To begin my dissertation research I went to the wonderful Victoria and Albert Museums exhibit "Decode". Here is where things started to come together for me. The exhibit had three categories Code, Interactivity and Network. The exhibit really put into perspective the global scale of digital artists and the diversity of backgrounds in programming to more traditional artists.

http://www.vam.ac.uk/microsites/decode//

To say the least this exhibit gave me a starting point for my dissertation and some artists to investigate.

The start of My Dissertation...

I have been fascinated by the visual arts since age 6 when I decided my favorite artist was David Hockney. At first I attributed this liking to the fact he put a great deal of swimming pools in his paintings, at the time I was starting my competitive swimming career, but after seeing his exhibition at the National Portrait gallery a few years ago my appreciation grew based on his stunning portrayal of Southern California. He still remains one of my favorite artists today and while I could say I have become more sophisticated since age 6 I still do enjoy the swimming pools.

I decided to write my dissertation on visual culture in order to explore my appreciation for the arts and my new found passion for all things digital! Once I began exploring this juncture between the arts and the digital things got a lot more interesting. I began to question "who can be an artist" and look historically at the connection between technology and the creation of art. This all has lead me to my dissertation topic, entitled "Visual Culture, Technology and Interactivity", which I hope to explore and help research through this blog.