Multimedia Semiotics of Two Works of Art - Lin Pey Chwen, Clemencia Echeverri Cultural Accents, Natives and Digital Immigrants

Abstract

This paper proposes the investigation of two Multimedia works of art, intending to give an answer to the possibility of the existence of a disparity between art devising or art reception, performed by the community conformed by digital immigrant and native community. In order to respond to this issue, this paper proposes to take into account the narratives and Multimedia engineering of two artists: Lin Pey Chwen (Taiwan) and Clemencia Echeverri (Colombia). The method employed in this research is the study of two Multimedia works of art by the cited artists: ＂Play＂ (by Lin Pey Chwen, performed in collaboration with the Digital Art Lab, University of Taiwan) and ＂Heritage Games＂ (by Clemencia Echeverri), in order to analyze the semantic narratives of their art proposals; their art criteria and the way both artist devise trough technology a complex semantic field, that is here proposes, that is meant to be read between the lines. It is also taken into account New Technologies for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as means which led to a social turn, in general, and a new Art paradigm in particular, and also gave wary to the emergence of a new Image criteria. These newness of consequently built as well a new, refreshing and complex aesthetic field, which has assumed by means of ICT and New Technologies (NT) the arousal of a new Image criteria, understood as data. The cited works of art - ＂Play and ＂Heritage Games - were chosen considering their authors as digital immigrants. In order to analyze the impact of their belonging to the immigrant category, it seems relevant to consider that the narratives they propose in these and other pieces of their body of art work, have been devised through technology, in order to highlight an intentional semantic field. At the same time, it is intended to understand how their work might be received or understood by digital native community. In order to offer a scenario for the arrival of a new digital art paradigm, as the one embraced by the cited artists, a minimal taxonomy of digital art is sketched, as a computer art archeology. It is also taken into consideration that Art will be understood in this paper as a ＂social artifact＂, engaged to its time and social background. As to comprehend the arrival of Multimedia art proposals, a brief taxonomy of Modern Eastern Art will be considered, along with so called ＂crisis of representation＂ of analogical art, which foregrounds the first digital art works. Multimedia ＂Play＂ and ＂Heritage Games＂ are here analyzed as a medium between artist and spectator, and also as a way to think, perform and exhibit a work of art. It is also taken into account, when analyzing these works of art, that there are several coincidences that might be found, which enables us to establish a parallel between both works. As a result we find that they may be considered a synonym of ＂semiotic technology＂, and also concur in being devised, designed and exhibited trough New Technologies. We propose that these works of art have performed techne as mediator of poiesis. There is also a parallel between their narratives, both referring to local rites, proposed from a critical point of view, seeking re-signification and repair. We finally suggest that these artists and their body of art work, prioritize anthropological issues, over technical instrumental practices, certainly needed in order to devise their narratives. This paper concludes with the idea that, considering the existence of two digital communities, there might be a different corpus of ideas, between digital natives and digital immigrants and we may also find a difference in the way to devise their works of art, and their way of acting and reacting in front of a Multimedia. It is impossible to generalize, but it is however possible to conclude that digital natives might underline the engineering of a Multimedia piece of art, meanwhile digital immigrants - who have also embraced these art language - might highlight art narratives from a perspective, where emphasis is put on technology as a cultural and anthropological value. As a final conclusion for this essay we say, along with Baudrillard that ＂in the heart of video cultures there may be a screen but not necessarily a regard＂.