Delving deep into new media

A three-day camp held in city was more of a visual search

Artists participating at the New Media Artists camp organised by Kerala Lalithakala Akademi at C-DAC in Thiruvananthapuram.– Photo:S. Gopakumar

It was an exploration of how artists practised new media art and how their contribution was different from conventional art.

A new media artists’ camp organised by the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi and the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) concluded at the C-DAC here on Monday.

Twelve artists from across the State participated in the camp inaugurated by Culture Secretary Rani George.

“It’s a visual search beyond what we know,” Akademi chairman Kattoor Narayana Pillai said.

While the digital medium made painting easier, the challenge for an artist was to make their presentation different from that of others, he said.

At the end of the three-day camp, the artists had to submit three digital paintings each. These will be written on CDs, printed and exhibited, Prof. Pillai said.

Ansar Mangalathop, who teaches Applied Art at the College of Fine Arts here, said one of the biggest positives of digital art were that changes could made with minimum effort using the ‘undo’ option.

His work at the camp focusses on how social media intrudes upon the privacy of women.

Smartphones, WhatsApp, Facebook all figure in the work.

Unlike a conventional work, digital art could be sent for printing and publication easily, Ansar said.

Sudheer who recently joined the Public Relations Department to work on its online news portal said no preparation was needed for digital art.

It was also possible to make it look like a watercolour or acrylic using various tools, and give it texture.

“When one paints, a lot of thoughts come to mind and it may not be possible to put them all on canvas and make changes, if need be. In digital art, this can be done without hesitation.”

Malu Mohan, who teaches 3D animation at S.H. College, Thevara, said a big plus of digital art was that it made making changes easy.

Missing canvas

“However, the feeling one gets from seeing one’s strokes across a canvas will be missing here.”

M.R. Vidyasagaran, 62, from Guruvayur was at home among the younger crowd. A painter, he took up digital art at the age of 55.

One of his paintings highlighted the endosulfan issue, a nut attached to a cashew apple inspired by Edvard Munch’s renowned ‘The Scream.’ Gireesh A.V., who does animation at Eram Infotech at Technopark, said digital art had a number of tools, allowed easy changes, and was quicker.

But “nothing can replace the feel of working on canvas,” he said.