Hyperreality, Art, and Activism in a Post-digital Future

Abstract

In an era of rapid technological change, predicting the future of digital art is not a simple endeavor. Thinking about the future of digital art requires the consideration of the complex intersection of at least three trajectories: art, culture, and technology. The purpose of this paper is to consider future possibilities and directions for digital arts practices in an ever more globalized world where digital technologies form an important part of our everyday lives. Following Jean Baudrillard's notion of "hyper-reality" and Roy Ascott's "moist-media", this paper examines how artists are producing a humanized form of digital art in a post-digital era. Issues of human justice, social equality, environmental ethics, and political freedom are some of the themes that contemporary digital artists address through their manipulation of new technologies. Through analysis of several case studies of artists and artworks, this paper concludes that the practice of digital art will become increasingly more environmentally, socially, and politically conscious in order to address the demands of contemporary times.