‘Technology is the mortal enemy or art’

Rodchenko’s Manifesto of the Constructivist Group states that ‘Technology is- the mortal enemy of art’. I disagree with this statement, as I believe that technology is integral to the development of artistic practises in design.

Take the graphic arts for example. In this field, I view technology as a vital tool in the design process, as computer software is used to edit and enhance artwork in a way that is far superior to the capabilities of hand generated graphics. The technological advances of the past century in particular now allow practitioners to experiment digitally and in a more innovative way.

The more recent invention of the graphic tablet for example has proved especially useful to designers during the creative process. It can also be argued that graphic designers now rely on powerful software such as this to get their jobs done. ‘Complex visual manipulations that used to be laboriously done by hand are now performed easily and quickly on a computer.’ (slideshare.net, 2015)

On the contrary, it could also be justified that great design originates from hand crafted creativity. However, I still do not believe that technology is the mortal enemy of hand illustrated art, if anything it can help to enhance artwork in a way that can not be achieved by hand alone.

As a working practitioner in the creative arts, technology helps me to manipulate and experiment with my artwork and I believe that it is a vital tool to the development of design in our society.

slideshare.net. (2015). Technologies used in graphic design. [online] Available at: https://www.slideshare.net/theboothfairy/technologies-used-in-graphic-design [Accessed 31 Mar. 2015].

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