Digital content has become popular thanks to the pandemic. Not only have we become consumers of movies on platforms such as Netflix or Amazon Prime, we are also consuming culture in this way thanks to live broadcasts on Facebook or YouTube, virtual tours, online catalogs, online concerts, etc.
However, this situation that seemed to be something temporary, it seems that it is here to stay. As creators / disseminators of art and content we are reaching a point of return to life as it was before the pandemic and we know that the online content that we had in these months cannot stop being generated because evil brought us something good: diverse public that resides anywhere in the world. Thus, even if everything is face-to-face again, digital cannot be stopped.
Speaking specifically of art, it has also modified their way of life (so to speak). This week I was reading an article that analyzed the way in which works of art are now created and marketed. Digital art has gained a lot of ground, displacing physical art a lot. I explain:
Now art consumers (you, me, you, them) are more and more varied, even people who previously did not approach a museum or gallery; but art has also diversified and made more accessible.
Let’s think that before art collectors and artists used dealers who served as intermediaries for Vincent van Gogh’s paintings to reach the market and their buyers, now art dealers are digital platforms and many times they are the same artists – consolidated or emerging – those who offer their creations.
In addition, the art that is being offered is not limited to oil paintings, sculptures or engravings, most are prints of digital illustrations that, depending on the artist, can be limited to a certain number to provide a certain exclusivity to the piece or can be overcrowded because the only objective is to sell and make money. Also the “piece” can be totally digital, that is to say when you buy it you receive a file in .pdf, .png or .jpg, which you will decide if you save, print, enlarge or even share with more people.
And this last point is the one that worries lovers and scholars of tangible art. Although digital art has advantages, it also has a dark side that carries many risks, starting with the massification of a work that will make exclusivity impossible, going through how easy it can be to violate the copyright of a piece and even, to falsify it.
It will be very important that in the very near future digital art and its commercialization are regulated, but also that as consumers we are aware that what we are acquiring can be had by anyone.
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