Exciting show of digital integration with art at LACMA

Digital Witness: Revolutions in Design, Photography, and Film is probably the most relevant group show I have seen this year to contemporary and modern technology and advancements that have happened outside of the field of art. My first impression is the sheer size of that show, occupying 2 floors of the LACMA exhibition structure and including nearly 200 artists, designers, and makers and covering the field of multiple newer mediums of photography, graphic design, and visual effects. For me as a young artist who is still seeing traditional forms of art occupying most of the market, it is a truly exciting show just to see the integration between technology, entertainment, and art, all of which use the power to push the technological boundaries and be, I guess, interesting and adventurous.

 The show is structured by time, from the first digital technology for video and computer was invented during the 1980s at the beginning of the show, featuring works of Jim Shaw and Andy Warhol and display of clips from Michael Jackson’s Black or White music video, to the invention of Photoshop and its effect and controversy in the realm of fine art, featuring Andreas Gursky and Jeff Wall, and till the current time at the end of the exhibition. I was especially interested in the section of CGI technology. As it was first applied in and invented for the movie industry, the section displays a loop of several films that prompted and used this technology, such as the Matrix and The Lord of the Rings, as well as several video art pieces and designs that use the CGI technology which further integrate the two fields and the possibility the technology has. 

The show in a way showcases the progressive side of art creation with modern technology, which adds nuance to the possibility as well as a sense of playfulness to what we can integrate to be creative as fine art artists. The exhibition is on till Jul 13, 2025 at LACMA in Los Angeles. For more information, read here.