The Influence of Technology on Modern and Contemporary Art

Art has always been a reflection of its time, and the modern and contemporary era is inextricably marked by technological advancement. From the invention of photography in the 19th century, which freed painting from the need to faithfully represent reality, to the digitalization and artificial intelligence of the 21st century, technology has been a fundamental catalyst for the evolution of art.

Movements such as Italian Futurism celebrated the speed, machinery, and energy of the new industrial age. Later, kinetic art incorporated real-life movement into works, often through electric motors. In the second half of the 20th century, video art emerged with artists like Nam June Paik, using television monitors to create installations critical of media culture.

Today, digital art, virtual reality, and NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) have completely redefined the concepts of authorship, originality, and ownership of a work of art. Artists no longer work solely with brushes and canvases, but with algorithms, code, and augmented reality, blurring the boundaries between the physical and the virtual and raising new questions about the nature of art itself.

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