Ian Gwilt

Lecturer in Visual Communication - Digital Media Design, University of Technology, Sydney

Co-director of the Creativity and Cognitiion Studios, creativityandcognition.com

Edale_space

2004, Digital Print

Urbis_Space

2004, Digital Print

Paper Abstract: Re-framing the desktop. The Graphical User Interface as image in contemporary art practice.
This paper will explore the use of the Graphical User Interface (GUI) in contemporary art practice and demonstrate how its cultural ubiquity has allowed the GUI to become an interesting source of iconic imagery for a number of artists. I will trace examples where the visual aesthetic of the computer interface has been referenced within 2d media: paintings, digital prints, web art and the gaming interface. Drawing a comparison between Conceptual Art methods such as detournment and interventions and the reflexive and documentary tendencies commonly seen in digitally referenced artworks.

Advancing computer based technologies have signaled a move away from the notion of the computer as a discrete physical unit that inhabits a corner of the home or office. And as the computer as a defined material object becomes less specific, we begin to see a cultural shift wherein users engage in the traditional computer driven activities, (reading our emails, browsing the internet etc.) on devices such as mobile phones, PDAs, in-car computers and even refrigerators. This distributive media experience brings our interaction with the graphical user interface increasingly into our every day lives and in terms of location and context, the new divergent nature of digital technologies allows for a more fluid engagement with the computer interface. This peripatetic experience of the Graphical User Interface accelerates the integration of the digital aesthetic as a cultural meme and as the GUI becomes a shared visual knowledge we begin to see it increasingly referenced in contemporary art practice.