Technology, Art and Culture―the Cultural Development Trend of the 21st Century C

（Department of Art, Sanming University, Sanming,Fujian 365000 China）

Abstract: The twenty-first century is an era, which integrates technology and art together. Also, in this era, the computer art plays an incredibly important role in the people's life. In this paper, the authors discusses the relationship between the computer technology and art and also analyzes the orientation of the computer culture attribute and the connotation of the computer art culture, and then explores the cultural trend of the computer art development.

Key words: Technology, Culture, Art, Computer

1 Introduction

Computer and the peripherals including the Internet attaining a great development around computers in the information age have a very close relationship with the daily life of people at the present time. In the mean time the human beings have adapted to and even have indulged in such a state that it is hard to imagine what they world will be if there were no computers or networks in daily life. The computers in the 21st century are exerting an influence on the life and work of human beings with the integration of technology and art.

2 Technology and Art

Technology is the general name of all kinds of activities, means and methods which are mastered by the human beings in the process of using the nature, transforming the nature, and promoting the social development. Art is a kind of cultural phenomenon, which is created by people in order to meet the needs of comforting the subjective regrets as well as the behavioral needs in emotional organs. Also, in a sense, the life process of the human beings is a process for technology to be artistic. Technology progress and aesthetic improvement are the catalysts for technology transformed to art. From this point of view, the coexistence between technology and art can be seen.

3 Orientation of the Computer Culture

Computer culture is a new cultural form, which sources from the fundamental changes of the ways of life of the human beings due to the wide application of computers. In1981, the "computer literacy" became the most important theme at the Third World Conference on Computer in Education (WCCE). If the "computer literacy" was still in the primary stage at that time, the art of a true sense should be the "computer culture".

From the broad sense, the computer culture is the general name of the computer resources and the corresponding human concepts, which emerged from the development of the computer technology [1]. Culture is a process for the human beings in the world to gain knowledge, skills, experience and ideas, beliefs, as well as values in the communication between each other. A culture age is named with the most representative technical achievement in general.

Besides, one of the most important characteristics of culture is the reform of the ways of communication in the human society, namely, the information processing revolution.

In addition, an important property of culture is the existence of language. Therefore, if the language of a culture disappeared, the existence of this culture will lose the basis for supporting and extending the spirit.

Hence, it is necessary for people in the modern times to make a continuous upgrade to the computer language to a higher platform. In other words, it is necessary for people in the modern times to recognize that the computer language is virtual and universal in the realities, and also is different from the human languages of the traditional sense [2].

4 Culture Connotation of Computer Art

Computer art is using the computers for carrying out the artistic creation. The computer art can be traced back to the 1950s. In January 1965, German mathematicians Frieder Nake and George Nees and American mathematician Michael Noll and others held the first digital electronic computer drawing exhibition. The exhibition was held in the art Gallery of Stuttgart University of Germany [3]. Thus, for the computer art which takes up a very important role in the computer reference technology, the cultural property of it can be defined as the art-influenced image technology.

Generally speaking, the art-influenced technology image and the artistic technology visualization are two completely different concepts. A great number of people in the modern time will often draw a conclusion on the artistic technology visualization or digitalization when they are talking about the computer art with other people at most cases. Admittedly, in the computer art of the present time, the modern people can indeed often see such a phenomenon―the computerization of the works of art.

During the period from the end of 1980s to the early of 1990s, the computer personalization age came to the world. And one of the most important characteristics of this age was the application and development of the computer graphics operation interfaces. Subsequently, the computer art or the digital media art came into being in the world.

4.1 Features of Computer Art

4.1.1 Virtual Feature

Generally speaking, it is known to all that the computer art is a virtual art. And this can be feature can be conclude from two aspects.

On the one hand, the computer art can be converted by the people in the modern times into the digital results eventually. On the other hand, the artistic effect showed in the computer art can rely on only a small number of natural materials to imitate the natural materials.

4.1.2 Transcendence in Time and Space

Using the computer technology as well as the computer art can realize the breakthrough in time.

On the one hand, this feature can help solve the limitations of the music as a time art.

On the other hand, as for the transcendence in space, the space effect which is displayed by the computer art breaks through the local space of painting or sculpturing.

4.1.3 Rapid Communication

With the help of the current network, the computer art can transfer and show the artistic works in the shortest time. And this relies on the computer art’s virtual feature and transcendence in time and space.

4.1.4 Replication

Different from other art forms, the vast majority of contents of the computer art can be replicated. However, such a replication is still on the technical level, because concept and thinking can never be copied. Therefore, it is an ideal way for the computer technology at the present time to transform to an artistic form by combining with art. This is also one of the rulers to measure the concept of the computer culture.

4.2 Culture Connotation of Computer Art

4.2.1 Popularization of the Art

The current world can be compared to a world for the computers. This can’t be achieved by other kinds of l cultural forms. The popularization is the first element of the cultural connotation of the computer art. However, such a popularization exactly launches challenges to the elite models of the traditional art.

Therefore, increasingly more people can create the artistic language belonging to them in the process of operating these software applications. Maybe the writers can’t be called as artists at the present time. However, the influences from the art at least can be felt by the artists in the process of creating the artistic works.

Compared with other art forms, the popularization of the computer art may be a revolution in art.

4.2.2 Art-oriented Technology

In the modern time, along with the rapid development of computer technology, the integration of both art and science has changed into a general trend of the development of culture. As a matter of fact, it is necessary for the innovation of technology to rely on the thinking and imagination of art. However, for the artistic creation, it is necessary to have new media as well as new vision to give expression to the in-depth influence of the computer art on the languages of the human beings and the materials which are used in technologies.

When the computer becomes an essential tool and technology in life, the artists will change into the users of such a tool and also are very possible to be endowed with the Art-oriented techniques.

5 The Cultural Trend of the Humanities Spirit is the Development Direction of the Computer Art

Generally speaking, it has been known to all that the integration of art and computer technology can produce a comprehensive beauty, which goes beyond both art and computer technology.

For this reason, the modern aesthetics can be transformed into a kind of the visual aesthetics so outstandingly [4]. This can be analyzed from the aspects in the following.

On the one hand, the integration of art and computer technology gives expression to the reliance of the art forms on technology. This can not only enrich the existing original forms of art, and also making the art structure change with the new ways and new forms.

On the other hand, the integration of art and computer technology is a frequently-happening process in the interaction between the two sides. It not only gives the possibility and new driving force to art to attain a development in the new age, and also reveals the computer art is an existing, variable but continuously developing art in the new century. Computer art is not the simple integration of art and technology. It is an integration which is aiming at reflecting the humanistic spirit at the premise of the computer technology. The highest aim of the computer art is promoting the balanced development of the material and spiritual civilizations in the mutual coordination and complement of science and humanity and achieving the liberation of the people themselves [5].

The integration of technology and art has changed into an orientation of the human beings from the perspectives of mentality and psychology in the modern times. In this aspect, it is necessary for the cultural feature of the computer art to be especially outstanding and important.

Subsequently, the outstanding works with the cultural connotation, the artistic style, and the features of the times emerged all over the world, and simultaneously have changed into the most important trend of the development of the computer art in the modern times.

It has been an existing fact that technology tends to be artistic and will exist in the life of the people all over the world. A lot of people are worrying and thinking that the computer technology will eventually replace the "hands" of artists by influencing art gradually.

Brecht used to say: "the common point between art and science lies in that the meanings for the existence of the two sides are reducing the burdens of human life, and one manages the livelihood of human beings, while the other manages the entertainment human beings" [6].

6 Conclusion

From the above analysis, it can be known that the most fundamental quality of the computer art and all other forms of art is acting on people with the beautiful things. The beautiful function of art is the embodiment of the humanistic spirit. This is also the most fundamental starting point for the people to make computer develop toward cultural quality in the modern times.

Therefore, it is necessary for the computer art to use the humanist spirit as their own inner spirit and develop towards the cultural characteristics. Only insisting on the people-oriented idea, the computer art can really own the enduring strength and eternal value.

Maybe it is too early to make a prediction on the tomorrow of the computer art at the present time.

However, in this paper, the author is sure that one point is beyond all doubts that the humanities spirit cultural trend will be certainly the development direction of the computer art.