Cheated: Digital technologies in Islamic art practice

“The computer doesn’t count… that’s not a real drawing”. This paper presents perceptions and attitudes surrounding the use of digital technologies and its impact on the way contemporary Islamic art may be valued. Expanding on findings from interviews conducted in 2015/16, this paper additionally considers anecdotal evidence and online interactions, drawing on artists’ experiences of working with digital technologies. Themes of authenticity, authorship and creativity are presented from the perspective of the artist, discussed with the aim of highlighting how understanding of artistic practice of a digital nature may stem from, and conflate, prevailing notions of how we value art on a wider scale. The author will bring focus to the heightened circumstances of this within the field of Islamic art with examples from the online community. Islamic art is often discussed in relation to traditional and hand-made methods. For some, even the use of handmade tools and media play a role in the spiritual experience of making an artwork (Choudhrey 2018). The choice of tools and methods can also lead to a grappling of the conscience, a desire to maintain one’s principles (Berry 2018). For others, it allows for a timeless continuity, and forms a basis for maintaining historical convention. However, within such sentiments there is an opposing implication: the fear of a waning tradition, and a discontinuity from art history. As can be expected, artist responses to the incorporation of digital technology in their practice differ. Whilst many indicate a need to adhere to underlying principles of authenticity – encouraged in relation to an Islamic ethos (Nasr 2012), some liken the use of digital technologies with ‘cheating’. The repercussion of such language implies a denigration of evolving art-making processes. Yet, often the same artists also discuss digital technologies as providing solutions, an opportunity for exploration, innovation, and an extension of creative capabilities. By shedding insight into the methods and concepts adopted by artists, this paper encourages a shift in how digital forms of Islamic art are perceived by existing and new audiences.

Content

Author and article information

Contributors

Sara Choudhrey

Conference

Publication date: July 2020

Publication date (Print): July 2020

Pages: 225-232

Affiliations

[0001]University of Kent

School of Engineering & Digital Arts

Canterbury, UK

Article

DOI: 10.14236/ewic/EVA2020.40

SO-VID: a019ab75-f9e1-475d-ab16-ac23a03ca131

License:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Conference name: Proceedings of EVA London 2020

Conference acronym: EVA 2020

Conference number: 30

Conference location: London

Conference date: 6th July – 9th July 2020

Conference sponsor: Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC)

Conference theme: AI and the Arts: Artificial Imagination

History

Product

1477-9358 BCS Learning & Development

Self URI (article page): https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14236/ewic/EVA2020.40

Self URI (journal page): https://ewic.bcs.org/

REFERENCES

Art of Islamic Pattern 2020 Open Studio https://artofislamicpattern.com/exhibition/ 18 March 2020
W Berry 2018 Why I Am Not going to Buy a Computer Penguin Books London
N Bibi 2017 "Seek knowledge, even unto China" Moroccan 8-fold meets yin/yang. Slate… 13 June [Instagram] https://www.instagram.com/p/BVSfOV3ltAw/ 20 March 2020
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S Choudhrey 2018 Pigment to Pixel-An Investigation into Digital Islamic Art in the UK Doctoral dissertation, University of Kent
A Cozza 2017 Digital Art is Not Cheating https://www.the9mmberetta.com/digital-art-not-cheating/ 20 Feb 2020
G Cruz 2020 Is Digital Art Cheating? Kind of, here’s why. A Digital Artist’s Take https://blogbygaius.com/is-digital-art-cheating-kind-of-heres-why-a-digital-artists-take/ 20 Feb 2020
S Fenton 2014 The Value of Audience Feedback http://www.intrinsicimpact.org/the-value-of-audience-feedback/ 20 March 2020
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S Juma 2017 An abstract digital Kaabah piece of mine. Focus on the centre and you’ll notice the natural gravitation of the surroundings 2 August [Instagram] https://www.instagram.com/p/BREFKIcgX7e/ 20 February 2020
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X KangW Chen 2017 The Like Economy: The Impact of Interaction between Artists and Fans on Social Media in Art Market Proceedings of the International Conference on Business and Information Management (ICBIM 2017). Association for Computing Machinery New York, NY, USA 45 49 [Cross Ref]
S. H Nasr 1987 Islamic Art and Spirituality State University of New York Press New York
S. H Nasr 2012 Islamic Pedagogy: An interview Islamic Sciences 10 1 7
S Ornes 2019 Science and Culture: Computers take art in new directions, challenging the meaning of creativity Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences [Cross Ref]
D Skinner 2012 Wendell E. Berry – Jefferson Lecture https://www.neh.gov/about/awards/jefferson-lecture/wendell-e-berry-biography 20 March 2020
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Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Art of Islamic Pattern 2020 Open Studio https://artofislamicpattern.com/exhibition/ 18 March 2020

[2] W Berry 2018 Why I Am Not going to Buy a Computer Penguin Books London

[3] N Bibi 2017 "Seek knowledge, even unto China" Moroccan 8-fold meets yin/yang. Slate… 13 June [Instagram] https://www.instagram.com/p/BVSfOV3ltAw/ 20 March 2020

[4] Bletchley Park 2020 Digital Light: Code Makers at Bletchley Park https://bletchleypark.org.uk/whatson/digital-light-code-makers-at-bletchley-park 10 March 2020

[5] S Choudhrey 2018 Pigment to Pixel-An Investigation into Digital Islamic Art in the UK Doctoral dissertation, University of Kent

[6] A Cozza 2017 Digital Art is Not Cheating https://www.the9mmberetta.com/digital-art-not-cheating/ 20 Feb 2020

[7] G Cruz 2020 Is Digital Art Cheating? Kind of, here’s why. A Digital Artist’s Take https://blogbygaius.com/is-digital-art-cheating-kind-of-heres-why-a-digital-artists-take/ 20 Feb 2020

[8] S Fenton 2014 The Value of Audience Feedback http://www.intrinsicimpact.org/the-value-of-audience-feedback/ 20 March 2020

[9] H Gan 2017 The Artist’s Relationship with Time and Money, Part I: Time https://medium.com/@HilaryGan/an-artists-relationship-with-time-and-money-7c2b389ddc8a 20 March 2020

[10] B Graham 2014 New Collecting: Exhibiting and Audiences after New Media Art Ashgate Farnham

[11] R Haris 2020 Digital Islamic Illumination 8 Jan [Instagram] https://www.instagram.com/p/B7E5k2vAXUT/ 20 March 2020

[12] G. S. A Ibrahim 2015 Virtues in Muslim Culture: An Interpretation from Islamic Literature, Art and Architecture New Generation Publishing London

[13] C Jones 2019 What Artists Talk About When They Talk About Their Art and Why it’s Hard to Say Anything Truly Meaningful https://medium.com/@chrisjones_32882/what-artists-talk-about-when-they-talk-about-their-art-14373a87b452 20 March 2020

[14] S Juma 2017 An abstract digital Kaabah piece of mine. Focus on the centre and you’ll notice the natural gravitation of the surroundings 2 August [Instagram] https://www.instagram.com/p/BREFKIcgX7e/ 20 February 2020

[15] S Juma 2018 The first ever Siddiqa Juma sale on Original paintings https://siddiqajuma.co.uk/blogs/news/a-one-time-only-sale 20 March 2020

[16] X KangW Chen 2017 The Like Economy: The Impact of Interaction between Artists and Fans on Social Media in Art Market Proceedings of the International Conference on Business and Information Management (ICBIM 2017). Association for Computing Machinery New York, NY, USA 45 49 [Cross Ref]

[17] S. H Nasr 1987 Islamic Art and Spirituality State University of New York Press New York

[18] S. H Nasr 2012 Islamic Pedagogy: An interview Islamic Sciences 10 1 7

[19] S Ornes 2019 Science and Culture: Computers take art in new directions, challenging the meaning of creativity Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences [Cross Ref]

[20] D Skinner 2012 Wendell E. Berry – Jefferson Lecture https://www.neh.gov/about/awards/jefferson-lecture/wendell-e-berry-biography 20 March 2020

[21] Toafeeq 2019 So my wife recently got a cricut machine, and I wanted to see what it could do so I thought 16 August https://www.instagram.com/p/B1O3EjVgH9u/ 12 Jan 2020

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