The existence of digital art

In one sense, digital art doesn’t exist – until it’s printed. In the same way as on a vinyl record, or an audio tape, the sounds we hear, can only be produced as a version of the data stored on the medium.

Roses and waterliles, Zoe Elizabeth Norman

In the case of digital art the medium is files on an electronic device. Unlike other forms of printing, where continued production causes subsequent versions to be poorer copies, every digital art print is as good as the first. The only limiting factor is how many the artists chooses to print. 150 is the maximum allowed to still consider it to be a “limited edition” print.

As regards starting points, some digital art is based on photographs manipulated by computer software. Other forms start as images “drawn” on tablets or computer screens, while a third are generated by mathematical formulae. In all cases, nothing physical exists until it’s printed on paper, canvas, board or aluminium.

Bizarrely, most recently, huge sums of money changed hands to buy NFTs – digital artworks which will never be printed.