Ways 3D Printing Has Changed The Art World” that goes into detail about many ways that 3D printing has been influencing the art world. In the first paragraph the author Katherine Brooks says “A 3D-printed portrait of President Obama dominated a few headlines last week, as the Smithsonian Institution welcomed the three-dimensional sculpture like no other into its presidential collection. The boom in additive art has been building for several years, capped off now by a major art museum’s acceptance of the art-meets-science medium. In fact, it seems no corner of the art world remains untouched by 3D printing’s growing influence, from architecture to dance to painting to music.” She goes on to speak of even things like 3D stop-animation in which characters are printed and photographed over 4 weeks to create only 2 seconds worth of footage. A combination on multiple platforms of technology, art and science.
Source: Brooks, K. (2014, June 30). 14 Ways 3D Printing Has Changed The Art World. Retrieved November 23, 2014, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/30/3d-printing-art_n_5534459.html