I tried everything. Nothing works: Challenges and Creative Processes from Digital Artists with Upper Limb Motor Impairments

International audience

From prehistoric cave paintings to contemporary digital creations, art has been integral to human expression throughout history. Digital art in modern art gradually includes various forms, such as Painting, sculpture and animation, using technology as its medium. Digital art includes any artistic work using digital technology, including Painting, 3D modelling, and interactive installations. It combines human creativity with computer technology, expanding the possibilities of creative expression. Studying digital artistry in India provides insights into cultural preservation, technological innovation, and social commentary. It promotes educational development and economic opportunities, contributing to the country's vibrant artistic scene. Technological advancements have democratized digital art creation in India, leading to diverse artistic expressions. Integrating digital art with emerging technologies like AR, VR, and NFTs opens up new possibilities for artistic exploration and dissemination. Digital art techniques include digital Painting, vector art, and 3D modelling, facilitated by hardware such as graphics tablets and software such as Adobe Creative Cloud. Brushes, textures and plugins enhance the creative process, while photo manipulation and 3D sculpting provide new avenues for artistic expression. Digital artistry in India offers insights into cultural dynamism, technological innovation and artistic development. This research paper delves into the evolving landscape of digital artistry in India, exploring various techniques, trends, and the socio-cultural impact of digital art in the country.

As digital art merges with contemporary art, there have been many fundamental changes in the creative process. New forms of art continue to emerge and a revolutionary change in the art experience is occurring in museums, galleries and on the Internet. As a digital art curator, I have been fortunate to be a part of this revolution and will share my experiences and thoughts about past, present and future developments in curating traditional, contemporary and digital art. After a few landmark exhibitions in the late 1960s, digital art found an early home in international organisations, such as Ars Electronica, ISEA, New York Digital Salon, and ZKM. The development of the World Wide Web in the mid-1990s gave digital art the additional exposure it needed. Artists could now sidestep the traditional art establishment and reach a global audience through their websites. The Internet also expanded the art experience beyond galleries and museums into homes, schools and portable devices. 2001 joined 1968 as a landmark year for major museum exposure of digital art with BitStreams and Data Dynamics at the Whitney Museum of American Art and 010101 at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. What transpired over these decades has reshaped contemporary art and presented new challenges to museum professionals faced with this new art form. When looking towards the future, we will see a continued merging of digital art with contemporary art. New ways of exhibiting and creative self-expression using VR and Augmented Reality, along with other new, yet to be invented, technologies will be developed as they continue to infuse our daily lives and art experiences. This paper will examine the evolution of curating digital art over the past twenty-five years.

Digital art as a new trend in contemporary art practice, digital art is changing the way art is created and presented through technologies such as computer graphics and virtual reality. This article examines various ways of displaying the digital art, aesthetic concepts of digital art and its key role in protecting the traditional culture, and pays special attention to the development of Chinese digital art in our time. An analysis of how Chinese artists use digital technologies for innovative artistic practices, and how these practices reflect and influence modern Chinese society and culture. The research includes an analysis of the main technologies and examples of combining art and technology, as well as an assessment of the role of digital tools in the creative process. Special attention was paid to digital art, its innovativeness, freedom of expression and new horizons of interactivity and accessibility. This confirms that digital art, as an evolving art form, not only enriches the content and expands the scope of art, but also opens up endless opportunities for the future development of art. This convergence not only revives traditional culture on digital platforms, but also contributes to the preservation of culture through innovative ways that allow works of art to interact with a wide audience in new forms.

The chapter draws on the writings of Merleau-Ponty constituting an Embodiment Theory of Art, which he uses to support his embodiment theory of perception (Haworth JT, The embodiment theory of pre-reflexive thought and creativity. In: Gilhooly KJ, Keane MTG, Logie RH, Erdos G (eds) Lines of thinking, vol 2. Wiley, Chichester, 1990, Leonardo 30(2):137–145, 1997). This views the artwork as “enriched being” in its own right, as distinct from an analogue for an external truth or essence, as traditional aesthetic theory claims. It proposes that this enriched being is not produced primarily by intentional acts, the traditional view, but by the reciprocal influence of consciousness, the body, techniques and materials. It “gives visible existence to what profane vision believes to be invisible” (Merleau-Ponty M, Eye and mind. In: Eddie JM (ed) The primacy of perception. North Western University Press, Evanston, p 166, 1964a). Merleau-Ponty (Eye and mind. In: Eddie JM (ed) The primacy of perception. North Western University Press, Evanston, 1964a) drew on the writings of modern artists and concluded that the painter’s vision is not a view on the outside, but a concentration or coming to itself of the visible (p. 181). He considered that works of art contain matrices of ideas that have their origins in embodiment (Merleau-Pony M, Indirect language and the voices of silence. In Wild J (ed) Signs. North Western University Press, Evanston, p 77, 1964b). He also claimed “that modes of thought correspond to technical methods, and that to use Goethe’s phrase ‘what is inside is also outside’” (Sense and Nonsense 1964c, p 59). As Merleau-Ponty indicates, we do not see the world, but see with the world. In artistic terms different media with which we interact have different voices which play a part in the creation of enriched being, perception and consciousness. The chapter will present conclusions from research conversations undertaken by Haworth (Leonardo 30(2):137–145, 1997) using the perspectives of Merleau-Ponty, held with internationally famous artists in order to gain further insights into the creative process. The chapter will summarise and discuss findings from practice led research by the author, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Board in the UK, into Creativity and Embodied Mind in Digital Fine Art; and Freedom and Constraints in the Creative Process (Haworth JT, Explorations in creativity, technology and embodied mind. In: Freire T (ed) Understanding positive life: research and practice on positive psychology. Escolar Editora, Lisboa, pp 429–444, 2010a). Several examples of recent work in digital fine art by the author will be presented and discussed, focusing on the creative process. Comments will be noted from an international study of digital artists (Thompson P, Born digital-new materialities. Robert Gordon University, Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen, 2011). The chapter will summarise and discuss an innovative photoethnographic project by the author into ‘The Way We Are Now’, and ‘A day in the life of----’. The possibilities of interpretation of this visual methodology are considered to be “an artistic object for contemplation; as individual visual profiles for comparative research; or as analysis of themes across a group of individuals, and between groups” (Haworth JT, Explorations in creativity, technology and embodied mind. In: Freire T (ed) Understanding positive life: research and practice on positive psychology. Escolar Editora, Lisboa, pp 429–444, 2010a). The ESM method with photos can also stimulate reflection and change in perceptions. The method can break the mould of looking/ perceiving. It can open up opportunities/possibilities for new ways of seeing things, and introduce a new train of imagination. The method could be used to create a global mirror of consciousness. The chapter will conclude by discussing future directions for research and practice.

Given that art-making can support self-expression and social integration, there is a growing interest in the research community in developing more accessible artistic computer inputs. However, the conditions needed to achieve mastery of creative processes, particularly for artists with motor impairments, remain to be explored. We look at implementing new adaptive technologies that leverage more natural interactions on the drawing tools, balancing the challenges and skills artists need to navigate their creative stages. We describe the findings of a qualitative first study involving interviews with 15 digital artists with upper limb motor impairments. We analyze the challenges related to artistic workflows, internal and external perceptions, and what disrupts their creative processes. We share a second study where six digital artists with upper limb motor impairments tested an adaptive stylus which captured their pen-based interactions, triggering accessibility features participants thought could improve their artistic workflows. Future work will address the cognitive load introduced by pen gestures, explore strategies to improve detection accuracy to build trust in the technology, and continue emphasizing the value of training personalized models over traditional accessibility features. Our research aims to contribute to designing inclusive technologies by prioritizing the creative aspects of artistic production.

Art objects might be described as symbolic objects that aim at stimulating emotions. They reach us through our senses (visual, auditory, tactile, or other). They are displayed by means of physical material (stone, paper, wood, etc.) and combine some patterns to produce an aesthetic composition. They convey some message, normally to suggest some state of mind or to induce an emotion and the consequent feeling on the side of the viewer. Digital art differs from conventional art pieces by the use of computers and computer-based artifacts that manipulate digitally coded information, inheriting the almost unlimited possibilities in interaction, virtualization and manipulation of information the computer medium offers. In this chapter the authors propose to analyze and discuss the concepts and definitions behind digital art, emphasizing how the computer medium is itself the tool and the raw material in its creation, especially if we stress the fact that the conception and design of artistic information content is at the heart of any artistic work. Furthermore the authors present a framework for digital art creation that consists of a common design space where digital artists can smoothly progress from the concept until the final artifact while exploring the computer medium to its maximum potential.

Aim/Purpose: This study examined the understudied perceptions of higher education instructors on the use of art-based AI generators in digital art, design, and creative-based courses and answered the research questions: (1) how disruptions by generative artificial intelligence (GenAIs) are impacting teaching, and (2) what are the major factors that contribute to a healthy digital art ecosystem in higher education. Background: While GenAI has attracted widespread public attention, there is insufficient research on integrating art-based AI generators in digital art and design classrooms. Concurrently, there is a demand for collecting and integrating faculty and educators’ perspectives, which are key stakeholders in preparing future art and design professionals for the GenAI-driven workforce. Our study is presented against such a backdrop. Methodology: The study incorporated a mixed-method approach to analyze survey data collected from higher education faculty on their perception of text-to-image generators. Quantitative data was analyzed through statistical analysis, and qualitative data was analyzed through a blend of human-AI thematic analysis. Contribution: The study provides empirical data on higher education faculty’s perspectives regarding the implications of art-based AI generators through survey and mixed-method analysis, serving as a baseline for further research and the development of AI literacy interventions. Additionally, the research identifies effective pedagogical strategies and best practices for embedding generative AI into teaching and learning, contributing to the field of education. Findings: Art-based GenAIs create both positive disruptions (e.g., improved ideation, problem-solving, and creative processes) and negative disruptions (e.g., ethical implications, technical limitations, and pedagogical concerns) in higher education. Insufficient AI literacy and inadequate resources among faculty significantly set back the effective adoption of GenAIs in classrooms. Ethical issues, including academic integrity, copyright, and bias, emerge as prominent issues requiring the implementation of responsible AI frameworks and policies. Adopting pedagogical strategies, such as action-based learning, experimental learning, and active learning, can help optimize student engagement and enhance learning outcomes. Last but not least, a healthy digital art ecosystem in higher education hinges on responsible AI use and standards, continuous technological improvement, effective educational support, a human-centered approach, and a strong sense of community and collaboration. Recommendations for Practitioners: The paper recommends increasing AI literacy among faculty through professional development programs and collaborative learning initiatives; developing and implementing responsible AI use policies, guidelines, and frameworks to address ethical concerns and ensure the effective and ethical use of GenAIs in classrooms; and integrating pedagogical strategies such as action-based learning, experimental learning, and active learning to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes with GenAIs. Recommendation for Researchers: The paper recommends conducting further research on the integration of art-based generative AI in digital art and design classrooms across all academic levels; further exploring faculty and educators’ perspectives on GenAI use to develop best practices and frameworks for effective and ethical adoption in higher education; and investigating the long-term impacts of GenAI technologies on teaching and learning in art, design, and creative-integrated disciplines through longitudinal studies. Impact on Society: The larger implications of the paper’s findings include promoting awareness and education on the ethical implications, benefits, and limitations of GenAIs to foster responsible use and acceptance; encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration to address the challenges and opportunities presented by GenAIs in the creative and cultural industries; and supporting the development of a healthy digital art ecosystem that balances human creativity with technological advancements, ensuring inclusivity, accessibility, and sustainability. Future Research: Based on drawbacks that emerged from the study, such as the sampling method and the sample size, future research should focus on targeting larger and more diverse samples from across different regions of the United States, as well as integrating objective measures to complement self-reported data. As this research is focused on text-to-image generators, future research should expand to additional GenAI types and models to deepen our understanding of their potential benefits and use impacts. Additionally, future research would benefit from studying the long-term impacts of GenAIs on education and the development of human-centered solutions and interventions tailored for faculty and students.

With the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI), many tasks in the art field are transformed. A critical question emerges: how do artists perceive this change? This study investigates the perceptions of digital artists in the entertainment industry towards AI-generated art. Through 22 in-depth interviews, we find that artists considered AI art unethical. In addition, artists questioned the agency and the lack of human expression behind AI art. Furthermore, the creative process is a point of contention. Unlike traditional art forms, AI art offered them little control or room for experimentation. Artists could not iterate or make incremental changes. Regarding the final AI art output, although the digital artists were impressed with its aesthetics, they found AI art soulless. The study has important implications for emerging research on AI art.

The workshop will explore in depth the nature of freedom and constraint in the creative process in digital fine art from the perspective of embodied mind. The problem is crucial to our understanding of the creative process in fine art. The aims and objectives of the workshop are to bring into visibility critical insights into the creative process, thereby potentially empowering digital artists.

Purpose: This study explores the evolving relationship between artists and AI tools in the digital art world. AI's ability to mimic artistic styles and generate new ideas challenges traditional notions of art creation. While AI offers potential benefits like workload reduction and creative inspiration, concerns remain about its impact on artist income and creative processes. Methodology: The research investigates artist satisfaction with AI-generated works, the impact on workflow efficiency, and the potential for income changes. It aims to understand how artists perceive these tools and how AI is affecting their creative ecosystem. Findings: The study anticipates that traditional and blended approaches will hold higher value due to the unique skills and time invested. Findings revealed a three-tiered artist landscape: 1) traditional artists, 2) artists who blend AI and traditional methods, and 3) artists solely using AI tools. The research sheds light on the complex interplay between technological innovation, creative expression, and financial viability within the digital art domain. Unique Contribution to Theory, Policy and Practice: The study employs economic theory of production to analyze the impact of AI on artistic production. In the context revenue, satisfaction, and workload, artists in Manila, Philippines are willing to use AI tools in order to increase their revenue, have a felicitous satisfaction, and reduce their workload that align with the client’s needs. While AI tools can be valuable assistants, the human element remains central to the creative process.

The use of digital technology in art is growing rapidly in the field of creativity. This has emerged to a unique art popularly known as digital art. Digital art, which is the general term for a range of artistic works and practices that use digital technology as an essential part of the creative or presentation process, should be taught in art and design schools so that students can meet up with the ever changing pace of the world of digital art. This paper aims to assess the importance of digital arts vis-a-vis hand skilled art. Samples of works analyzed are taken from students of the Department of Art, Design and Printing Technology, The Polytechnic Ibadan, Nigeria. Particular focus is on design creativity. Relationships between digital art/hand skilled art were submitted for statistical analysis. Findings show that modern techniques of finding solution to graphic design problems are preferred amongst students because of its numerous advantages. Results also demonstrated that digital art plays an important role in design creativity.

In order to extract the image path of traditional cultural and creative items, we set the binary image target of such products to be black and the backdrop to be white in this research. We followed the use of image vectorization processing technology. In order to address the issue of edge jaggedness in the traditional cultural and creative product image path extraction process, polygonal contour fitting is utilized to optimize the image paths of these products, resulting in the creation of a vector map of these products. The PCA point cloud alignment technique is used, based on the vector map of traditional cultural and creative products, to identify the attributes of these items and build a model of their traditional cultural and creative product design that incorporates digital art. After choosing dependent and independent variables, traditional cultural and creative product design, including digital art aspects, is studied and analyzed using linear quantile regression. The findings demonstrate that all of the value-added ratio’s coefficients are significant and bigger at the 0.2 and 0.95 quantile points, suggesting that raising the ratio can aid in the merger of digital art and more established creative and cultural sectors. The medium (M=3.586) and small standard deviation of the traditional cultural and creative items incorporating digital art suggest that the use function and cost-effectiveness of these products have a stronger influence on purchase motivation. This research encourages the fusion of digital art components with conventional cultural and artistic output in order to give traditional culture a fresh lease of life in the information era.

Digital arts refer to artworks that use digital technology as part of the creative or presentation process. Different components of art activities are known to be health-promoting. These components can trigger psychological, physiological, social, and behavioral responses that are linked with health and well-being. The emerging forms of digital arts and new ways of interacting with these arts enable a new area of research and practice in promoting health and well-being. This workshop is intended to bring together researchers, designers, artists, and practitioners involved in the design and use of systems combining digital arts and health to build on an understanding of emerging digital art interventions in health and well-being.KeywordsDigital artsHealthWell-being

<p>Discussing the different concepts of teaching Art, one should start from the competences we want to transfer to students. Through different ideas about competences, we can see the wishes of individual countries about what is expected of visual arts education. In this review, we have focused on the thinking of the European countries. <br />All European countries have some variants of learning art in curricula and outcomes that determine what is meant to be achieved by these subjects. Depending on whether these curricula are structured as an integrated whole or as a set of specific subjects, objectives/outcomes are defined more concretely for visual arts, music, theater, dance, media arts or crafts. Learning objectives differ from country to country: in some cases, they are more globally expressed, and in others, it is more specific. The goals to be achieved or the skills to be mastered are defined for each year of learning or schooling periods.<br />There are increasing pressures on the art education to fulfill a number of goals, in addition to learning about art. Educational systems increasingly recognize the importance of developing children’s creativity and contributing to cultural education. Almost all European countries have similar goals for the curriculum of teaching Art, among them: the development of artistic skills, knowledge, and understanding, engagement with various art forms; increasing cultural understanding; exchange of experiences. But in addition to these artistic results, the curriculum includes personal and social/cultural outcomes (such as self-confidence and self-esteem, the individuality of expression, teamwork, intercultural understanding and cultural participation). The focus on creativity (often in relation to its importance in innovation) and cultural education (in relation to individual identity and the promotion of intercultural understanding) is present in these goals.<br />Various studies have recognized the pressure to include in the art curriculum of the 21st century the study of new media (including film, photography and digital arts) and to enable students to use ICT as a part of the creative process. In many, it is also requested for art contents to be connected to other non-artistic subjects and thus deal with creative and cultural themes.</p>