Kaitlyn Ancell
Jennifer Hicks’ article, “Creative Economy Rises: Art Meets Hacking for Digital Innovation” (2014), implies that a new online creative platform called “The Space” has pushed the creative economy in successful efforts of growth in a pioneering way that brings together art and technology, resulting in millions of new jobs and economic increase of the market. Hicks backs this argument with evidence of statistical growth records from the creative industry and an explanation of how the artistic hackers have connected the world of digital hacking to creativity in a 24 hour art hack called “Hack the Space.” The author’s purpose is to promote the online art hacking organization’s efforts of spreading creativity in order to connect the way technology has created a new medium of originality and artistic ability through innovated efforts among digital hackers and artists. The audience that is targeted in Hicks’ article are people interested in the direction of technology utilization in the art world, as well as people interested in the way digital art has effected the creative economy.
The idea of using hackers as a form of art promotion is a new way to inspire upcoming artists to use technology in ways that have never been thought of. The utilization of digital hacking and the arts sends a message to the masses that could be controversial. Digital hackers are thought of in a mostly negative light because of the illegal reputation many of them have. However, this group of individuals must be extremely intelligent in order to know the backdoors of the digital world. Because of the difficulty in this task, the online hacker artists could be thought of as a unique group of delinquents that are utilizing their intelligence to spread inspiration of creativity. The techniques of this organization speak loudly to the audience because of the approach they’ve utilized, which in my opinion could be one of the most strategic tactics the art industry could have developed. Sometimes the hackers of the world are able to send their messages to the masses with the most powerful impact. For example, the group Anonymous has hacked several large corporations and the government to voice their opinion on the ethics used by these organizations. The Anonymous group of hackers sparked uproars of controversy and debate with their techniques, and revolutionized hacking into one of the most innovative ways to protest. The use of hacking for the promotion of digital artwork can be comparable to the techniques of the other digital hackers who utilize their skill to communicate. It is questionable that every person in the digital art world would agree that hacking is the best way to spread creativity and the possibilities of the ways technology interacts with art. People may argue there are other more ethical ways to demonstrate the way industry and creativity can come together through a digital art platform. However, it isn’t arguable that The Space created a way to discover the most inventive digital artists throughout the globe.
Hicks, Jennifer. “Creative Economy Rises: Art Meets Hacking for Digital Innovation.” Forbes. B.C. Forbes Publishing Co., 13 June 2014. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.
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Digital hacking in the art world is, in a way, similar to street art. Most see it as illegal or harmful, but few artist use it as a form of expression and visual protest. One of the most famous street artists today, Banksy, uses his talent to challenge corruption plaguing this world as sort of an artistic vigilante. I personally love art with political or environmental statements because it requires and intense amount of emotion and creativity. I can’t wait to see this spread to digital art world, the results could be revolutionary.
Morgan
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I’m a bit confused as to what defines digital hacking. Usually, I think of websites being taken down and replaced by anti-corporate images or such. I’ve heard of hackers such as the Lizard Squad, but I am not necessarily clear on how it ties into art, much less spreads it. This article and your response are insightful, but it’s hard for me to agree without much context.
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Growing up with a computer genius for a father, I was always led to believe that hacking in any sense was a terrible tragedy surely ending the life of your unprotected computer. However, this Space movement has gone and redefined the whole idea of hacking to further bridge the gap between technology and art. The Space in intended to give a voice and platform to artists and technologists from around the world and foster some amazing collaborations between the worlds to bring them even closer together. I thought that this article provided a new perspective to this issue as a whole and to the aspect of hacking in the art world.
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