What are the new media and why are artists using them?
The mass media not only provides new subjects for artists to consider, but also new technologies for artists to use. Contemporary artists have an unprecedented choice of media to explore and realize their visions, including computer and digital technologies, video art forms, installations, and performances. By keeping pace with — and sometimes even anticipating — technological change and the accompanying societal changes, art created in new media is expanding both the definition of art and the role of the artist.

Instant communication
In this media-saturated age, contemporary artists are as obsessed as the rest of us are with communication and mass media. New media art has evolved partly out of the artist's desire to reach a larger public and start a broad, meaningful dialogue with viewers using these new tools. Many hope to communicate with viewers who might not go to museums or galleries, and who are more intimately familiar with bytes and screens than oils and canvas.

A brave new art world
In the 1980s, artists began experimenting with using materials and up-to-the-minute technologies previously not considered appropriate to fine art. As Jenny Holzer, who works with electronic signage to explore the role of language and the power of advertising, explains, "I want to make art that's understandable and has some relevance and importance to almost everyone." Laurie Anderson, a contemporary artist whose works include slides, music, and films, describes her performances as being "about a collaboration between people and technology."

What's next?
Art in new media reflects the social, political, and economic realities of today's all-encompassing mass media. Artists continue to experiment with these new forms of communication and explore their impact. Video, neon, laser-beam holograms, satellite transmissions, virtual reality environments, and computer and online art all are providing exciting new subjects and forms for contemporary art. Since there are no limits to the human imagination, there are also no limits to the forms art might take.