Ecodigital Art: Democratization, Globalization, and Interdisciplinarity

Abstract

This paper articulates the defining themes of digital art-democratization, globalization, and interdisciplinarity-in relation to how artists work with technology to highlight the urgency of environmental sustainability. While advances in engineering and technology are often touted as the solutions to the Anthropocene's ecological problems, few studies have concentrated on the interconnections between digital technology, art, and sustainability. An outcome of ecopolitical digital art is the changing of public perceptions and behaviors concerning nature and humanity's troubled relationship to it. This paper historicizes digital art, tracing its evolution and major typologies, in order to posit a growing engagement with environmental issues in digital artworks of recent times. The works of Natalie Jeremijenko and Joseph DeLappe provide case studies of digital creatives adopting themes of environmental sustainability and engendering the artist as ecological activist.