The Disappearance of:
The Starving Artist

One of the most anticipated entertainment events of last year was probably the motion picture 'Star Wars: The Phantom Menace'. Over the past twenty years, 'Star Wars' Director George Lucas and his company Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) have revolutionised the way in which we see and hear motion pictures, television commercials, and other forms of digital media.

ILM is one of many examples of how technology has impacted arts and entertainment. With burgeoning technologies upon us, we have seen an unprecedented growth in job opportunities for artists. Therefore, one can ask: whatever happened to the starving artist?

According to a survey quoted in the Village Voice, a weekly New York City newspaper, "the starving artist was always in large part a myth. The survey, conducted by Columbia University's Research Center for the Arts and Culture, questioned 7,700 artists. Most artists surveyed were highly educated, had health insurance and retirement plans. And as many as 75 percent owned computers." The survey's author, Joan Jeffri, says that "Artists who live in America are overwhelmingly and squarely in the middle class."

And what does this survey mean to art and design colleges, such as the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York City? More job opportunities for students. As technology has widened the pool of those who can take up art, students need to be introduced to the latest technologies. SVA, for example, has alumni who own website design firms, and are creative directors in advertising agencies, as well as working as art directors, interiors designers, animation directors, graphic designers, photographers, AVID editors, and illustrators.

Although technology has sharpened, expanded and broadened artists' skills, the computers should be seen as a tool, just like a pencil and a paintbrush. The proliferation of websites, for example, has democratized the way in which the average person can create his or her own home page.

"But there is a difference between an untrained graphic artist and a trained one," states Jamie Thornton, a Director of Career Development. "Employers still want excellent design skills for websites and other forms of multimedia. Graphic designers have the best of both worlds - they can work in print (newspapers, magazines and posters), and multimedia."

Strong design and drawing abilities can be transferred to the computer. When Thornton meets companies such as ILM, he notices that they are still looking for students with traditional artistic skills. Illustrators who once worked as freelance artists can now obtain full-time positions with companies that develop games, websites, CD-ROMS and DVDs.

Thornton notices that some new students are fearful of a computer, thinking that they'll be locked into a workstation for the next four years. This fear is unfounded. The lines are blurring between disciplines - photographers, graphic designers and computer artists, in many cases, do apply for the same jobs.

Not only are people creating their own websites, but they are also creating their own films by using the latest in digital video (DV) technology.

John McIntosh believes that "digital video may well represent the future for independent video artists, whether they're on budgets or not." An educator and advocate of computer and imaging technologies in the visual arts, McIntosh notices that "DV represents an unbelievable technological breakthrough, and is a facile and liberating tool."

The experienced filmmaker's use of DV has already popped up in self-funded independent films, such as "The Blair Witch Project", shown at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival. The director of "The Blair Witch Project" asked his actors to hold digital video camera to shoot key scenes and put those scenes in the film.

McIntosh observes that "in academia, most digital media and computer art programs are already investing in DV as a media acquisition tool. The quality we see today will no doubt be surpassed tomorrow, as the medium and the artists practising it mature. This potential will only be limited by the imagination, not the technology or budget."

Technology can hardly keep up with artists. For example, SVA hosts an international travelling computer art exhibition, the New York Digital Salon. Showing the rapid growth, breadth and scope of computer art, the Digital Salon began only as a gallery show of digital fine art in 1993.

Bruce Wands, the Chair of the New York Digital Salon, says "when we began the exhibit six years ago, we received an amazing reaction, and decided to make it an annual event. As the creative use of digital media expanded to include new technologies, we invited artists to submit animation and CD-ROM works."

Currently exhibiting in Italy and Spain, the Salon consists of: 1) gallery exhibition - wall art, sculpture, CD-ROMs, interactive art, installations and kinetic art; 2) Computer Animations; 3) Net-Works - websites and online performances; 4) Essays - original essays on digital culture, art and technology.

In the next century, artists could well be the leaders in a new technological age, creating a new digital culture. Digital media gives artists the chance to explore and open up themselves to new artistic possibilities. Whether it's in new computer animation technologies, cartooning, film, interior design, photography or graphic design, there are an astounding amount of career opportunities available.

Author
Stuart Ginsberg
Director of Communication
School of Visual Arts